Business Litigation Lawyer San Diego

When a contract falls apart, a partner walks off with client lists, or a competitor crosses the line into unfair competition, the business on the other end of that dispute doesn't get to pause operations while it sorts things out. TencerSherman LLP represents San Diego businesses in exactly that position: mid-dispute, still running payroll, still trying to close the next deal, and now also fighting a legal fire.

Philip C. Tencer and Sam G. Sherman founded the firm in 2014 after both spent years as partners at large firms. TencerSherman has represented software companies, biotechnology and medical device companies, aerospace companies, money managers, and food and product manufacturers across Southern California, in state court, federal court, and bankruptcy court.

What counts as business litigation

Business litigation covers any dispute where the underlying relationship is commercial rather than personal. In practice, most of what comes through the door falls into a handful of categories:

• Contract disputes: a vendor delivers nonconforming goods, a client refuses to pay, a lease term gets disputed.
• Business torts: fraud, tortious interference, unfair competition claims under California's Unfair Competition Law.
• Trade secret disputes: a departing employee takes client lists or proprietary processes to a competitor.
• Commercial disputes and arbitration: UCC-governed transactions and disputes headed to arbitration under a contract's ADR clause instead of court.
• Employment disputes: wrongful termination, wage and hour claims, and Labor Commissioner proceedings, handled on the employer's side.
• Intellectual property disputes: trademark, copyright, and patent infringement claims.
• Securities disputes: shareholder claims, SEC investigations, and securities class actions.
• Partnership and shareholder disputes
• Commercial lending and financing disputes

Each of those has its own procedural quirks and its own statute of limitations, which is why the pages linked above go into the doctrine specific to each. This page covers what's common across all of them: how TencerSherman approaches a dispute, and what to expect from the process.

Litigation isn't always the answer, and settling isn't a loss

A lot of business litigation gets resolved before a complaint is ever filed. A firm demand letter, a well-timed mediation, or a pre-litigation negotiation can resolve a dispute for a fraction of what trial costs, and without the operational disruption of depositions and document production pulling your staff off their actual jobs.

That said, some disputes need a lawsuit to move at all. A counterparty stalling on a large receivable has no incentive to negotiate until there's a complaint on file and a court date on the calendar. TencerSherman's attorneys make that call early: whether the fastest path to resolution runs through negotiation, arbitration, or a courtroom, and they build the case file accordingly from day one rather than treating litigation as a fallback if talks fail.

Where these cases get heard

Most San Diego business disputes are filed in San Diego County Superior Court, at the Central Courthouse downtown or, for cases arising in North County, at the Vista or San Marcos branches. A case lands in federal court instead when it involves a federal question (a claim under a federal statute like the Lanham Act, the Defend Trade Secrets Act, or federal securities law), or when it qualifies for diversity jurisdiction: the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Diversity cases in San Diego go to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Contracts with an arbitration clause typically route to AAA or JAMS instead of either court; see the commercial litigation and arbitration page for how that process works.

The choice of forum isn't always obvious, and it isn't always the plaintiff's to make unilaterally. A defendant sued in state court on a claim that qualifies for federal jurisdiction can often remove the case to federal court, and the deadline to do that is short, generally 30 days from service. Where a case ends up affects the judge, the jury pool, the procedural rules, and sometimes the substantive law that applies, which is why forum is one of the first things TencerSherman evaluates on a new matter rather than an afterthought.

How TencerSherman staffs a business litigation matter

Businesses that hire outside litigation counsel are usually choosing between three options: a large firm with deep bench strength but a higher hourly rate and less partner-level attention, a solo practitioner with lower overhead but limited capacity for a document-heavy case, or a boutique firm sized in between. TencerSherman was built around the third option deliberately. Cases are staffed with a partner directly involved rather than handed off entirely to junior associates, and the firm's smaller size means it can move quickly on time-sensitive matters, like a temporary restraining order application or an emergency motion, without routing decisions through multiple layers of firm management.

For businesses with in-house counsel, that usually means TencerSherman functions as litigation counsel on a specific dispute while in-house handles ongoing contract review and day-to-day legal questions. For businesses without in-house counsel, the firm often ends up advising on related issues that surface once a dispute is underway, such as whether a contract needs to be revised going forward to prevent the same problem from recurring.

What the process actually looks like

A business litigation matter generally runs through four phases:

Pre-filing. Investigation, document review, and often a demand letter. This is where a meaningful share of disputes get resolved without a filed case.

Pleadings and early motions. The complaint, the answer, and any motions to dismiss or demurrers challenging the pleadings themselves. In California state court, a defendant typically has 30 days to respond to a complaint once served.

Discovery. Depositions, document production, interrogatories. This phase is usually the longest and the most disruptive to a business's day-to-day operations, and it's where a lot of case strategy either pays off or falls apart based on how well the record was built early.

Resolution. Settlement, summary judgment, arbitration award, or trial. Most business disputes settle before trial; TencerSherman prepares every case as if it's going to trial, on the theory that a credible trial threat is what gets the other side to negotiate seriously.

Frequently asked questions