Nixon Peabody has added a 10-strong real estate litigation team in San Francisco from Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck. 

Led by partners Ashley Klein and Jeanne Grove, the group also includes partner Jaimie Bombard alongside four counsel and three department attorneys. Their arrival significantly boosts Nixon Peabody’s construction and real estate litigation practice, which the firm launched last year with a team of lawyers from its commercial litigation team.  

Anthony Barron, who leads Nixon Peabody’s nationwide litigation department from San Francisco and is also a member of the construction and real estate litigation practice, said the new team “not only strengthens our overall real estate litigation capabilities, it broadens our real estate industry offerings and complements related practice areas, such as real estate transactional work, community development finance, construction and environmental.”

Klein was a partner at San Francisco firm Goldstein Gellman Melbostad Harris & McSparran before joining Kaufman Dolowich in 2019. She represents clients in contract and commercial litigation, purchase and sale and co-ownership disputes, landlord-tenant matters, non-disclosure and misrepresentation issues, construction and architectural litigation, quiet title actions and fraud and misrepresentation lawsuits. 

Since 2018, Klein has been one of four landlord commissioners on the San Francisco Rent Board and in 2020 was also appointed to the Covid-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, representing residential and commercial landlords in San Francisco’s economic recovery. 

Meantime, Grove brings nearly 20 years’ experience in both real estate litigation and transaction matters, including Homeowner Association and co-ownership issues, purchase/sale disputes and nondisclosure claims and boundary, title, development and construction matters. She moved over from Goldstein Gellman along with Klein in 2019 and earlier practised at Steckbauer Weinhart Jaffe. 

Rounding out the new partners is Bombard, who practised at Cooper White & Cooper before joining Kaufman Dolowich as a partner last year. She advises clients on their rights and options under statewide housing law, the San Francisco Rent Ordinance and other local Bay Area rent and eviction control ordinances. She also handles issues related to property management, tenant buyout agreements and matters arising before the San Francisco Rent Board. 

Following the team’s arrival, Nixon Peabody’s construction and real estate team will have 55 lawyers nationwide. The incoming partners’ expertise dovetails with that of key lawyers in the team like Barron and Boston-based practice head Jeffrey Brenner, who are noted by Chambers and Partners for their respective strengths representing contractors in construction disputes and defending clients in land use, construction and real estate development claims. 

Kaufman Dolowich’s real estate practice has 17 lawyers, including nine partners, following the team’s departure. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.