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Business Fraud/Disputes

Business Fraud and Partnership Disputes

At Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer, our attorneys represent individuals, partners, consumers, investors and others in a variety of disputes and claims involving commercial enterprises. As a firm, we represent clients in Oakland, Silicon Valley, the Bay Area and throughout northern California and beyond in cases involving investor fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, promissory fraud and consumer fraud.

Many of these cases involve start-up companies and individuals who know each other — situations where business partnership agreements tend to come as an afterthought when it is often too late. Another common problem is where individuals have invested capital in a start-up owned by someone they know or "a friend of a friend." They were led to believe they could expect a percentage of the profits or an ownership interest, only to realize the mistake they made in not drafting the agreement in writing.

At our firm, clients are generally assigned a team that includes one of the firm's partners, an associate attorney, a paralegal and a secretary. This guarantees you that a trial lawyer with 25 to 40 years of experience will be actively involved in the management and handling of your case. It also ensures that someone who knows your case and who understands what is at stake for you will almost always be available to respond to the your needs and questions.

If you are currently involved in a partnership or contract dispute, or are an attorney seeking information about our referral policy — your call or e-mail message will be reviewed by one of our lawyers and responded to by letter or phone promptly.

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Spotlight Case
Our client and his friend started a business with an agreement to split profits on a 50-50 basis. Our client was a silent partner and the business in question was to sell wire assemblies to our client's former employer. His friend later contended that there was no such profit-sharing agreement and that our client was only a commissioned salesman. We sought a $2 million settlement before trial but the defendant only offered $110,000. A jury agreed with us, resulting in an $8 million verdict for declaration of oral contract, breach of oral contract and fraud.