Philip J. Terry

Philip J. Terry is a partner and the head of the commercial litigation group at the law office of Carle, Mackie, Power & Ross LLP located in Santa Rosa, California. He offers dependable, detailed and practical legal advice and litigation services covering a broad spectrum of practice areas, including:

·       Wine law

·       Real estate

·       Commercial contracts and disputes

·       Banking and lender liability

·       Receivership and bankruptcy litigation

·       Securities fraud

·       Construction law and defects

·       Corporate and partnership law

·       Trust and probate litigation

·       Labor law and employment litigation

·       Product liability

·       Unfair competition and trade secrets

·       Trademarks and copyrights

·       Tax litigation and dispute resolution

A seasoned litigator, Mr. Terry has advanced numerous complex legal matters to verdict via jury trial, bench trial, arbitration and judicial reference and has personally handled numerous appeals and writs applications. He has successfully resolved numerous cases through mediation. He has made noteworthy contributions to the wine industry by devising and pursuing practical solutions to claims arising from wine spoilage, defective packaging and bottling, distribution agreements, alternate proprietorship contracts, and vineyard management and development disputes.

Mr. Terry graduated in 1987 with his bachelor’s degree in political economy with high honors from the University of California, Berkeley.  In 1990, he received his juris doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco. During his law school tenure, he was a research editor for Hastings International and Comparative Law Review and competed in moot court. 

Mr. Terry's litigation practice extends across the greater San Francisco Bay Area as well as Southern California with regular appearances in Sonoma County Superior Court. He also represents clients in Federal Court in the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Central Districts. He is a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th and Federal Circuits, as well as the United States Tax Court. Mr. Terry is active with local bar associations (Sonoma, Marin and San Francisco). He is currently a board member of the Sonoma County Bar Association and a member of the Richard M. Sangster American Inn of Court.

Mr. Terry received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest possible peer review rating of AV Preeminent* in 2015. Having served as a member of the legal community for over 30 years, he has also been awarded a “Superb” rating by Avvo. He has regularly presented at Sonoma County Bar Association’s continuing legal education seminars on real estate litigation and has recently taught real property law at Empire College School of Law in Santa Rosa, California.

*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 Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.