Areas of Concentration

Civil litigation including Business and Commercial Disputes, Consumer Fraud, Intellectual Property, Personal Injury and Employment Claims. Mr. Vestal also provides general counsel services to businesses, including entity formation and financing, business transactions, mergers & acquisitions, intellectual property and employment matters.

Mr. Vestal is admitted to practice in the State of California, the United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was a founding partner of Sequoia Law Group LLP before joining Niesar & Vestal in 2009.

Bar Association & Memberships

• State Bar of California
• San Francisco Bar Association, Member of the Business Law Section
• San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
• California Lawyers for the Arts

Professional Activities

• Seminar lecturer for the California State Bar, California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA), Lorman Education Services, the San Francisco Legal Professionals Association, and the United States Small Business Administration
• Judicial arbitrator, Pre-Artibration Settlement Conference panelist and Early Settlement Program panelist for the San Francisco Superior Court
• Mediator for CLA’s Arts and Arbitration Mediation Services program

Community Involvement

• Board of Directors, Episcopal Charities, San Francisco, California (2007 – Ongoing)
• Board of Directors, Streetside Stories, Inc., San Francisco, California (1995 – 2004); Advisory Board (2004 – Ongoing)
• Board of Trustees, St. Luke’s School, San Francisco, California (2003 – 2009)
• Board of Directors, Lyra Corp., San Francisco, CA (2000-2008)

Recent Publications

• “California Business Litigation 2017”, with William N. Herbert, Law Journal Press, 2017
• “You Should Know Better: California Adopts the Sophisticated User Defense,” Forum, July/August 2008
• “Litigating Civilly,” The Recorder, Sept. 26, 2007 (reprinted in Plaintiff, January 2008)
• “A License to Bean?”–Avila broadens primary assumption of risk doctrine,” The Recorder, Nov. 8, 2006, at p. 4
• “Gone with the Wind–As CISG Supercedes the UCC for International Sales of Goods, What Your Clients Need to Know,” 14 California International Practitioner, no. 1 (2005)
• Appearance in “Small Biz How To: Be Patient for Right Deal When Selling Your Business,” San Francisco Business Times, July 18, 2008, at p. 24.

Education

• University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D., 1991
• Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, M.A., 1987
• University of California, Berkeley, B.A. Rhetoric, 1985

Contact Information

415-882-5300, ext. 233
pvestal@nvlawllp.com