• Ideal Industries leased 17,466 square feet of space at Avenue of Science Center at 15070 Avenue of Science in San Diego 92126. JLL’s Managing Director Jay Alexander and Senior Vice President Ryan Grove represented lessor HIR Avenue of Science. The tenant was represented by Zach Milrood of Hughes Marino. The 65-month lease is valued at $1.1 million.
  
  

The three-building, 112,380-square-foot Avenue of Science Center in Carmel Mountain Ranch at 15070, 15090 and 15110 Avenue of Science was sold in 2005 for $24.1 million. The buyer/lessor, HIR Avenue of Science, is an entity of Harsch Investment Properties of Portland, Ore. In early 2000, the property sold for $11.9 million.

• Excel Mortgage Servicing Inc. leased 1,753 square feet of space in Beachwalk at 437 S. Pacific Highway 101 in Solana Beach 92075. JLL’s Alexander and Associate Chaneng Joe represented the lessor, The Muller Company. The tenant was represented by Jordon Williams of Strom Commercial. The 12-month lease is valued at $58,000.
  
  
• Susco Media Inc. leased 12,196 square feet of space at Rancho Bernardo Tech Center at 1011 Via Frontera in San Diego 92178. JLL’s Alexander and Grove, along with David Harper of Colliers International, negotiated lessor Windell Investments. The tenant was represented by Jessica Breaux of Century 21. The 60-month lease is valued at $549,000.
  
  

San Diego Daily Transcript 

Regents Bank, now a subsidiary of Los Angeles based Grandpoint Capital, hired Steve Sefton as president, a title formerly held by Dan Yates, the bank’s chief executive officer, the bank said May 10.

Yates said he hired Sefton — no relation to the Seftons of San Diego Trust & Savings fame — to help in the transition and growth of the bank that is based in La Jolla and has about $360 million in assets. Yates is also president of Grandpoint Capital, a private equity firm.

Sefton was most recently senior vice president of Citizens Business Bank in Ontario, managing one of its largest offices. He began his banking career in 1984 at City National Bank.

Yates said Regents’ acquisition of Escondido-based California Community Bank is on track for the third quarter and probably will happen in late August or early September.

Both Sefton and Cal Community CEO Larry Hartwig are joining Regents’ eight-member board of directors, Yates said.

San Diego Business Journal

Steven D. Sefton, a 28-year veteran of the Southern California banking industry, has been appointed president of Regents Bank. Dan C. Yates remains chief executive officer of the bank as well as president of Grandpoint Capital Inc., the parent company. Sefton previously was senior vice president of Citizen’s Business Bank, managing one of its largest regional offices. He joined the bank as the first manager of the headquarters’ Commercial Banking Group, where he worked for four years. From 1995 to 2008, Sefton worked for Mellon 1st Business Bank. In 2002, he was appointed regional vice president, managing a de novo commercial office he opened. From 1991 to 1995, he worked at Sanwa Bank as vice president and team leader. Sefton began his banking career at City National Bank, working at the Beverly Hills headquarters in 1984.

San Diego Metro

Regents Bank appointed Steven D. Sefton as president of the bank. Dan C. Yates remains chief executive officer of the bank as well as president of Grandpoint Capital Inc., the parent company of Regents Bank.

“Steve brings 28 years of Southern California banking experience to Regents,” said Yates. “I first met Steve when I recruited him to Mellon 1st Business Bank back in 1995, and I’ve enjoyed a close professional relationship with him for the past 17 years.”

From 1995 to 2008, Sefton worked for Mellon 1st Business Bank. In 2002, he was appointed regional vice president, managing a de novo commercial office he opened. From 1991 to 1995, he worked at Sanwa Bank as vice president and team leader.

San Diego Daily Transcript 

The Clean Water Act and the requirements it imposes on the Los Angeles River provide an excellent example of this dynamic. Bringing the urban, largely channelized body of water into compliance with the act’s goals will take an enormous investment of resources, time and effort. It will require efforts across jurisdictional boundaries and will require every individual within the Los Angeles River watershed to take responsibility for their impacts on water quality in the River. Not surprisingly, this level of investment raises questions about whether the goals set for the water body are attainable or even appropriate.

One of the Clean Water Act’s primary requirements is that U.S. states designate “Water Quality Standards” for every navigable water within their boundaries. These standards serve two main functions: allow for the assessment of water quality and provide a basis for determining what effluent discharge limitations may be allowed in order to protect the designated uses of the water body.

The Clean Water Act required water quality standards to be adopted shortly after passage of the act. This means that many of the designations were adopted at a time when the desire to achieve meaningful water quality improvements in each and every water body in the nation was driven by a national ethos of emergency. The book Silent Spring, which examined the effects of DDT, was only 10 years old, and the 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River was fresh in the collective memory. States adopted narrative and numeric standards for all water bodies within their jurisdiction, including those that were completely channelized and barely resembled free-flowing streams.

The first standards under the Clean Water Act were adopted for the Los Angeles River Basin in 1975. The most recent version of the basin plan designated full body contact recreation and commercial fishing as existing or potential uses for the Los Angeles River. While these designations meet the goals of the Clean Water Act, they are far from a reflection of current “on the ground” conditions.

Over 50 miles long, the Los Angeles River flows from the mountains above the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley to the ocean in Long Beach. Along the way, the river passes through 14 cities and numerous, diverse neighborhoods. Originally, the river meandered through wetlands, marshes, willow, alder, and sycamore. In the late 1930s, the Army Corps of Engineers initiated flood control projects and lined 80 percent of the river with concrete. Ironically, what was then considered progress, allowing much of the Los Angeles basin to be settled without risk of flood, is now viewed as degradation.

These changes to the structure of the river, and its use since the 1930’s as a regional storm drain, have made compliance with the water quality standards extremely difficult. Nonetheless, the Clean Water Act mandates that California, through the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, develop and implement limitations on the amount of pollutants that can be discharged into the river so that the river ultimately meets the full body contact recreation standard. These limits are known as total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) and under the Clean Water Act, any entities that discharge into the river comply with all limitations necessary to achieve those targets. The allocation of resources required to achieve those goals has led to questions about the propriety of the designations and spawned litigation over whether the Clean Water Act applies, and, if so, who is responsible for compliance.

In July, 2010, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board finally completed its work on a bacteria TMDL for the Los Angeles River. The TMDL was controversial for a number of reasons. Foremost was the fact that it is based on the full body contact recreation standard. Entities who discharge into the Los Angeles River watershed argued vehemently that vast portions of the river are channelized, closed to public access, and thus unlikely to be used for full body contact recreation. As such, they claimed, imposing the high full body contact recreation standard simply did not make sense and that the estimated $5.4 billion price tag for compliance was simply too high to impose on municipalities and other dischargers given the benefits to be gained.

Second, the dischargers argued that compliance was simply not feasible. The largest source of bacteria pollution for the Los Angeles River is storm water and dry weather flows directed off of city streets and into the river. The bacteria are present in discharges from individual properties to the municipal storm drain system and thrive once they enter the system. All of these flows reach the river at some point because it is the low point that drains water off of the land and into the ocean. Thus, the river’s role as a regional flood channel is in many ways the cause of its inability to meet a full body contact standard. This ongoing use is also one of the reasons the estimated price tag for meeting compliance is so high.

The Los Angeles River illustrates the tension between compliance with environmental goals and the costs and benefits associated with meeting those goals. What had been considered progress has changed the character of the river to the extent that attaining a “fishable swimmable” water quality in many stretches is not feasible, or at the very least will cost billions of dollars. Nonetheless, the Clean Water Act requires that this work take place. Because cities are ultimately liable for paying for the compliance, dedicating funds to this effort will mean an increase in taxes and fees or a decrease in services.

About the Author

Andre Monette is an associate in the Environmental Law & Natural Resources Practice Group of Best Best & Krieger LLP. Monette works with both public and private clients in matters involving water quality, water rights, wetlands, and state and federal hazardous and solid waste issues. He also works extensively with water districts, cities, counties, and school districts on matters involving the Federal Clean Water Act and California’s Porter Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Monette may be reached at Andre.Monette@bbklaw.com

Doug Manchester plans to build condominiums, office space and retail space on the land around the U-T San Diego headquarters in Mission Valley.

U-T San Diego reporters may soon be sharing their space with cranes and construction crews as newspaper owner and developer Doug Manchester prepares to build a mixed-use development at the newspaper's Mission Valley property, according to notices surrounding the building.

According to the City of San Diego "notice of application," Manchester plans to build 198 residential condominium units, each with parking, 6,470 square feet of retail space, and 234,415 square feet of office space. The Mission Valley office market has been recovering and could be tight by the time these projects come online, commercial real estate brokers said.

Neither U-T San Diego owner Doug Manchester, U-T San Diego Publisher John Lynch nor U-T San Diego editor Jeff Light returned calls for comment.

The U-T reported details of the development on its own website on Saturday, after news had broken in the North County Times the previous day. The project will include a 22-floor residential building, a 10-floor office building, a parking garage, a pool, a fitness center and tennis court, and a biking and jogging trail alongside the San Diego River.

The residential portion of the project will face the river, and there will be a pedestrian bridge linking the site to the Fashion Valley Mall, said Andy La Dow, an office broker for Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial. La Dow met with Manchester and the development team before the project became public.

"It's just a tremendous piece of property," La Dow said. It's the most centrally located site in San Diego."

Layoffs and business closings left many offices vacant through much of a recession that began in 2008. But large office spaces of 50,000 square feet or more have become scarce in recent months as companies hire again, and Mission Valley in particular has been getting tighter. The vacancy rate is at 13 percent and expected to fall as the year progresses, said Bess Wakeman, an executive vice president in San Diego with Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate services firm.

"We hit the bottom in Mission Valley and we're beginning to climb," she said.

The project probably will take four years to clear all the paper work and get built, Manchester told the U-T.

Since buying the paper formerly known as the Union-Tribune in November, Manchester has invested in the newspaper's headquarters building, adding a television studio and a restaurant on the lower floor. But many observers thought his primary interest in the newspaper was the real estate, and this move seems to give credibility to that notion.

At least one newsroom staffer was unaware of the project when reached for comment.

The San Diego County assessor values the 12.9-acre headquarters at $51 million, but its tax valuation hasn't changed in decades.

Manchester previously confirmed that he paid $110 million to Beverly Hills-based private equity firm Platinum Equity to buy U-T San Diego, and that the paper was earning roughly $30 million by one measure ---- sometimes referred to as a company's EBITDA, an acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Manchester has a long history as a developer in the region, having tried to build hotels in Oceanside and in downtown San Diego, and having built the Manchester Grand Hyatt near the San Diego Convention Center.

The plans for the development at U-T headquarters must still go before the Mission Valley Planning Group and the San Diego Planning Commission, and receive approval from the San Diego City Council.

North County Times

Patents given to innovative drugs from “pioneer” companies typically last from 17 to 20 years. Once the patents expire, generic drugs can hit the market.

In the next few years, several blockbuster drugs, such as Lipitor for cholesterol, are scheduled to go off patent, opening up lucrative global markets for generics. This has brought drug legislation enacted two decades ago back into prominence.

The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act enacted in 1984, otherwise known as the Hatch-Waxman act after its sponsors Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), helped establish generic drugs.

Hatch-Waxman amended the original Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, allowing generic drug makers to file an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Food and Drug Administration approval, and to challenge the validity of the patent filed by the pioneer, without the risk of big damages for patent infringement by entering the market.

"It was an attempt to balance and encourage innovators to recoup the dollars they invested in it but at the same time make affordable drugs available for the public — it really was designed to balance those competing interests," said Juanita Brooks, a principal at Fish & Richardson with a trial practice in intellectual property litigation.

Juanita Brooks

Brooks pointed out how it takes millions of dollars to develop a drug, get FDA approval and bring it to market. "And that's only for drugs approved, there are many that don't make it," she said.

So if generic drug makers were allowed to enter the market without spending time and money on the research process, there would be no motivation for the pioneers to invest in innovative research and development.

But sometimes, generic drug makers don't want to wait for the patent to expire, they want to come on the market much sooner, and that's when patent litigation comes into play.

Doug Carsten

Brooks recalled several successful cases that went to trial, including one involvingAllergan (NYSE: AGN), an Orange County-based company with an eye medication called Alphagan P for glaucoma.

A generic drug came on the market before the patent expired, claiming Allergan's patent was not valid. The case was tried in the regional courts and decided in Allergan's favor. It went to the federal circuit, and Brooks got a decision in their favor again.

With Hatch-Waxman legislation, when a generic drug wants to come on the market, the company files an ANDA with the FDA, then it looks up the patents held by the pioneer, which are listed in the so-called “orange book,” to ensure there are no violations.

According to Douglas Carsten, a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a generic drug maker has four options at this point: It may find there are no related patents; patents have expired at which point it informs the FDA to go ahead and review its application; if any valid patents are found, it will ask the FDA to approve its application and give final approval when the patents do expire; or it can find patents and decide they are not valid, that its own generic drug does not infringe on those patents, at which point it asks the FDA to give approval right then.

The generic drug maker would also inform the pioneer that it sees no patent infringement, which gives the pioneer a heads-up and the opportunity to sue the generic drug maker, even before it comes on the market.

Once the pioneer sues, the generic drug will not be allowed on the market for 30 months, even if it has approval.

"Hatch-Waxman provides for this unique process, even before the generic hits the market, because once it does, the innovator will lose market share," Brooks said.

She contends that the legislation is really a framework for allowing this litigation to be resolved before the generic comes to market and that beyond that, it really does not favor one side or the other.

But there is a constant push to allow generics to get on the market quicker, to get rid of the 30-month stay or shorten it.

Brooks also said many assume the generic is the exact same thing as the original, but in actuality, it's a biosimilar — equivalent to, but not the same.

With biosimilars, generic drug makers only need to show the FDA that they have the same amount of the effective ingredient, but she cautions that it may not have the same therapeutic effect.

In the case of Allergan, the generic company manufactured the drug with a lower pH or acidity level, thinking to avoid the patent infringement, but the pH amount was essential for the drug to be effective, so reducing it also reduced the drug's efficacy.

Brooks recommended that innovators check if the generic is truly as effective as the branded drug. If it isn't, a citizen's petition can be filed with the FDA, to show that the generic they're considering is not as therapeutically effective or may even be dangerous.

"That's a second front that not all innovators think of — is there a safety or efficacy situation they can consider and act on — that it really isn’t a bioequivalent," Brooks said.

She recalled going into this field without strong feelings one way or the other. But once she saw the time, effort and money that went into the development of drugs, she was firmly on the side of the pioneers.

"I represent patent litigation on both sides in other industries, but as far as pharma goes, you only represent the pioneers or the generics, but not both," Brooks said.

On the other side of the coin are patent attorneys who work on behalf of generic drug makers.

Carsten, who focuses on complex patent litigation, agreed that Hatch-Waxman gives some advantages to both sides.

"The branded drugs weren't keen on it, so Congress sweetened the deal by adding the 30-month stay. But it has done well by generics, which have grown like gangbusters since then," Carsten said.

The expiring patents provide generics with big opportunities, but Carsten thinks there's much ado about this “patent cliff,” since there have been similar periods in history when big drugs went off patent.

"There will always be a future in small molecule drugs and new opportunities for brands and generics," he said.

He also thinks biosimilars are the way of the future.

With small molecules, one can show that sample A is the same as what sample B has in its product. But with biosimilars, it's different, because it's very difficult to demonstrate that sample A is the same as sample B with complex proteins.

Carsten explained that until President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, there was no formal approval pathway for a generic version of a biologic product.

Obama's reform laws included for the first time an outline for how the FDA would handle biosimilar applications.

"The FDA has decided to take it on a case-by-case basis, since it does not want to use a one-size-fits-all approach for products that are widely different. This is exciting, sort of the next frontier for pharma patent litigation going forward," Carsten said.

But there's also worry that the case-by-case approach is no approach at all, since there is no certainty that a biosimilar will get approved at the end of the road.

"I think the jury is very much out on how the FDA is going to implement the biosimilars law since it's different from the Hatch-Waxman area for small molecule," Carsten said.

San Diego Daily Transcript 

The NBC chimes. Aflac's quacking duck. The shape of a Coca-Cola bottle.

All are well known symbols and worthy of trademark protection as much as the brand names they represent.

"If you hear the NBC chimes or the Intel sound on a TV commercial and you're not in the room, you still know what that commercial is about," said San Diego trademark attorney Lisa Martens, a principal with Fish & Richardson. "T-Mobile does all pink. Folks are trying to get recognized for something other than their name."

The lion's roar at the beginning of any MGM movie also is a registered trademark.

Textures, fragrances and shapes all can be registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. But the key is they have to have used it enough so consumers will associate them with a certain brand.

"Companies will pour a lot of money into brand recognition, and it doesn't simply mean a word or a picture," said San Diego's Andrew Skale, a patent, trademark and copyright attorney for Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C. "It's hearing or seeing or sensing something, and now you have instant recognition of a company."

Companies can apply for a nontraditional trademark the same way they apply for the more typical marks. Sound, texture and shape marks can be registered on the first day because they're distinctly different, Martens said.

Colors are more difficult and can't be protected right away. A company has to use it consistently, like in advertising, and prevent any competitors from using it to secure a registration.

Fashion designer Christian Louboutin received a registered trademark for a glossy red outsole on women's shoes, but is having trouble enforcing that mark in a case against Yves Saint Laurent America Inc.

In August, a judge denied Louboutin's request for a preliminary injunction to stop Yves Saint Laurent from using the same color red for one of its shoes. Martens said Louboutin might have erred by choosing to go after one of Yves' entirely red shoes instead of one that just had a red sole.

Several years ago, the motorcycle maker Harley Davidson tried to trademark the sound of its engine, but other manufacturers opposed and, after years of battle, Harley Davidson gave up.

Sometimes sound and color trademarks can be even more powerful than traditional marks, Martens said.

"They become so strong, nontraditional marks like the shape of the Coke bottle or the robin's egg blue of Tiffany's, because of that consumer recognition," she said.

Skale agreed, saying one only needs to see a pair of golden arches to know that it's McDonald's.

The registration process for a sound or a color or a shape is similar to a normal trademark. For a sound, the applicant has to describe it, give a written representation (like musical notes on a staff), and describe the goods and services associated with it. They also have to attach an audio file.

Every trademark is limited to a particular goods or service. When some marks become really famous, they can cover more industries.

"It's a little more expensive, a little more work, but in general the process is very much the same," Martens said.

Martens said a Fish & Richardson client is trying to trademark a citrus scent for its biofuel. It will require personally bringing a sample to the PTO so they can smell it.

Skale, the Mintz Levin attorney, also said it's a good idea to register the trademark before the product is available commercially. It allows the public vetting process to take place and helps a company avoid mass production of an infringing package or product.

Once it's registered and in use, companies should always watch the market to make sure no competitor is using it.

"It's important to police your mark and protect your mark no matter what it is — a symbol or an image or a sound," Skale said. "You don’t want it to be diluted."

San Diego Daily Transcript

The funding shortfall has forced businesses to consider alternative resolution techniques and made law firms dabble in creative billing arrangements, according to industry experts who gathered at aDaily Transcript roundtable sponsored by California Bank & Trust.

"The whole system seems to lack common sense," said San Diego attorney Robert Caplan, managing member of Seltzer Caplan McMahon & Vitek. "One of our attorneys got an arbitration award and, to get an order out of the court, it takes four or five months just to get a hearing. These things seem to be ridiculous."

Civil lawsuits shoulder the brunt of the backlog because criminal trials are constitutionally required to be heard within a certain timeframe. Many civil trials end up taking the maximum five-year time frame to start. Faced with a lengthy delay, companies are choosing to go to arbitration or mediation to find a solution.

"We see it all the time where high asset people are starting to say, 'I don't know if I want to pursue that breach of lease case,’” said Ken Lange, a partner in the San Diego office of Kimball, Tirey & St. Johnwho represents shopping centers and commercial office buildings.

The San Diego law firmHecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg and Bagleyrepresents a lot of companies as well, and its clients are hesitant to go to court because of the expense and uncertainty about the outcome.

"So there's a lot of pressure to do arbitrations and other alternative dispute resolutions to the point where almost 95 percent of the cases we get are settled before they ever get to court," said Darryl Solberg, managing partner of Hecht Solberg. "Business people are making an economic decision. Is it beneficial to continue it and not have a resolution? Or am I going to be able to get at least a resolution I can deal with in a shorter period of time."

Caplan said the litigators in his firm still like going to trial because it preserves their ability to appeal and keeps all the rules of evidence. But he acknowledges the firm's business attorneys prefer mediation.

Corporate attorney Eddie Wang Rodriguez, managing member ofMintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovskey and Popeo's San Diego office, doesn't like courtrooms either. He agrees that, in most cases, it's an economic decision.
"We look at the cost of doing business," he said. "If you have 'x' number of litigation matters a year, how much are you willing to spend? Let's just budget for that and get them resolved quickly as possible. If arbitration is the way to do it, let's go that route."

During the last three years, California's courts have absorbed $653 million in budget cuts, amounting to a 23 percent reduction in general funds, according to the California Administrative Office of the Courts. Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal for the 2012-13 budget includes a provision that would cut an additional $125 million if his tax extension measure doesn't pass in November.

The funding shortfall is having an effect on everybody.

"For us, delayed justice is no justice," said Vince Bartolotta, a founding partner of the personal injury law firm Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire. "If you have a seriously injured head of household and that individual not only can't work, but they have no money and their only opportunity is through the court system, then they can't get their matter heard until five years out, what do they do in the meantime? It falls back on all of us taxpayers to try to help that family."

Cases can get moved from courtroom to courtroom — from Riverside to Indio in some instances — adding significant travel costs to the law firm. Delays also can add costs because the attorneys' fees continue to pile up until the case is heard.

"But when you're asking for attorney's fees at the end of a case, the judges are like, 'Why is it costing so much?' Because of your court system," said P. Randolph Finch Jr., managing partner ofMarks, Finch, Thornton & Baird. "It seems the longer they're on the bench, the more they get out of touch with the realities of running a business."
Companies, like the courts, are feeling the pinch of the recession, and they are asking for alternative fee arrangements to help contain their legal costs. One popular option is paying one flat rate for an entire case or a cap on certain portions of a case.

Some law firms try to blend the billable hour model with the flat-fee model.

"We've had a number of discussions with different clients about alternative fee arrangements," said San Diego's Pat Mendes, a partner withTyson & Mendes."But the predominant price model still has to be hourly, and is hourly, just because of the uncertainty that's associated with it. You never know what direction a litigated matter is going to go."

Law firms can even lose clients if a litigated matter drags on too long.

"We have handled clients for years on the business side, and you have one litigation matter that involves more fees than the entire business, and then you lost the client because they're annoyed with you," Caplan said.
Law firms have to watch their own bottom line and be careful to cover their costs.

Lesa Christenson, a partner with the San Diego family law firmABC&K, said she's really conscious about her billing and makes sure not to carry big receivables.

"In our case, the people still want to fight over the same issues in the same manner, but there's less to fight over," she said. "If you put it in hard dollars, sometimes you can get them to back down. They don't see it as a biz cost; it is a life cost."

Finch, the managing partner of Marks Finch, said the recession actually has given smaller firms an opportunity with the national firms. His firm took advantage of the recessed real estate market and signed a favorable 10-year lease.

"We can deliver the same or better results at a much lower cost that is beneficial," Finch said.

Other local offices that have been successful chalk it up to a strong firm culture.

"We're a people industry," Rodriguez said. "If you have a good culture — people who are there because they enjoy being at the firm, they like the clients, they like practicing with each other — they will stick together when times get rough."

Mendes agreed.

"You work hard, you work long hours sometimes, and it's important to feel good about the people you're in the trenches with," he said.

Roundtable Participants
Vince Bartolotta, Managing Partner, Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire
Robert Caplan, Managing Member, SeltzerCaplan McMahon & Vitek
Lesa Christenson, Partner, ABC&K
Randolph Finch Jr., Managing Partner, Marks, Finch, Thornton & Baird
Ken Lange, Senior Partner, Kimball, Tirey & St. John
Pat Mendes, Partner,Tyson & Mendes
Darryl Solberg, Managing Partner, Hecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg & Bagley
Eddie Wang Rodriguez, Managing Member,
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C.
Bernie Winans, Senior Vice President/Regional Manager, California Bank & Trust (sponsor)

San Diego Daily Transcript

Vickie E. Turner, partner at Wilson Turner Kosmo and adjunct professor at California Western School of Law, has one piece of advice for law students and recent graduates entering the job market: Be flexible.

“A lot of times students go to law school with a singular goal in mind, but I encourage people to explore a variety of options,” Turner said.

“It may not be the thing that they were originally interested in, but you have to be flexible in this challenging market. You might find something that you’ll ultimately do that you didn’t know existed.”

That simple maxim has held her in good stead throughout her life. As a child whose father was in the military, Turner moved around a lot — attending 13 different schools in the U.S. and abroad — before entering high school. Being flexible has also had its merits throughout a prosperous 30-year career, contributing to Turner’s confidence, sense of purpose, and the genuine joy she feels about helping people in her product liability practice.

Turner got her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1978. She said two tax seasons as an accountant drove her to the law because although she loves numbers, she wanted more interaction with people. She got her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1982. Shortly after winning the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy, Turner accepted a position at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps in San Diego, where she became an associate and was named partner in 1989. For the past 14 years, she’s been a name partner at Wilson Turner Kosmo, a small 25-lawyer firm where a majority of the partners and associates are women.

Turner said the excellent training she got at a big firm was significant to her growth as an attorney. That training allowed her to go to a smaller firm and have a quality practice. In comparing the two, she said WTK is a family-type environment, with a better sense of teamwork.

“Whenever something comes in the door or we get a new client, it’s all for one,” Turner said.

As an adjunct professor at Cal Western, Turner teaches in the STEPPS (Skills Training for Ethical and Preventive Practice and career Satisfaction) program. She spent the past eight months running a simulated law office and working simulated cases with a group of students who learned real world lawyering skills under her supervision.

Along with the advent of computer accessibility for information, Turner said practical courses and clinics, such as the STEPPS program, are much more prevalent today than they were when she was a law school student.

“It has increased the ability of people to practice coming out of law school, and they’re receiving a broader education,” she said.

A mother to three sons, Turner said maintaining a work/life balance has been particularly challenging. As is her practice area, largely product liability and class action — which involves complex dealings with engineers who are typically male — and according to Turner, not generally used to working with female attorneys in that area.

Turner has successfully defended manufacturers, distributors and retailers in complex liability claims throughout California and in 12 other states. She represents a broad range of companies from pharmaceuticals to power equipment to homeopathic medicine. She was defense counsel for Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) in a product liability case that was named one of the Top 20 Defense Counsel Verdicts in 2003.

Among the many awards and accolades Turner has received — she has been named one of San Diego’s top five product liability lawyers for five years in a row, was included in The Best Lawyers in America in 2010 and 2011, and named Best Lawyers’ 2012 San Diego Product Liability Litigation/Defendants Lawyer of the Year. She has also received outstanding service awards for her work in professional organizations, like the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association and the San Diego County Ethnic Minority Bar Association, which are dedicated to fostering diversity in the legal community.

Turner said the reality of being a woman minority partner in a law firm is achievable despite the fact that ethnic diversity in the legal field has been steadily decreasing since the 1990s, according to a report commissioned by the American Bar Association.

“The opportunities are there for women and women of color, but fewer opportunities for women of color,” Turner said. “You give up things to become a partner in a law firm whether you’re a male or female, and I think the rewards are amazing. More recently as companies have come to respect and value diversity, being a woman partner can be a positive for companies who are looking for diverse representation.”

Turner is thankful for the professional awards and accolades, but said her community work with children gives her the deepest satisfaction. She is committed to assisting African-American high school seniors through the San Diego Chapter of Links, Inc. Achiever Program, and Pathways 2 College, organizations that helps students prepare for college.

“It’s wonderful to get awards, but those awards that have come as a result of my work in the community are the most significant to me,” Turner said. “What really keeps me going is community involvement.”

San Diego Daily Transcript

Fish & Richardson principal Juanita Brooks has been named one of California’s  Top 75 Intellectual Property Litigators by the Daily Journal. Four attorneys from San Diego were included on the list, with Brooks being the only local female attorney.

Brooks was nominated for her successful results in multiple high profile patent infringement trials throughout the U.S.

The Daily Journal honor included a summary of Brooks‘ representation of Irvine-based Allergan Inc. against generic pharmacetuical companies in 2011Hatch-Waxman bench trials in which she persuaded judges in two cases that the patents for Allergan’s drugs were valid.  In one case, the court’s decision stated the defense expert’s credibility was “eviscerated on cross examination” by Brooks. The Daily Journal also noted her representation of Microsoft in its long-standing patent infringement suit with Lucent Technologies.

The Daily Journal is the largest legal newspaper in California.

Brooks has received many honors for her trial work throughout her 35 years of legal practice. Every year since 1987, Brooks’ peers have voted her as one the Best Lawyers in America.

In 2009, she was named to the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's (MCCA) national list of "Leading Law Firm Rainmakers." MCCA chose just fourteen attorneys for this honor, and Brooks is one of four women on the list.

In November 2011, IP360 named Brooks as one of the ten intellectual property “MVP’s” nationwide. She was the only woman to achieve this recognition.

Brooks joined Fish & Richardson in 2000 to focus solely on intellectual property litigation.

She resides in La Jolla, California.

About Fish & Richardson

Fish & Richardson is a global law firm providing strategic counseling and litigation services to innovative clients who seek to protect and maximize the value of their intellectual property (IP).  With more than 375 attorneys and technology specialists practicing IP strategy and counseling, IP litigation, and business litigation, Fish is known for its superior technical expertise.  Fish has been named top patent litigation firm in the country for eight straight years, a premier IP firm for America’s biggest companies, and an elite top tier law practice.  For more information, visit www.fr.com or follow @fishrichardson on Twitter.

La Jolla Patch

Shareholders of California Community Bank, based in Escondido with $240 million in assets, approved the $30 million sale of the bank to Grandpoint Capital, a Los Angeles private equity company, CCB said April 30.

CCB said 77.3 percent of its shareholders approved the transaction that will result in the bank becoming a subsidiary of San Diego-based Regents Bank, which Grandpoint acquired earlier this year.

Assuming bank regulators give approval, the deal should close in the third quarter.

Cal Community CEO Larry Hartwig, who spearheaded the bank’s founding in 2003, said, “Simply put, the merger is a win-win.”

When combined with Regents, CCB’s assets will bring the bank up to about $600 million and eight branches

San Diego Business Journal

***

Black & Veatch Corp leased 17.7k SF at Willow Creek Corporate Center, 10089 Willow Creek Rd in San Diego, from LBA Realty. Jones Lang LaSalle’s Tony Russell, Richard Gonor, and Tim Olson repped the landlord. Studley’s Ron Magnaghi represented the tenant. The 38-month lease is valued at $1.4M

Real Estate Bisnow

The San Diego Redevelopment Agency has strategically invested public redevelopment dollars to attract billions in private investment to develop or improve Horton Plaza, the historic Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park, Little Italy, a new Convention Center, a rehabilitated waterfront, thousands of new condos and apartments and more than 9,000 new hotel rooms. Today, Downtown epitomizes successful urban revitalization.

However, most visitors and residents are unaware of one of Downtown’s greatest achievements — affordable housing. Nearly 20 percent of Downtown’s housing stock is affordable to low- and moderate-income households. Redevelopment has funded more than 4,500 affordable homes. Another 600 have been approved and 550 are under review. In Downtown San Diego, these affordable housing developments are not the urban renewal eyesores of old, but rather well-designed buildings carefully integrated into the fabric of each neighborhood.

This success has been achieved even though California provides few programs to fund affordable housing and, unlike other states, has no dedicated affordable housing funding source. An unfortunate reality is that the Golden State is home to four of the nation’s five least affordable homeownership markets. It’s also one the country’s least affordable rental markets.

California’s single most successful affordable housing tool has been redevelopment law, which allowed new property taxes generated within blighted communities to be reinvested in neighborhood infrastructure and affordable housing. Unique to California, 20 percent of redevelopment’s tax increment revenue must be set aside for low- and moderate-income housing, generating about $1 billion a year statewide. Since 1993, redevelopment revenues have funded nearly 100,000 affordable homes throughout California.

Like other urban centers, our most intractable housing challenge is homelessness. The San Diego Redevelopment Agency recently embarked on an aggressive strategy to end homelessness. Not surprisingly, implementation of the strategy relies on redevelopment’s tools and funding.

Because homelessness is frequently a byproduct of substance abuse or mental health issues, shelter alone cannot solve the problem. As a result, the Redevelopment Agency has aggressively pursued transitional and supportive housing where the homeless are offered necessary treatment and can be transitioned into jobs and permanent housing.

To date, Downtown has created 255 supportive housing units, with 215 more in the pipeline. The Redevelopment Agency now requires all new affordable housing projects to set aside 15 percent of the units for supportive housing.

Last year the Redevelopment Agency partnered with social service providers to rehabilitate an historic building into a one-stop shop homeless housing and service center. The facility contains 73 permanent supportive housing studios, 150 transitional beds and a center composed of case managers with access to psychological, legal, employment, health and social services.

The most heartbreaking victims of homelessness are children. The Redevelopment Agency provided financial assistance to create Monarch School, a unique, national model that provides critical specialized education services to 350 disadvantaged children in grades K through 12 in central San Diego.

We were proud of these accomplishments and had planned to add more than 3,000 affordable homes during the redevelopment’s remaining 20-year lifespan.

These plans vanished with the stroke of a pen when the California legislature abruptly killed redevelopment on Feb. 1, including the affordable housing set-aside program. A victim of the Sacramento’s ongoing budget crisis, cities up and down the state are now trying to decide how to revitalize blighted neighborhoods without the tools of redevelopment.

In San Diego, we remain hopeful that private investment will continue to help rejuvenate Downtown. Without redevelopment funds, progress will likely be slower and compromises greater, yet momentum will be maintained and Downtown will prosper. That is the good news.

The really bad news? There is no way to replace redevelopment’s contribution to affordable housing. Even worse, without redevelopment’s gap financing, the ability to leverage federal low-income affordable housing tax credit is greatly diminished, meaning even fewer affordable homes will be built, particularly for the poorest families.

The demise of California’s redevelopment has been commented upon by many parties. Some think it’s the proper assertion of state authority over spending priorities, others think it is an unlawful pilfering of local taxes. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. But what is irrefutable in California’s redevelopment death struggle is that the biggest losers are those in greatest need.

Western Real Estate Business

With the demise of redevelopment in California, communities have effectively lost tax increment as a tool for assisting economic development, infrastructure improvements, and increasing, improving and preserving the supply of low- and moderate-income housing.

While the former redevelopment agencies statewide reportedly had more than $2 billion in their Low-Mod Housing Funds, any of this money not yet encumbered will not be available for affordable housing unless there is legislation approved at the state level. Moreover, the real property “housing assets” of the former redevelopment agencies may be transferred to the identified successor housing agencies, though there is ambiguity in the state legislation as to how a “housing asset” is defined, which may delay viable use of these properties.

This catastrophic blow to affordable housing financing adds to the challenges when the need is increasing. A report by the Southern California Association for Non-Profit Housing demonstrates that the City of Los Angeles is losing ground in trying to keep up with the affordable housing it needs to fill for existing demand and population growth. According to the city’s housing element guidelines, the city needs to produce more than 4,000 affordable housing units annually.

This situation is amplified in the smaller, more rural parts of California that rely on assistance to make projects viable. These problems are also exacerbated by cuts in federal and state programs that assist affordable housing. Many affordable projects may be lost as their conversion period nears and there are no funds to ensure that the affordability is continued.

So how will we deliver needed affordable housing throughout California in this post-redevelopment era? I suspect the solution will come from innovation in three areas: (1) product type and approval process changes; (2) non-traditional sources of funding; and (3) entrepreneurial efforts by local agencies.

Product Type and Approval Process Changes

The first change expected for the next generation of affordable housing projects will be efforts to modify the project types and approval processes to reduce costs at all stages of development. We can expect providers to make major efforts to ensure that project costs are reduced, from permitting to design, construction to completion, and ongoing operation and maintenance costs. This will also affect the financial expectations of investors, thereby reducing yield requirements, and contractors, lowering construction costs. It is also likely that amenities and services will be cut out of projects in an effort to enhance efficiency.

Non-Traditional Funding Sources

Affordable housing finance has always been an alphabet soup of sources, but now the sources themselves are in question. Given the lack of local funding sources (for both direct and matching funds), changes to tax-credit allocation requirements, and reductions in state and federal sources with contracting budgets, new and innovative efforts will be made. For example, governmental programs targeted at energy retrofit or greater efficiency may draw more attention as projects will be designed to follow whatever funding source is available. Moreover, we may see more community foundations and religious institutions attempting to bridge the gap as governmental programs are reduced or eliminated.

Local Initiatives

Communities that wish to continue to see new affordable housing projects have existing authority to assist projects in many ways, such as impact fee waivers and streamlined processing and approval methods. Additionally, as the economy returns and market-rate housing projects begin again, inclusionary zoning and density bonus laws can help generate new affordable units. Finally, with the loss of redevelopment agencies there will be more property tax received by local jurisdictions that could be set aside in an effort to assist future affordable housing projects if the local agencies wish to prioritize this money for this purpose.

Advocates for affordable housing need to search for new ways to work together to finance projects, but also to identify new partnership arrangements. These new public-private partnerships have the opportunity for communities to think about project delivery in new ways from land acquisition to financing. One example is the effort to monetize surplus property held by a local government, school districts or other special districts. It could help foster affordable projects if such non-performing assets could be leased or sold at below-market rate. These new efforts will take collaboration, transparency and willingness to evaluate new forms of project delivery.

Looking Forward

With this changing environment, the future is unclear. The need for affordable housing is growing, and there is broad support for continuing the work that was accomplished by the use of redevelopment tax-increment financing. However, at this time it is unclear where we will find either the tools to accomplish this goal or a secure, on-going funding source.

Those entrepreneurs who take advantage of this turning point to innovate and think beyond the confines of the conventional affordable housing project will continue to provide a solution to this community-wide need.

Western Real Estate Business 

Closing letters – the letter you send to clients at the end of a matter - are a simple but important risk and client management tool. Often overlooked in the rush to get on to the next engagement, closing letters can help avoid liability, confusion and conflicts of interest. A good closing letter can also help strengthen your client relationships and even market additional services.

According to Rian Jorgensen, J.D., Ahern Insurance’s Senior Vice President, "The best time to send a closing letter is as soon as a matter is concluded. We advise clients to have a procedural mechanism/policy in place to ensure that this happens each and every time."

Avoid Liability. Foremost, a closing letter should clearly state that the engagement has ended so the client understands that your professional relationship is terminated. If a client believes you still represent them, you may be at risk for conflicts of interest to arise at some point in the future. A closing letter will also advise the client that you are no longer taking action on their part and you are no longer required to do so. Clarification of these points is important to avoid future liability that could lead to a malpractice claim. Also, by advising the client that the engagement has ended, you are providing a date on which the statute of limitations clock can be set for future claims and suits.

Strengthen Relationships & Marketing. The well written closing letter allows you to thank the client for selecting and putting their trust in you. It is also a good opportunity to solicit feedback about how you/your firm performed. You can include a questionnaire or invite the client to call. Such feedback can help improve the services your firm provides. Also a positive response from a client – or at the very least one that does not indicate dissatisfaction - can be used to defend a legal malpractice claim if one is made in the future.

Your letter should also request that the client consider you for future legal needs, if it is a client you wish to work with again. If your firm offers multiple services, consider including a list of the other areas in which you practice and/or your website URL for more information about your firm.

• Date the letter is mailed
• State the name/nature of the matter and the fact that your work has concluded
• Summarize the disposition of the matter, as appropriate
• Advise your client of any action required on their part
• Remind the client of your record retention policies (this information is probably found in your letter of engagement)
• Return original documents, as needed
• Request for feedback – optional
• Invitation to perform additional services – optional

The Valley Voice

Fish & Richardson has been named a 2012 “Go-To Intellectual Property Law Firm” for several Fortune 500 companies, according to Corporate Counsel magazine. In its April issue, Corporate Counsel wrote the “noteworthy achievement” is an honor that puts Fish “in an elite group that delivers exceptional work for the Fortune 500.”

Fish was named a “Go-To IP Law Firm” by nine Fortune 500 companies, including Allergan Inc., Google Inc., and Target Corp.

Corporate Counsel gathered data on each company's primary law firms via surveys sent to general counsel at each of the top Fortune 500 companies.

San Diego Daily Transcript

SAN DIEGO-Teaching local tenants how to get the most bang for their buck and capitalize on a down market was the goal of the recent FrameWorks Workshop here titled “Leasing Fundamentals: How to Save Money, Reduce Risk, and Manage the Leasing Process.” The workshop also discussed the current state of the economy as it relates to the real estate market in San Diego County. Attendees included CFOs, VPs of finance, CEOs, COOs, company presidents, real estate and facility department executives, and those responsible for a tenant’s lease strategy, negotiation and implementation.

Presenters included Doug Cowan, EVP of project and development services for Jones Lang LaSalle; Scot Ginsburg, managing director of tenant representation at JLL; Joe Perez, CPA and partner in the San Diego office of Squar Milner; and Dawn Saunders, of counsel in the San Diego office of Mintz Levin.

“The main focus was an update on the real estate market for commercial office, commercial lab and biotech space: where we are, where we’re headed, the types of concessions (both economic and non-economic), specific termination and expansion rights—the types of things in the lease document that we’re able to achieve now that we couldn’t at the height of the market,” Ginsburg commented to GlobeSt.com following the workshop.

The workshop tackled where the best deals are occurring in San Diego and where landlords are gaining ground. Ginsburg says that areas countywide where markets have firmed up for class-A space have been Del Mar, Rancho Bernardo and Sorrento Mesa, and that Mission Valley, UTC and Carlsbad are beginning to firm up. “Downtown is still kind of a troubled child, although rents are still pretty soft down there. The reason for that is when a market gets depressed, all the class-B office tenants that were paying well above market upgraded to class-A space for prices that they were paying for class B, if not cheaper. All that weren’t getting leased are starting to, which left a big hold in the B market. It’ll be a couple of years before that firms up.”

As GlobeSt.com previously reported, while recovery is on the horizon for San Diego’s office market, the first quarter gave the year an uninspiring start. After two years of healthy growth, with record-breaking leasing activity in 2010 and net absorption of 860,000 square feet in 2011, the office market hit a flat spot in the first quarter of 2012, according to a report released by Jones Lang LaSalle.

However, the market is showing signs of recovery with declining vacancy rates, an increase in active requirements and improved transaction fundamentals (longer terms, higher rents and fewer lease concessions) vs. what was seen in 2009/2010, executives from Cushman & Wakefield told GlobeSt.com in early April.

Common leasing mistakes were also explored in the workshop. Ginsburg says a typical mistake tenants make is not giving themselves enough time to negotiate their lease before the term expires. “A year and a half to two years is necessary. If you want to renew, it’s much more difficult to negotiate a discount over fair market renewal if you wait. Depending on the size of the space, a one- to two-year lead time is appropriate to start the process.”

The other common mistake tenants make is not knowing their budget, particularly when it comes to tenant improvement costs. “Have your own independent team evaluating what the costs are for improvements to see if the construction costs match the landlord allowance,” Ginsburg advises. “You do not want to find out you’re short for your construction costs.”

The workshop also advised tenants to be sure to negotiate for HVAC charges so that they’re not paying high after-hours usage, if this applies to them. “Make sure you negotiate a fixed-rate after-hours charge for your entire premises—not just a zone. Also fix the parking charges; don’t let the landlord have the ability to change your parking fees during the lease term.”

Ginsburg also recommends tenants consult with a broker before signing or renewing a lease to help them get a better deal and leverage the market. “Share in the landlord’s renewal profits—go for a bigger spread than what the landlord is offering. It’s usually three to four times more costly for a landlord to lose a tenant than it is for a tenant to move.”

Globest.com

Christian Platt (left), a partner with Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, accepts the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer 2011 Law Firm of the Year award from Craig Countryman of Fish & Richardson, the 2010 Law Firm of the Year honoree. Hastings’ legal staff amassed considerable pro bono hours assisting clients in nonprofit and incorporation issues in cases handled by the SDVLP’s AIDS Law Project.

Michael Coleman liked the idea, first practiced in India, of using laughter as an exercise and stress reliever.

He began offering his "laughter yoga" classes in Balboa Park for free and soon was taking requests from businesses and organizations to teach classes for them.

Before long, however, Coleman could no longer afford to sustain the hobby on his own, so he thought he could raise funds as a nonprofit venture.

Without any experience in forming a tax-exempt organization, Coleman turned to the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program for advice, and it walked him through the process.

"Honestly, without their help, I don’t know if I'd have been able to maintain the momentum and excitement of the project," Coleman said. "I might have walked away. SDVLP is amazing."

Known for providing pro bono legal assistance to the indigent and disadvantaged people of San Diego County, SDVLP also helps fellow nonprofits navigate the world of corporate compliance and entity formation, so they can, in turn, help others.

For Coleman, SDVLP helped him incorporate Laughing Matters, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing physical, mental and social health benefits to low-income seniors and people of all ages who suffer from chronic or life-threatening illnesses. A volunteer attorney helped him file an IRS Form 1023 so Laughing Matters could receive tax-exempt status.

"(SDVLP is) very responsive and helpful," Coleman said. "As far as I can tell, they treat me like any other client.

"They just really helped me take my dream, put it on paper and make it understandable to the IRS. Not just what I wanted to do but how I was going to make money. They showed me the steps I had to take."

SDVLP also helped incorporate the Interfaith Shelter Network of San Diego when its umbrella organization, the Ecumenical Council of San Diego County, was forced to close because of reduced funding.

"It would have been costly had we not had pro bono legal assistance," said Rosemary Johnston, executive director of the Interfaith Shelter. "This way, we were able to utilize (the Ecumenical Council's) long-term standing as a 501(c) (3), rather than become a startup nonprofit. Funders are reluctant to fund a brand new nonprofit."

SDVLP doesn't just help at the front end. When the Interfaith Shelter needed advice for updating its personnel manual, SDVLP was able to find an employment attorney to help.

"It's very critical because I want our agency to be up-to-date on best practices and governance," said Johnston, who also is an SDVLP board member. "I learned a lot in my role as an executive director prior to working on a nonprofit, but I don't have all the answers, and I don’t have time to do all this legal work."

San Diego attorney Mike Scarano, a partner with Foley & Lardner and vice chair of the firm's health care industry team, worked with the Interfaith Shelter on its incorporation.

He was intrigued by the opportunity to help fulfill a need in the community. He said providing corporate guidance to other nonprofits is very important.

"In this case, the organization felt that it needed some help to secure its future," Scarano said. "Nonprofit corporate law is pretty basic if you've done it awhile, but if you're a layperson, you don't know where to start. They are subject to regulation by the state attorney general and the IRS. If you screw up, the consequences could be significant to the organization and to the people it serves."

Perhaps SDVLP's biggest success in entity formation is the Casa Cornelia Law Center. SDVLP helped spin off its immigration division as a separate nonprofit more than 15 years ago, and today it's the premier public interest law firm in San Diego that provides pro bono legal assistance to victims of human and civil rights violations.

"They helped to provide Casa Cornelia a home," said Carmen Chavez, the group's executive director. "They provided a partnership. They enabled collaboration and, from the experience, strong friendships were formed."

SDVLP began offering free legal advice to nonprofits in the early 1990s as it continually received inquiries from people who wanted to help disadvantaged San Diegans but didn't know how.

"Given that these types of nonprofits assist so many needy people in our community, it made sense to offer our help in order to allow them to better serve others in need," said SDVLP executive director Amy Fitzpatrick. "This is a very effective way to provide assistance to greater numbers of people."

The only stipulation SDVLP requires for help is that the nonprofit share SDVLP's mission of helping poor and disadvantaged San Diego County residents.

SDVLP, which doesn't have any dedicated funding for the nonprofit assistance program, shows groups how their boards can stay compliant and can answer questions on employment issues.

"A lot of these nonprofits have a 'big ideas' person," said Marisa Rastetter, SDVLP's pro bono coordinator. "They have a great idea, and they really want to help people. They just don't know how to get it off the ground."

San Diego Daily Transcript 

Regents Bank motto is “here today and here tomorrow.” Founded in 2001 by local banking professionals, Regents Bank attributes its customer trust to its steadfastness and reliability.

The bank was named one of San Diego’s most trusted brands in 2012 by SD METRO magazine.

During periods of economic difficulty, while many banks in the county were sold and changed their brand name, Regents Bank remained. Earlier this year, in a deal with Grandpoint Capital Inc., Regents Bank was put in a stronger financial position, making it possible for the bank to provide customers with access to larger loan accommodations, while keeping its brand name and business model.

Grandpoint Bank ended 2011 with total assets of $855 million, up $492 million from 2010. Regents Bank offices can be found in La Jolla, San Diego, El Cajon, Carlsbad and one office in Vancouver, Wash.

An impending merger with California Community Bank, which is expected to take place in the third quarter of this year, will give Regents Bank customers more banking location options.

Opened in 2003, the California Community Bank’s four office locations in the Encinitas, Vista and Miramar areas, will all be renamed with the Regents Bank brand name. Regents Bank’s recent business decisions have allowed it to continue as an important part of San Diego’s continued economic recovery.

Regents Bank takes pride in its banking relationships — knowing many customers by name, and a commitment to the community, including relationships with its entrepreneurial clients, because it too, was started in the spirit of entrepreneurship. The bank specializes in serving small to mid-size businesses. Regents Bank celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, and looks to the future with great anticipation.

San Diego Metro

Homelessness, a challenge composed of many issues, spans our globe. Because homeless people seem to be everywhere, many of us feel that homelessness is too big an issue to be solved. And because of the complexity of the issues of homelessness, we may feel too overwhelmed to affect change.

Sometimes we use these feelings of powerlessness as excuses for failing to develop plans or to take any action to help homeless people. Thus, our feelings can literally create a paralysis in our thinking and acting to end homelessness.

Actually, we needn't feel overwhelmed by the challenge of homelessness. We have conquered major issues before.

Do you remember when we felt that the issues of reducing waste and protecting our environment were overwhelming? We adopted the slogan, "Think Globally, Act Locally," which reminds us to address these global concerns by reducing, reusing and recycling discarded items at a local level. Educational facilities encouraged its students to educate their families. Through common practice, we accepted our civic responsibility to protect our planet.

In much the same way, we have the power and ability to solve other complex global issues, including homelessness. Recognizing the widespread issues of homelessness, each of us can act on a local level, together and individually, to affect real change. Some of us are already thinking globally and acting locally as illustrated by the many participants in conferences about homelessness.

For example, since 1997, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) has been holding conferences twice a year -- a national conference each July in Washington, D.C., on homelessness generally and a West Coast conference specifically about youth and family homelessness.

On February 9 and 10, NAEH had its 2012 National Conference on Ending Family and Youth Homelessness in Los Angeles. At this conference, there were presentations, panel discussions and conversations about

• Implementing rapid re-housing (and maintaining those programs as HPRP [Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing] funding expires);
• Coordinating with larger 'mainstream' anti-poverty programs to multiply impacts, especially by providing help with employment;
• Strengthening families and promoting reunification in order to end homelessness for youth;
• Preventing homelessness for families and youth, including targeting for the maximum impact;
• Getting the most out of the HEARTH Act, and
• Housing families and youth with the most severe challenges, including chronic homelessness
  
  

Steve Berg, NAEH Vice President for Programs and Policy, says that these conferences enable people to learn about "good practices and approaches" to help end homelessness. They "teach trends locally and explain what federal funders are looking for" in local programs.

Steve feels that these conferences are very important because they "get people together so they can support each other, energize each other" and encourage people, now "armed with common experiences," to solve the issues of homelessness. Helping end homelessness, he concludes, "is a movement and conferences are important to keep the movement going."

In 2004, the City of San Francisco held the first Project Homeless Connect (PHC) as an innovative way to offer necessary services to homeless people. Now held every two months, its mission for PHC is "to provide a single location where nonprofit medical and social service providers collaborate to serve the homeless of San Francisco with comprehensive, holistic services."

In December 2005, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) launched the National Project Homeless Connect Partnership encouraging mayors and county leadership to hold a one-day community event by providing housing support and quality of life resources at a one stop event with the goal of ending homelessness. By 2008, PHC has been offered in more than 200 cities in the United States, Canada and Australia.

In January of this year, the San Diego Housing Commission was the lead organizer for the Sixth Annual PHC. With the help of 300 volunteers, more than 65 service providers offered health screenings, housing referrals, legal aid, food, clothing and other supportive services to 941 homeless San Diegans.

Just two months later, the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, Inc. presented its 23rd Annual Women's Resource Fair (WRF) involving more than 100 organizations that helped more than 600 disadvantaged women and children with medical, legal and social services. As explained by Amy J. Fitzpatrick, Esq., Executive Director of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, Inc., "The purpose of the WRF is to gather lots of resources and services for disadvantaged women (primarily those who are homeless, victims of domestic violence, and those fighting substance abuse) under one roof where that assistance can easily be accessed on one day in one place."

Rosemary Johnston, Executive Director of the Interfaith Shelter Network, is an active member of the planning committees of both San Diego PHC and WRF. She explains that these events "are important to the homeless community and to the wider community because they increase access to services in a low-demand environment; there are no obstacles to access these services." Continuing, she shares, "It is very important to put a human face on the homeless population, particularly to people in administration who don't normally meet with homeless people."

Rosemary confirms that conferences are important to keep up our momentum in our efforts to help homeless people: "I appreciate the opportunities these events provide because I don't want to lose touch and it energizes me to return to work with renewed passion to serve these people in need."

So, please "think globally and act locally" to help end homelessness.

I look forward to your comments.

Huffington Post

Nick in ‘El Abuelo’

Three short films on autism that were created by San Diego State film students will be featured at the “Hearts Like Ours” Film Festival on Monday, April 23, at 7 p.m. in the Don Powell Theater. The screening is sponsored by the SDSU School of Theatre, Television and Film, the Autism Society of San Diego, Tender Loving Canines and Sierra Academy. The festival is in celebration of Autism Awareness Month. All proceeds will go to Autism Society summer camps and to Sierra Academy film and music programs for students with autism. All three of the films are thesis films from emerging filmmakers who are recent graduates of the Master of Arts Television, Film, and New Media Production program at SDSU.

• “El Abuelo” is directed by Stephen Crutchfield and written by Stephen Metcalfe (studio writer for “Pretty Woman” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus”), and produced by Patrick Scott. Metcalfe wrote the “El Abuelo” from a personal perspective, as his teenage son is autistic. The short film features Nick, an autistic boy who does not speak; befriended by an elderly migrant worker, the boy finds his voice.
• Anthony Pang’s “Autistically Speaking, no. 1” is designed to engage and entertain an audience with autism. Drawing from scientific research on autism and firsthand observations from educators and caretakers, the film explores how an individual with autism interacts with the physical world. Pang’s goal is to eventually develop a model of entertainment specifically for the autistic mind.
• “Strong Souls, Gentle Spirits,” directed by Iris Caffin, was recently awarded an Academy of Television Arts and Sciences College Television Award. It tells the story of 8-year-old Jolena and the road taken by her family to diagnosis autism and to have a service dog placed with the family. The result is an enlightening story of overcoming obstacles and the human-animal bond that develops.
• Tickets can be obtained at the door with a recommended $10 ($5 student) donation by cash or check. Donations can also be made in advance online by credit card at sd-autism.org.

San Diego Metro