Law Firm Overview

Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, L.L.C. is an AV-rated, full-service firm providing experienced, efficient and committed representation to clients throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Our attorneys are admitted to practice in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and we regularly appear in state and federal courts in those jurisdictions. Our attorneys have extensive experience in a wide variety of matters with a special emphasis on: real estate transactions and litigation; commercial transactions and litigation; general corporate and business representation; computer, Internet and high-technology transactions and litigation; and estate planning. The firm consists of four Members (partners) and nine Associates.

PRACTICE AREAS

Bregman, Berbert Schwartz, & Gilday, L.L.C. has a general business, commercial law, and litigation practice, with an emphasis on the following practice areas:

• Real Estate Law
• Corporate and Business Law, Commercial Law
• Litigation and ADR
• Computer and High-Technology Law
• Estate Planning

REAL ESTATE LAW

Our attorneys regularly draft, negotiate, and advise clients with respect to complex commercial leases and various other kinds of real estate transactions, including the sale and purchase of commercial real estate, property development, property management, commercial landlord/tenant issues, and related matters. In the commercial leasing setting, our broad range of experience includes the negotiation and drafting of leases for office buildings, shopping centers, enclosed malls, warehouses and flex space, and ground leases in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

The firm's attorneys are actively involved in shaping, as well as practicing, commercial real estate law. The firm's members have written various books on the subject, including "the book" on Maryland landlord/tenant law (Douglas M. Bregman, Gary G. Everngam, Maryland Landlord-Tenant Law, Michie, 1983, 1994). Mr. Bregman teaches classes regarding drafting and negotiation of commercial leases and other real estate documents at the Georgetown University Law Center. Members of the firm regularly lecture on real estate and landlord/tenant matters to other lawyers across the country, and the firm's lawyers are active members of local and statewide committees involved in the clarification and revision of landlord/tenant law.

CORPORATE AND BUSINESS LAW, COMMERCIAL LAW

Our attorneys advise corporate clients with respect to a wide range of business issues and actively participate in corporate transactions such as the purchase or sale of businesses. Our attorneys regularly advise businesses with respect to formation and governance matters, capitalization and finance, stockholder concerns, commercial transactions, sales, matters involving the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), mergers and acquisitions, and litigation. We further assist our corporate clients on matters involving general business law, including contracting, commercial leasing, commercial litigation, insurance coverage, employment, and UCC law.

LITIGATION AND ADR

The firm has an active litigation practice, and our attorneys practice in state and federal courts at all levels and regularly appear in court proceedings in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Our attorneys handle routine as well as complex commercial litigation, including cases involving construction contracts, commercial leases, landlord/tenant, collection, computer software contracts and other technology contracts, real estate, estates and trusts, business contracts, personal injury, and professional malpractice claims. The firm also has extensive experience in the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques, including mediation and arbitration, to avoid litigation. Mr. Bregman and Mr. Hervey have each previously served as the Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Bar Association of Montgomery County, and the firm is recognized as a leader in ADR.

COMPUTER AND HIGH-TECHNOLOGY LAW

We routinely prepare agreements such as software licensing, OEM, VAR, ISV, ASP, SLA, NDA, and application development agreements, Web-site development, hosting, and related agreements, e-commerce-related agreements, content, co-branding and similar agreements, and consulting agreements. We assist high-tech startup companies and entrepreneurs with the preparation of business plans, the search for venture capital, the negotiation and drafting of high-tech contracts, and the structuring of their businesses and the establishment of business practices and contracts. We work with established high-tech companies on general business matters affecting the high-tech industry, and assist them interpret and apply new laws in the field, such as the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA), the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), and similar legislation. We also represent high-tech clients (developers and end-users) in litigation and arbitration involving high-tech products and services, including disputes over software licensing agreements, development agreements and services contracts, and Y2K litigation.

ESTATE PLANNING

The firm has an active estate planning and estate administration practice, and our attorneys practice in these areas in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Our attorneys design and implement simple and complex estate plans through careful consultation with clients and the drafting of a vast array of estate planning documents, including Wills, Revocable Trusts and Irrevocable Trusts. The firm also has extensive experience in the area of estate administration. Ms. Kuwamura served as the law clerk for the Register of Wills in Montgomery County, Maryland.

West Practice Categories

Litigation & Appeals, Real Estate Law, Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills