weintraub genshlea chediak

LAW CORPORATION

Joseph S. Genshlea
Founding Shareholder
jgenshlea@weintraub.com
T: 916.558.6020
F: 916.446.1611

Practice Areas
Litigation
Joe is a founding shareholder of the firm. He received his undergraduate degree from
Stanford in 1960 and his law degree from U.C. Hastings in 1964. He served for two
years as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Thomas MacBride from 1964-66. He also
served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1961-1967.

Education
LL.B. Hastings College of the Law, University of California, 1964
Stanford University, B.A., 1960

Bar Admissions
California

Court Admissions
State of California
U.S. District Court, Eastern District and
Northern Districts of California
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Honors and Affiliations

American College of Trial Lawyers
Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame Award, California State Bar Litigation Section, 2001
Distinguished Lawyer of the Year,
Sacramento County Bar Association,
2001

With over 40 years of practice before the federal and California trial and appellate
courts, Joe has handled many complex business jury trials and is acknowledged as one
of the foremost business trial lawyers in the state. Joe has successfully represented
financial institutions in lender liability cases, commercial real estate, agricultural lending and related matters, and has handled a variety of securities cases, shareholder
derivative suits, copyright infringement matters, real estate litigation, partnership and
corporate dissolutions, accounting malpractice, contract disputes and fraud claims, to
name but a few. Joe is member of the California State Bar Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame
and has been in Northern California SuperLawyers and Best Lawyers in America since
their respective inceptions and was the Best Lawyers in America selection as the Commercial Litigator of the Year for Sacramento, 2010. Joe has also been a Fellow of the
American College of Trial Lawyers since 1986.
Joe has lectured for the Business Litigation Section of the State Bar of California, as
well as for a variety of continuing education of the bar courses related to litigation. Joe
served for many years as a panelist with local federal judges conducting courses on
recent developments in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and local rules for practitioners in the Eastern District. Joe conducts seminars on commercial lending litigation
and has lectured to groups such as the Sacramento Young Lawyers Association, the
Business Litigation and Business Counseling Sections of the Sacramento County Bar
Association, as well as the Sonoma and San Mateo County Bars.
A Sacramento native, Joe has strong ties to the area and places great significance on
local civic activities through his many years of involvement in area non-profit groups.
He is a past member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Valley Vision, a non-profit dedicated to promoting regional thinking. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Special Olympics of
Northern California and a member of the Executive Committee of Protect and Defend, a
public education program. Joe is also a Board member of Sierra Forever Families, an
agency devoted to placing foster children for adoption; and a member of the Sacramento Theater Company Foundation Board.
Joe is a member of the American Leadership Forum, Mtn. Valley Chapter and a former
Chair of the Board and served on the Board of Directors of KVIE Channel 6 (public television), the Sacramento Symphony, the League to Save Lake Tahoe and was a co-chair
of the Sacramento Regional Economic Forum. He is a former Trustee of the Mercy Hospital Foundation and a founding member of the Board of Directors of Gateway Foundation, a home for alcoholic women. Additionally, Joe has twice served as a Trustee of
Christian Brothers High School.
Joe also finished 5,411 in the 83rd annual running of the Boston AA Marathon.

Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of

Court, Bencher and former member of
Executive Committee
Alumnus of the Year, Sacramento Chapter of the Hastings Alumni Association,
2002
The Best Lawyers in America, 19932009
Northern California SuperLawyers,
2004-2010
Sacramento Host Committee, Chair,
2008-2009
Former Chairman, Lawyer Delegation,
Eastern District of California, Ninth
Circuit Judicial Conference
Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade
Organization (President, 1990-1991)
American Leadership Forum, Senior Fellow and Former Chair
Sacramento County Law Library Foundation, Founding Member

A sample of the varied nature of Joes practice follows:

ITSI Development Corp. v. California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF)

Joe represented CARF in an action brought by the plaintiff to establish that it
had a copyright in the simulcasting of horse racing at various county fairs
around the state. In a federal jury trial, the defendant established that, even
though the plaintiff did hold the copyright, an implied license had been
granted to CARF and that the plaintiff was estopped to deny the license, in
equity. The case was affirmed on appeal by the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals.

Bank of America v. KMPG Peat-Marwick

Joe represented the Bank of America against KMPG for accounting malpractice. The bank had extended a loan to a mortgage banker in reliance on an
audited financial statement prepared by KMPG. The Bank was successful in a
state court jury trial winning for the Bank all of its losses together with a jury
verdict for punitive damages in favor of the Bank.

California State Lottery v. High Integrity Systems, Inc. (HISI)

In this case Joe represented High Integrity Systems, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Equifax defending a case brought by the California State Lottery
claiming a breach of the HISI contract to automate lottery ticket sales and to
supply back-office functions to the State Lottery. HISI cross-complained for
damages and after extensive discovery, the case was settled. HISI prevailed
on its cross-complaint. In the settlement the Lottery agreed to an initial
payment of $25 million with 66 months of revenue guaranteed to HISI. The
anticipated total revenue stream being well in excess of $100 million.

Delta Investment Company v. Union Bank

In this case Joe represented a wealthy local businessman who guaranteed a
loan from Union Bank to a company of which he owned 50%. Union Bank
was represented at trial by Morrison & Forester and on appeal by Joseph Ball
of Ball, Hunt, Brown & Baerwitz. After a six-month jury trial, Joes client was
exonerated from his guarantee and awarded for all of his lost investments in
the company and punitive damages against the Bank. The case was settled
on appeal.

California Fair Political Practices Commission v. Dianne Feinstein

In this case Joe represented Senator Feinstein in resisting an enforcement
proceeding brought in connection with her campaign for Governor of the State
of California. Joe was able to settle the matter for a small fraction of the
claim made against her.

Sacramento Savings Bank v. B&B and Sons Enterprises, Inc. et al

For more than eight years Joe served as lead counsel representing
Sacramento Savings Bank and its successor-in-interest, Alleghany Properties
in a vehemently disputed joint venture dissolution involving B&B and Sons
Enterprises, Inc. and the ownership of approximately 700 acres of real estate
located in the Natomas area of Sacramento valued variously among the
parties between $30 million and $160 million.
The matter was arbitrated twice. The initial arbitration was held before
former U.S. District Judge Raul Ramierz, former Court of Appeal Judge George
Paras and former San Francisco Superior Court Judge Victor Campalongo.
Following a successful decision by the arbitrators and a subsequent success at
the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District, litigation was renewed by
B&B and Sons Enterprises, Inc. In spite of the successful appeal, the matter
was once again compelled into arbitration. This time the arbitration was held
before former judges Ramirez and Paras and former San Francisco Superior
Court Judge Ira Brown. The arbitrators once again ruled in favor of
Sacramento Savings Bank and its successor-in-interest Alleghany Properties
on all issues. Our clients recovered their costs of suit and attorneys fees as
well.

 Woodland Production Credit Association v. Nicolai Nicholas

Joes client Nicolai Nicholas was a cattle breeder who had his herd foreclosed
upon by the Woodland Production Credit Association (WPCA). Nicholas c
contended that the WPCA loan was a capital loan and couldnt be called when
cattle prices dropped pursuant to the normal cattle cycle. After a six-month
jury trial, the jury found in favor of Nicholas on the defense of the complaint
and on the cross-complaint giving him all of his compensatory damages plus
$500,000 in punitive damages. The trial judge struck the punitive damages.
The matter was affirmed on appeal.

Shuper/Gumps Arbitration
In this matter Joe represented the Shuper family. The Shupers owned the
building on Post Street in San Francisco which, at the time, housed the Gumps
store. The lease between the Shupers and Gumps had expired and the
arbitrators were to determine the fair rental value of the property for the
renewal lease term. The matter was arbitrated in San Francisco before three
commercial real estate brokers with a result satisfactory to the Shupers.

Bank of America v. State of California

In this case Joe represented the Bank of America against the State of
California. It was a contractual indemnity case arising out of the settlement
by the Bank of a qui tam action brought against the Bank claiming the Bank
had failed to escheat millions of dollars in unclaimed bond funds to the State.
The settlement amount was $187 million in return for which the Bank received
the States agreement to indemnify against future claims. Alaska made such
a claim resulting in this action which was ultimately settled favorably to the
Bank.

Hird & Hawes v. Michael Best & Friedrich, et al

In this case Joe represented Michael Best & Friedrich a law firm based in
Milwaukee. It represents Harley Davidson. In earlier action, Harley Davidson
had been the plaintiff in a matter which arose out of its commitment to a local
company to develop a process for decorating Harley Davidson products. The
contract called for a substantial investment by Harley Davidson and it
developed that the investment was fraudulently obtained. In its complaint,
Harley Davidson sued, among others, the plaintiffs in this action, Hird &
Hawes. Subsequent to the conclusion of that action, Hird & Hawes filed this
action for malicious prosecution against Harley Davidson and its attorneys,
among others. After extensive discovery and motion practice, the court
granted our motion for summary judgment on behalf of our client Michael Best
& Friedrich.

Templeton v. Emergency Physicians Medical Group (EPMG)

After the trial of this case in Las Vegas, EPMG retained Joe to settle a runaway verdict in a wrongful death case of approximately $30 million. After
lengthy and extensive negotiations, a settlement was effected for less than $1
million.

Cascade Housing v. Englund

Joe represented Cascade Housing which had purchased real property which
contained toxic and hazardous materials not disclosed by the seller. After a
court trial in Monterey County Superior Court, the Courts verdict was in favor
of Cascade Housing which was fully compensated, including attorneys fees.

Dublirer v. A.M.C.
In this case Joe represented Arthur Dublirer who was an investor in a Silicon
Valley company which had been acquired by A.M.C., a high tech firm then
located in Santa Barbara. Subsequent to the acquisition, the value of the
stock acquired by Dublirer in the transaction dropped dramatically. Our action
was based upon misrepresentations made by the acquired company in the
context of the acquisition. Due to the fact that it was a merger, A.M.C. be
came responsible for those representations. A.M.C. was represented by Stew
art Harrison of Brobeck Phleger & Harrison and we were able to settle the
matter for 100 percent of our clients claim.

 Macciavelli v. F.I. Dupont Glore Forgan, Inc.

Joe represented Dupont Glore Forgan a member of the New York Stock Ex
change against claims of fraud, negligence and violation of both state and
federal securities acts. Macciavelli had lost roughly $8 million in the stock
market crash of 1973 and brought this action to recover his losses. The claim
by the plaintiff was that he had made special margin call arrangements which
had been violated by the defendant brokerage company. After a federal court
jury trial, a verdict was returned in favor of the defendant.

Bains v. Bank of America

In this case Joe represented the Bank of America in an agricultural lender liability case arising out of the financial difficulties sustained by many farmers in
California during the 1980s. Bains had farming operations up and down the
Central Valley as well as in Canada. The debt owed to the Bank of America
was in excess of $12 million. Bains alleged a host of claims against Bank of
America including breach of a previous work-out agreement, breach of agreements to provide crop financing, mishandling of crop proceeds, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent and intentional misrepresentation surrounding the
loan documents and work-out agreements. The matter was arbitrated before
Lawrence Jordan of San Francisco. The result of the arbitration was that Bank
of America recovered 100 percent of its claim, plus its attorneys fees.

Miller v. Circle K.
In this case Joe represented Circle K which had been sued by the previous
owners of a local convenience store which had been acquired by Circle K by
merger. The claim was that Circle K had committed fraud and violated various state and federal securities acts in connection with the acquisition. Plaintiff sought compensatory and punitive damages. After a federal court trial
before Judge E. Dean Price, a decision was entered in favor of the defendant.
However, and after a motion for a new trial and over a year had passed, the
Court reversed itself and entered a different decision in favor of the plaintiff
and granted punitive damages. The matter was appealed to the Ninth Circuit
which directed the case back to the District Court for a settlement which was
effected for an amount which was less than what had been offered before the
trial of the case.

Sacramento Savings & Loan v. Price-Waterhouse, et al.

In this matter Joe represented Sacramento Savings & Loan Association which
had been the subject of a large-scale fraud. Action was brought against various defendants, including Price-Waterhouse, based upon its failure to detect
the fraud during its annual audit of Sacramento Savings. The case was ultimately settled among all the defendants and the savings and loan recovered
all of its losses.

Lofings v. Lightoleer
In this case Joe represented Lofings, a local retailer of lighting fixtures. The
suit was brought alleging an illegal tying arrangement whereby Lightoleer, the
manufacturer of lighting fixtures would require the retailer to purchase certain
fixtures before it would be able to buy other high-demand items. Lightoleer
was represented by McDonough Holland Schwartz & Allen and after discovery
was underway, we were able to settle the matter for 100 percent of the losses
claimed by Lofings.

Miller v. Sunrise Bank.

In this action Joe represented Sunrise Bank against claims made by a group of
doctors which had suffered fraudulent losses in their pension plans effected by
the plan administrator who was then in prison. The doctors claimed Sunrise
Bank had knowledge of the activities of the administrator through its
extensive dealings with the fund administrator through his deposits at the
Bank. The case was tried to a Superior Court jury. The result of the decision
was that the net recovery was to Sunrise Bank against the doctors including

Mediation and Arbitration

Over the years Joe has been asked to act as both mediator and arbitrator in a
wide variety of cases. At this point in his career Joe is devoting more and
more of his time in this area and is actively seeking to expand this part of his
practice.

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