Geoffrey Spellberg
Top rated Employment & Labor attorney in San Francisco, California
Renne Public Law Group
Practice areas: Employment & Labor, Business Litigation, Employment Litigation; view more
Licensed in California since: 1985
Education: University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2014 - 2025 Call today:
415-685-5220
Renne Public Law Group
350 Sansome StreetSuite 300
San Francisco, CA 94104 Visit website
Details
With nearly four decades of experience judiciously representing his clients in their contentious legal matters, Geoffrey Spellberg strives to provide them with the top-quality representation he is known for within his legal community. Serving as an of counsel at the Renne Public Law Group in San Francisco, California, he handles a wide range of issues, ranging from employment and labor law, and construction law to real estate and business litigation.
Mr. Spellberg completed his undergraduate studies in 1979, graduating with his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He went on to attend the UC Law San Francisco (Formerly UC Hastings), where he honed his shrewd legal acumen and talents, and bolstered the foundation that still informs his advocacy today. He received his Juris Doctor in 1985, and in the same year, he obtained his license to practice law across all California state courts.
A consummate professional through and through, Mr. Spellberg works relentlessly hard to help his clients overcome their legal challenges without adding any undue stress. In recent times, he has helped bring in over $25 million for his clients, and in the past, he has accrued $2.6 million in a construction defect case and an $8.3 million jury verdict against an engineering company that concealed its defective design work on a bridge retrofit project.
Furthermore, Mr. Spellberg has also handled a complex case involving illegal development contracts to take possession of housing units owned by a prominent African-American church, showcasing his range and depth of legal and practical knowledge. For his many contributions, he has been AV Preeminent peer-review rated* through Martindale-Hubbell, the organization’s highest rating.
*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer-review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.
Practice areas
Employment & Labor: Employee, Business Litigation, Employment Litigation: Plaintiff, General Litigation, Real Estate: BusinessFocus areas
Condominiums & Cooperatives, Employment Discrimination, Employment Law - Employee, Employment Law - Employer, Labor Law, Landlord/Tenant, Litigation, Mortgage & Refinance, Non-Compete Agreements, Restraining Order, Retaliation, Sexual Harassment, Short Sale, Small Claims, Trade Secret, Unions, Wage & Hour Laws, Whistleblower, Wrongful Termination
- 30% Employment & Labor: Employee
- 20% Business Litigation
- 20% Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
- 20% General Litigation
- 10% Real Estate: Business
First Admitted: 1985, California
Professional Webpage: https://rennepubliclawgroup.com/team_member/geoff-spellberg/
- California
- Stone v. City of San Francisco (CCSF) (N.D. Cal. 1989) 735 F. Supp. 340.
- Harrison v. County of Alameda (N.D. Cal. 1989) 720 F. Supp. 783.
- Buenavista et al. v. City and County of San Francisco (1989) 207 Cal. App. 3d 1168.
- White v. Roper (9th Cir. 1990) 901 F.2d 1501.
- Minor v. San Francisco Municipal Court, et. al. (1990) 219 Cal. App. 3d 1541.
- In Re Bettye K. (1991) 234 Cal. App. 3d 143.
- Dennis Davis v. ARSI, Los Angeles Superior Court, No. BC 354896. As lead counsel, Geoff successfully obtained a $3 million settlement for the plaintiff based on business tort claims.
- Fleury v. Richmont N.A., Federal District Court No. C05-4525. Served as co-lead counsel for the plaintiff class in the antitrust case. Geoff and his co-counsel obtained a $14 million recovery for the class.
- El Bethel Arms v. Christian Church Homes, San Francisco Superior Court Case No. CGC-15- 546236. In this 2017 trial, Geoff convinced the SF Superior Court to rescind four development contracts and two owner representative agreements that were intended to illegally take possession of a 355-unit affordable housing property worth $70 million and owned by a prominent African American Church in San Francisco.
- Teichert Construction v. City of Stockton, Stanislaus Superior Court No. CV 023294. Mr. Spellberg defended the City against claims of extra costs incurred due to unforeseen conditions and Public Contract Code claims. He successfully settled the case at mediation in October 2004, before the Honorable Peter Stone of JAMS. The key result was a finding that the City of Stockton’s public contracting practices were valid and enforceable under the Public Contract Code.
- Stacy & Witbeck v. City and County of San Francisco (1996) 47 Cal. App. 4th 1 and Stacy & Witbeck v. City and County of San Francisco (1995) 36 Cal. App. 4th 1074. Contractor Stacy & Witbeck was hired to provide construction services on a project involving the San Francisco underground municipal railway. Stacy & Witbeck sued the City for substantial claim amounts after problems with the project arose. Geoff successfully defended the City and recovered costs for the contractor-caused completion delays on behalf of the City. This case successfully established precedent for a public entity’s right to bring suit for violations of the California False Claims Act on a public contract. Geoff also successfully prosecuted before the Public Utilities Commission (and successfully defended on appeal) the debarment of Stacy & Witbeck based upon the submission of the false claims.
- Wulfman v. County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino Superior Court No. C1014374. As lead trial counsel in this 2012 case, Geoff successfully defended the County on whistleblowing and retaliation claims. After Geoff and his co-counsel won several key in limine motions at trial, plaintiff dramatically reduced his settlement demand and the case resolved.
- McFall v. City of Tracy, San Joaquin Superior Court No. CV 025753. In 2010, Geoff served as lead trial counsel in obtaining a complete defense verdict at trial for the City on gender and racial discrimination claims brought by the City’s terminated Human Resources Manager.
- Hughes v. City of Stockton, United States District Court, Easter District, No. 03-01666MCE. Geoff was lead trial counsel in obtaining a full defense verdict in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim brought by 20 police, fire, and emergency medical dispatchers, all of whom were City employees. Before the trial, the City had offered $1 million to settle the case.
- GMMB Inc. v. Durazo et al., Los Angeles Superior Court No. BC 350690. Geoff obtained a restraining order from the Court, which froze over $2.4 million in embezzled state educational funds. Geoff then successfully recovered all those public funds on behalf of his client.
- Kaiser Foundation Hospitals v. HBE Corporation, JAMS No. 1100069717. This action involved cross multi-million dollar claims arising out of a major earthquake retrofit and renovation of a Kaiser hospital facility in Southern California. Geoff was one of the two lead trial counsel and helped obtain a successful outcome after a 30-day JAMS arbitration.
- City of Stockton v. PG&E, San Joaquin Superior Court No. CV 031996. Geoff helped recover over $500,000 collectively from three public utilities who failed to cooperate during a public construction project, which resulted in the City incurring significant costs due to postponing the contractor’s work.
- City of Milpitas v. Turner Construction Co., et al., Santa Clara Superior Court, No. 1-03- CV814946. Geoff obtained a $4.5 million settlement the day before trial was to commence from an international construction management firm and architect whose deficient work resulted in extended delays and significant cost overruns on the construction of a new City Hall. In addition to recovering monies for delay and poor quality work, the settlement amount included a significant recovery component for fraud and false claims.
- City of Pinole, et al. v. Community Housing Assistance Partners, et al., Contra Costa Superior Court, No. C04-00979. Geoff helped recover over $7.1 million for construction design defects in a senior citizen housing project. The total settlement was obtained from the project’s contractors, design professionals, and subcontractors.
- City of Larkspur v. Jacobs Engineering Group, Marin Superior Court No. CV-061094. Geoff obtained a $8.3 million jury verdict on behalf of the City against Jacobs Engineering Group, an international engineering company, for fraudulent concealment of the company’s defective design work on a bridge retrofit project. Geoff also successfully defended the appeal and ultimately recovered almost $10 million.
- City of La Puente v. Pert Construction, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court, No. BC328044. Geoff recovered more than $2.6 million on a construction defect and design case arising from the contractor’s failure to adequately waterproof a pre-existing structure during construction, which resulted in extensive water infiltration and damage. Part of this recovery came from the surety on a claim against the performance bond.
- San Jose Police Officers Association v. City of San Jose, Santa Clara Superior Court No. 1-12- CV-225926. In this nationally followed pension reform trial, Geoff was one of the lead trial attorneys who successfully defended San Jose’s Measure B, which was overwhelming passed by the San Jose voters to curb pension costs that had increased to the point where basic City services were impacted.
- Booker v. City of Richmond, Contra Costa Superior Court (No. C07-00408). In this 2012 trial, Geoff represented the Police Chief, the Deputy Police Chief, and the City as lead trial counsel in a lawsuit filed by seven high-ranking police officers. Each of the plaintiffs, all African American, asserted a variety of racial discrimination, retaliation and harassment claims. After a four-month trial, the jury returned a complete defense verdict on all 28 claims.
- Trinh v. SCVWD, U.S.D.C. N.D. Cal. Case No. CV 13-05913 EJD. In this 2016 trial, Geoff obtained a complete defense jury verdict on claims by a former employee for gender and race discrimination and unequal pay under the federal fair pay statutes.
- Represented the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) in a construction dispute concerning a $50 million low income housing project against Lem/Transworld Joint Venture. The matter was successfully settled at mediation before a lawsuit was filed, effectively allowing TNDC to complete the project and secure the requisite refinancing in a timely manner.
- Successfully recovered over $200,000 and obtained a complete defense verdict for the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum before trial commenced in a dispute concerning the renovation of the Legion of Honor.
- Recipient, “Northern California Super Lawyer,” General Litigation, Super Lawyers magazine, 2014 – 2019
- AV Preeminent* peer-review rating through Martindale-Hubbell
- University of California, Berkeley, BS, Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology, 1979
- Co-Presenter, “Anatomy of an EEO Lawsuit,” Western Regional IPMA-HR Conference, 2014
- Instructor, Hastings School of Advocacy, 1995 - 2002
- Lecturer, Lorman Education, 1995 - present
- Lecturer, League of California Cities, 1995 - present
- Speaker, “Affirmative Litigation on Behalf of Public Entities,” 84th Annual Meeting of The State Bar of California, 2011
- Presenter, “Protecting Your Internal Confidential Information,” CalPELRA, 2015
- Recently published the novel "Rendezvous: Mountain Man Romance and Adventure" to critical acclaim, 2021
- Public Sector
Office location for Geoffrey Spellberg
350 Sansome Street
Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: 415-685-5220
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2014 - 2025
