Patrick T. Freeman

Mr. Freeman practices as a litigator and advisor in complex disputes and transactions concerning the management and control of businesses, fiduciary obligations, and commercial disputes.  Mr. Freeman has experience in trial and appellate litigation, handling plaintiff and defense cases in business, commercial and contract lawsuits, and fiduciary duty and business-related issues in family law matters.  Mr. Freeman also has experience in litigation and advisory work in business dissolutions (“business divorces”) and intra-business disputes involving control, management and buyout issues in private and family-owned business entitites.  He assists family law professionals with business litigation and complex civil procedure and discovery issues, spousal breach of fiduciary duty claims, and “Marvin” claims.  Mr. Freeman also handles complex property agreements between married and unmarried intimate partners/cohabitants with respect to property rights, business management and control, termination, estate-related claims, resolution of disputes and other matters.

Mr. Freeman has been involved in matters including:

• Trial court and appellate attorney in two consolidated commercial cases that resulted in total summary judgment against multi-million-dollar claims, plus an award of over $318,000 in legal fees, affirmed on appeal.  Korchemny v. Piterman, 68 Cal.App.5th 1032 (2021).
• Trial court and appellate attorney in a commercial litigation case, obtaining favorable decision to avoid involuntary dissolution of LLCs valued at over $20MM, affirmed on appeal.  Boschetti v. Pacific Bay Investments, Inc., 32 Cal.App.5th 1059 (2019).
• Litigation and settlement for plaintiffs and defendants of commercial claims arising from a personal relationship (called “Marvin” claims under California law).
• Litigation and settlement of marital dissolutions involving complex asset division and compensation issues (including stock options/units).
• Ownership buyout agreement resolving LLC control and management dispute involving real estate development company.
• Asset-secured settlement (through acquisition) of LLC control and management dispute involving technology company.
• Ownership buyout agreement resolving LLC control and management dispute involving finance-related company.
• Litigation and settlement of contract claims concerning investment banking agreement for technology company.
• Litigation and settlement of family business ownership and control dispute.
• Litigation and settlement of commercial claims of co-founder and minority shareholder of a high-tech startup in a dispute with his co-founder and various venture capital funds related to the recapitalization of the company.

Mr. Freeman is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice in all California state courts, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Freeman earned his J.D. from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly the University of California, Hastings College of the Law). He received B.A. degrees in Psychology and Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. While in law school, Mr. Freeman received CALI Excellence Awards in Legal Writing and Cyberlaw. He was an editor for the Hastings Law Journal and a mediator for the Civil Justice Mediation Clinic of the San Francisco Superior Court. Mr. Freeman also served as an extern to the Honorable Jon S. Tigar in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Mr. Freeman co-authored the Daily Journal article: “The Law and Practice of Litigating Marvin Claims in a Less-Married Millennium.”