History of the Firm
Established in 1978, Bartko is a boutique law firm specializing in national and international complex litigation and investigations, labor and employment law, commercial real estate transactions and leasing, as well as franchise disputes. We are a 45+ lawyer firm dedicated to strategic cutting-edge representation of clients in California, nationally and internationally. We pride ourselves on understanding client business goals, which drives our strategies and tactics in the important matters we handle. We litigate not just to win our clients’ cases but to further their business objectives, which we learn in great detail.
Former Northern District of California AUSA John Bartko initially formed the firm to specialize in complex litigation, including a landmark federal suit that he argued before the United States Supreme Court—obtaining a ruling that overregulation of land can give rise to a civil rights claim. Lake Country Estates., Inc. v. Tahoe Reg’l Plan. Agency, 440 U.S. 391 (1979). Rob Bunzel joined the firm in 1981 when there were only seven attorneys.
The firm in the 1980s successfully represented the California inventor of CMOS battery technology used in wrist-watches, asserting misappropriation and breach of fiduciary duty against the largest Japanese watchmaker. From the late 1980s, we have represented former heads of state of foreign countries in highly publicized U.S. civil and criminal cases. Internationally, we have appeared for hearings, trials and discovery proceedings in Canada, Indonesia, Japan, China, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.
In the 1990s, the firm was hired at the last moment to represent a worldwide law firm in a nationally televised employment trial. We then merged in 1995 with Martin Zankel’s San Francisco real estate transaction boutique. The combination of transactional and litigation expertise has helped fuel the firm’s orderly growth and independence.
By the 2000s the firm was a leading antitrust trial shop, winning civil and criminal antitrust trials, including representing the head of North America sales of an international chipmaker in a criminal price-fixing trial. All the other defendants pled guilty and the government collected $750M in fines and penalties. We tried the case and prevailed.
In 2006, veteran GAP in-house counsel David Matthews joined the firm. He and Hilda Senseny now lead the firm’s commercial real estate practice, which closes hundreds of high-end deals a year throughout the country.
In 2010, Ben Riley from Howrey LLP joined the firm, followed by Patrick Ryan in 2014 and Brian Smith in 2017. As a result, the firm boasts a go-to IP practice, resulting in a 2019 Daily Journal Top Verdict trade secret $845M jury win for Mr. Ryan’s high-tech client, whose former employees took source code and other materials to a China-based competitor. ASML US Inc. v. XTAL Inc., 16-cv-29505.
In 2020, An Ruda and Luzann Fernandez joined the firm, bringing us a complex labor and employment practice, and enabling us to open a Los Angeles office shortly thereafter led by veteran employment attorney Karen Pointer. The firm’s labor and employment group represents healthcare providers, technology companies, media companies, and small business owners.
With growth and expansion of services, the firm after 45 years remains a close-knit boutique. We often are asked to handle difficult trials and transactions, frequently partnering with large firms. Our clients need experienced and visionary crisis managers. Bartko, through its history and presently, is such a law firm.
