Michelle Vauclair

Lafayette & Kumagai LLP

Called a "Big Gun" and "High Profile" by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Recorder, and a "Top Law Firm" by the National Law Journal, Lafayette & Kumagai LLP is a boutique minority-owned litigation firm that specializes in business torts, employment, complex litigation and trials. The twenty-two-year-old firm has earned a reputation for excellence and for providing strong advocacy. Alameda City Manager (and former Oakland City Attorney) John Russo, noted to the Recorder, "…political players involved in a case may dictate which firm is chosen. Mayor [and former California Governor] Jerry Brown, for example, likes to use San Francisco's Lafayette & Kumagai." Headed by a core of seasoned litigators, the firm has handled a number of high profile and high exposure cases on behalf of institutional and public entity clients and is frequently contacted to take over cases from other firms, particularly cases that appear headed for trial. Lafayette & Kumagai's big firm-trained attorneys utilize a full range of litigation approaches to resolving cases, including mediations and other methods of early dispute resolution.