Douglas J. Morgan is a founding member and managing partner of the Firm, specializing in
corporate counseling and business transactions.
He graduated with distinction and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at
Mr. Morgan is committed to providing
timely, accurate, and practical counsel to the Firm’s
business clientele so they may fully appreciate the legal consequences of their
business decisions. He effectively employs this philosophy
in forming and counseling corporations, partnerships, and limited liability
companies; developing financing and capitalization strategies for these
entities; implementing incentive compensation and equity plans; and handling
mergers, acquisitions, and business sales transactions.
With
the conviction that members of the Firm must also contribute to the community,
Mr. Morgan served as president of the Board of Directors of Child Advocates of
Santa Clara and
Contact Doug Morgan at: dmorgan@mffmlaw.com
Mark Franich, who is also a founding partner, specializes in estate planning, estate administration, and family wealth planning. He counsels individuals, families and small businesses on issues of organization, tax planning, business planning, and wealth distribution issues. In addition, he handles disputes involving accounting, administration and distribution of trusts and estates.
Mr. Franich obtained JD and MBA
degrees from
He is a member of the Rotary Club of San Jose, serving as President in 2003-2004, and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose and the Salvation Army. He served as President of the Bellarmine Dad’s Club, and as President of the Silicon Valley Planned Giving Council which supports the community’s public benefit organizations.
Contact Mark Franich at: mfranich@mffmlaw.com
Mark B. Fredkin is a civil litigator with over 30 years of courtroom experience. An honors graduate from Stanford University and the University of Southern California Law School, Mr. Fredkin has handled and tried almost every conceivable contract, commercial tort and personal injury matter. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants, and has handled cases involving tens of millions of dollars and jury trials lasting up to 13 weeks. He was voted Trial Lawyer of the Year in Santa Clara County in 2006 and was elected into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and Litigation Council of America.
Mr. Fredkin teaches Civil Litigation at Stanford University Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop, and has appeared on various continuing education panels in the Bay Area. He has served by invitation as a trial judge in Superior Court and has been on the County Executive Committee for Civil Litigation.
As a natural extension of his trial practice, Mr. Fredkin conducts complex mediation and arbitration proceedings. He has successfully mediated complicated commercial and injury matters in various jurisdictions including American Arbitration Association arbitrations.
Mr. Fredkin is a past Mayor of the City of Monte Sereno in the County of Santa Clara. He also has served as president and board member of several non-profit organizations. He counts among his references not only clients and other attorneys but Appellate and Superior Court Judges before whom he has practiced.
Contact Mark Fredkin at: mfredkin@mffmlaw.com
Anthony Marsh joined the Firm in 1982 and has been a partner since 1985. He litigates a wide variety of cases, with an emphasis on construction defect, landslide, insurance coverage, insurance bad faith, real estate, breach of contract, and personal injury cases. He usually represents individuals and small businesses. He has tried jury cases in both State and Federal Court.
He is a strong proponent of alternative dispute resolution as a means of reaching optimum settlements at a lower cost to the client. Recent cases include a successful class action lawsuit on behalf of 95 single family homeowners, a class action lawsuit on behalf of 300 businesses whose telephone service was shut down when telephone lines were destroyed during a construction project, a seven figure settlement of an insurance bad faith case on behalf of a local manufacturer, various multiparty landslide cases in which he has obtained insurance coverage to pay for repairs, numerous settlements on behalf of homeowners for defective construction, and a $600,000 settlement of a sexual harassment case. He recently obtained an important appellate court decision regarding insurance coverage for landslide repairs on the insured’s own property.
Mr.
Marsh earned his law degree in 1978 from the
Contact Tony Marsh at: tmarsh@mffmlaw.com
William Siamas, a partner, started with the firm
in 1988, after graduating with honors from the
Mr. Siamas’ litigation practice
emphasizes complex corporate and commercial business litigation. He also is experienced in cases involving
land use, governmental and constitutional law.
Mr. Siamas serves as corporate counsel for several small businesses in
the Bay Area, providing advice concerning a variety of corporate, contract and
securities law issues. He holds a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the
Contact William Siamas at: wsiamas@mffmlaw.com
Linda Macleod, a partner, is a skilled litigator of both personal injury and commercial cases and also counsels business and employee clients on employment law issues. She has developed particular expertise in trade secret cases involving the rights and liabilities of employees who leave employers and start new businesses, having litigated these cases from the preliminary injunction stage through appeal. She enjoys marked success in presenting practical motions and arguing discovery issues in Superior Court and before special masters. She has successfully tried cases before the Superior Court, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission, and the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.
Ms. MacLeod obtained her
undergraduate degree from
Contact Linda Macleod at: lmacleod@mffmlaw.com
Elizabeth Pappy is a partner with Morgan, Franich, Fredkin & Marsh in San Jose, and has been successfully litigating for over seventeen years. Her practical common sense approach to litigation has helped numerous clients navigate the litigation process aggressively, yet cost-effectively. Ms. Pappy strongly believes that a business solution is the best solution to a business problem. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego. She graduated from Santa Clara University Law Schooland received the American Jurisprudence award in Legal Ethics.
Ms. Pappy's areas of practice include business litigation, representing companies engaged in a wide variety of business enterprises including scrap metal, manufacturing for the high tech industry, high tech companies, construction companies, and commercial landlords and tenants regarding a variety of contractual and other business disputes; mechanic's lien and construction litigation, and contract preparation for subcontractors and general contractors; real estate matters involving fraud and property rights; employment litigation (all aspects of wage and hour, meal time/break issues, FMLA leave, sexual harassment and wrongful termination); personal injury and medical/dental malpractice. Ms. Pappy has also been engaged by family law practitioners in dissolution actions to assist with litigation of discrete issues arising in the context of the dissolution proceedings. She is a past practitioner of bankruptcy law and continues to litigate in bankruptcy court for business clients, and provide legal advice to clients who find themselves as creditors in bankruptcies. Ms. Pappy also provides legal advice to corporate clients regarding employment and human resources matters and business issues, and strategies to avoid litigation when potential disputes arise.
Contact Elizabeth Pappy at: epappy@mffmlaw.com
Donn Waslif, a partner, successfully litigates cases in all courts in the greater San Francisco Bay Area for individuals, companies and governmental entities. His areas of practice include contract disputes, commercial torts, catastrophic personal injuries and medical malpractice claims, and he has tried cases in both State and Federal Court.
Mr. Waslif graduated Cum Laude from the University of San Francisco where he was a Louise Davies Scholar and inducted into Alpha Sigma Nu. He earned his law degree from Loyola Law School (Los Angeles). He is a member of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and has served on the board of the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association.
Contact Donn Waslif at: dwaslif@mffmlaw.com
Gretchen E. Birkheimer practices general civil and probate litigation, representing individuals and small businesses in litigation and binding arbitration and before state and local agencies, including the Contractor's State License Board and the Unemployment Appeals Insurance Board. Ms. Birkheimer is experienced in contract and employment disputes, construction litigation and environmental and administrative law. She is a member of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Ms. Birkheimer graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California at Irvine, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her law degree at the University of California at Berkeley: Boalt Hall School of Law, where she served as Associate Editor on the Ecology Law Quarterly and as a member of the Moot Court Board and Boalt Hall Women's Association.
Contact Gretchen Birkheimer at: gbirkheimer@mffmlaw.com
Douglas
J. Morgan | Mark Franich | Mark
B. Fredkin
Anthony
Marsh | William Siamas | Linda
Macleod
Elizabeth
Pappy | Donn
Waslif | Gretchen
E. Birkheimer
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