David B. Draper

David Draper has over 27 years of legal experience as a trial lawyer, litigator and business attorney representing a broad range of clients from Fortune 500 companies to mid-size and small businesses to individuals in a wide variety of commercial and business disputes in the state and federal courts. Mr. Draper has tried 98 cases to judgment or verdict and has significant jury trial experience.

Mr. Draper's practice covers a broad spectrum of commercial litigation matters including real estate disputes, purchase and sales contracts, leases, mechanic's liens, partition actions, landlord tenant matters, creditor's rights in bankruptcy, receiverships, franchising and licensing, intellectual property, trademark disputes, trade secret protection and litigation, unfair business practices, the enforcement and defense of contracts, suretyship, bonds, Uniform Commercial Code disputes, insurance disputes, employment matters and construction where he has first hand trade experience.

Mr. Draper has personally handled the following matters:

  * Successfully defended  foreign based corporate clients against a $7.5 million alter ego claim in a federal court jury trial
  * Successfully defended a billion dollar computer equipment distributor against trade secret misappropriation claims in a state court jury trial convincing the jury that the other side was the one that maliciously stole our client's trade secrets 
  * Obtained, and collected, a $3.9 million judgment for a worldwide resort developer for construction damages to its nine building complex in Northern California 
  * Resolved over $180,000,000 in surety bond liabilities over a three year period for an insurance company in liquidation, recovering over $54,000,000 in assets and learning more about waste water treatment plants than I ever thought possible 
  * Defended an $18,000,000 UCC dispute for a major  Silicon Valley semi-conductor manufacturer 
  * Defended a large environmental equipment manufacturer in a toxic tort action with 498 plaintiffs, avoiding any client liability in a multi-million dollar settlement 
  * Represented the leading hotel franchisor in the United States in over two dozen cases including trials, license and franchise disputes, receiverships, trademark infringement and de-identification proceedings throughout California 
  * Tried a $550,000 Chapter 11 non-dischargeability action to judgment 
  * Obtained a $456,000 state court judgment and $120,000 in attorney's fees  in the successful defense of a nationwide bank on alleged fraud claims 
  * Negotiated a $35,000,000 reorganization of five hotels after the failure of the largest REIT in California 
  * Performed the due diligence inspections and title work for a major bank's $40,000,000 acquisition of 36 branch locations throughout California 
  * Negotiated and closed a $20 million workout for the Central Valley' largest savings and loan 
  * Represented a state guaranty agency in a class action which settled in the client's favor for over $120,000,000

Represented hundreds of individual clients in their real estate and business disputes making sure that the legal system was available to them economically and efficiently, just like they were a Fortune 500 client.

Personal History

Mr. Draper was born and raised in central Massachusetts, (yes that makes him a Red Sox fan, and a Patriots fan, a former shareholder in the Celtics, and a Boston Bruins fan). He graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Business in 1978 and was a member of the UConn football team for four years (middle guard) earning Academic All American Honors. Mr. Draper received his J.D. in 1982 from Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, playing hockey on the school's near semi-professional team, and earned his LL.M. in taxation and international business from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento and the University of Salzburg in Salzburg, Austria.

After completing the Bar and an internship with one of Scotland's most prestigious solicitors, Mr. Draper returned to California and began his legal career with Ropers, Majeski, Kohn, Bentley, Wagner and Kane practicing law with the firm for the next 20 years. In 2002 Mr. Draper joined with his current partners to expand and develop Terra Law LLP.

Mr. Draper is active in the dispute resolution programs of the local courts and has been a speaker on nationwide panels for the past 14 years discussing the development and best practices in electronic discovery.