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Effective January 1, 2012, the firm elevated Roland Nikles and Dennis C. Huie to shareholder. See complete article
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On January 21, 2012, Robert Metzger presented "Defense Opportunities: at takeoff or crossroads?" (presentation materials pdf) as part of the American Bar Association's Section of International Law program on U.S.-India business issues, entitled "Key Aspects of Cross Border Business" at Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India.
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The Second Appellate District of the California Court of Appeals has affirmed the trial court's dismissal of RJO clients Union Oil Company of California, Unocal Corporation, and Chevron Corporation from a lawsuit seeking damages allegedly caused by a leak from an underground oil pipeline. (Court's Decision pdf) The lawsuit involved a San Luis Obispo property owner's claim for damages to property it bought in 2007. The plaintiff, Carolyn Vickers Inc. ("CVI"), claimed that after it bought the property it learned that the prior owners, Phyllis and Alex Madonna, knew that a construction crew they hired had ruptured an underground Union Oil pipeline in 1981. CVI alleged that the Madonnas failed to disclose the oil spill to CVI at the time of sale and that the Madonnas and Union Oil failed to clean up the spill. CVI alleged that the defendants were liable to CVI for the diminished value of the property as well as lost profits and other expenses. The trial court dismissed the claims brought against Union Oil, Unocal and Chevron, agreeing with RJO that the claims were barred by the applicable three year statute of limitations. The Court of Appeal affirmed that dismissal. Significantly, the Court of Appeal held that the statute of limitations began to run at the time of the alleged injury to the property, here, in 1981. The Court held that the statute of limitations is not "reset" each time a new party buys a property. Rather, once an owner of the property is aware of the injury to the property the statute of limitations begins to run, and once it expires it bars all future owners from bringing claims for permanent injury to the property. RJO Attorneys Robert C. Goodman and Tyson Arbuthnot represented Union Oil, Unocal, and Chevron.
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Shareholder Robert C. Goodman has been appointed to the National Roster of Neutrals for the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The AAA is the nation's largest full-service alternative dispute resolution provider, addressing disputes involving, but not limited to, environmental, employment, intellectual property, consumer, technology, health care, financial services, construction, and international trade conflicts. Mr. Goodman, who chairs RJO's Environmental Practice Group, has nearly thirty years experience as a trial lawyer, focusing on environmental litigation. Mr. Goodman has served for more than a decade as a mediator for the U.S. District Court for Northern District of California's Alternative Dispute Resolution program. He also serves as an arbitrator for the San Francisco Superior Court.
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RJO shareholders Allan Joseph and Neil O'Donnell were named by their peers as two of the San Francisco Bay Area's top attorneys in "San Francisco's Best Lawyers 2012," published by ALM, The Recorder, and Best Lawyers. Mr. Joseph and Mr. O'Donnell were two of only four lawyers so honored in the Administrative/Regulatory Law practice area.
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In late October, Governor Brown signed into law 22 bills which change California employment law. Employers who operate in California will want to make it their New Year’s resolution to familiarize themselves with these new laws as applicable to their workforces and operations, and revise policies and procedures accordingly. See Labor and Employment News Alert
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Joe Rogers, one of San Francisco's most loved and admired lawyers, died with dignity and grace after a brief illness on Friday, November 25, 2011. Joe practiced and taught law in San Francisco for nearly 60 years. He was a founding partner of Rogers Joseph O'Donnell where he maintained an office until his death. Tribute
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Rogers Joseph O'Donnell welcomes its newest associate attorney, Jeffery Chiow, to its Government Contracts Practice Group. Mr. Chiow will work in our Washington, DC office. His practice includes bid protests, claims litigation, and government investigations. Mr. Chiow has litigated several matters before the Armed Services and Civilian Boards of Contract Appeals, the GAO, and the Court of Federal Claims. He has represented clients facing investigations by Congress, Inspectors General and the Department of Justice, and he has provided counsel on a broad range of matters including: civil false claims, commercial contracting, constructive changes, contingency contracting, data rights, ethics, export (ITAR) compliance, FAR mandatory reporting, labor hour contracts, major weapon system acquisitions, organizational conflicts of interest, post-employment restrictions, requests for equitable adjustment, small business matters, suspension and debarment, termination settlements, and trade secrets. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Chiow had externships at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Criminal Division, Fraud Section, and the U.S. District Court of Maryland for The Honorable Roger W. Titus. Mr. Chiow is a USMC Combat Veteran, OIF, OEF. He was awarded eight air medals, including one with Combat “V”. A graduate of The George Washington University Law School, Mr. Chiow is admitted to the Court of Federal Claims and the Bars of the District of Columbia and Virginia.
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Rogers Joseph O’Donnell successfully represented Assisted Housing Services Corporation and California Affordable Housing Initiatives, Inc. in their protests of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s awards of several statewide contract administration services contracts, including would-be awards in California, Ohio, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, and Rhode Island. These were some of the largest of the approximately $300 million in annual contracts awarded by HUD across 53 United States jurisdictions. The protests challenged the methodology and substance of HUD’s evaluations of offers in the seven jurisdictions. RJO then successfully responded to the Agency’s motion to dismiss, which claimed the awards were grants or cooperative agreements and not procurement contracts, thus were not subject to GAO bid protest jurisdiction. GAO reserved ruling on the motion, and required HUD to answer the substantive claims regarding the Agency’s evaluations. Rather than defend its evaluations, on August 10, 2011, HUD withdrew the contract awards, and stated that it would revise and reopen the competition.
RJO attorneys Neil O'Donnell, Pat Meagher, Aaron Silberman, Thomas Blanford, Dennis Callahan, and Lauren Kramer represented AHSC and CAHI.
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Rogers Joseph O’Donnell successfully represented PCCP Constructors, J.V. in its protest of a $675 million contract award for the design and construction of permanent canal closures and pumps on three outfall canals in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following a weeklong hearing in Washington, D.C., on August 4, 2011, the General Accountability Office sustained protests brought by PCCP Constructors and Bechtel Infrastructure, Inc. against the U.S. Corps of Engineers' award of the contract to CBY. In recommending that the Corps amend the solicitation and evaluate revised proposals, the GAO found that the Corps had failed properly to investigate and mitigate the organizational conflict of interest arising from CBY's hiring, during the solicitation process, of the top civilian employee of the Corps office responsible for the solicitation. The GAO also found that the Corps had misled offerors about the role price would play in the evaluation and had misevaluated CBY's technical approach. Public Release
RJO attorneys Neil O'Donnell, Pat Meagher, and Dennis Callahan represented PCCP Constructors.
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Rogers Joseph O'Donnell is proud to announce that six of its attorneys have been included among Super Lawyers magazine's top attorneys in California for 2011. Robert Goodman, Allan Joseph, Roland Nikles, Neil O'Donnell, Robert Osier, and Aaron Silberman were named to the 2011 Super Lawyers' list for the Northern California Region. Super Lawyers names Northern California’s top lawyers, chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics. Super Lawyers selects the top 5 percent of Northern California attorneys in more than 60 practice areas, based on surveys of more than 52,000 active lawyers across the northern part of the state. The list of Northern California Super Lawyers is published annually in the August issues of San Francisco Magazine and Northern California Super Lawyers.
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For the seventh consecutive year Chambers USA has recognized Rogers Joseph O'Donnell as one of the premier government contracts law firms in the United States. RJO is proud to be among the only two boutique-sized firms to be ranked as among the country's eight best government contracts firms. Once again founding shareholders Allan Joseph and Neil O'Donnell, and new RJO shareholder Robert Metzger, are also ranked as three of the fifty-two top government contracts attorneys in the nation. Mr. Joseph was recognized as "a real gentleman and a delight to work with" and as known among peers as "one of the deans of the field, and pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to contract terminations," Mr. O'Donnell as "a bid protests expert with a solid reputation" and as a "very smart and highly capable" attorney, and Mr. Metzger as "noted by peers for his work with IT entities and litigation experience" and that "he has a solid working knowledge of California state and local procurement." To view the Chambers USA rankings for Rogers Joseph O'Donnell and our attorneys, visit the Chambers USA Website.
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