Richard Michael Gee

Bilingual (Spanish/English) legal specialist and consultant with substantive real property, business and intellectual property experience.Nearly 30 years’ experience in: Commercial real property acquisitions, finance, development, construction and leasing; Business formations, governance, mergers and acquisitions, foreign entity subsidiary transactions in U.S. jurisdictions; Regulatory and Compliance matters; Copyright and trademark registration matters as well as licensing transactions.

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

J.D. (1988) | Law

1985 - 1988

Honors: Deans List, American Jurisprudence Award in Trial Advocacy

Activities: Phi Alpha Delta, Scott Moot Court

University of California - Los Angeles

B.A. (1984) | History

1980 - 1984

Honors: Deans List

Activities: Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity, Order of the Omega

Owner/Shareholder

Richard M. Gee, a P.C.

2004 - Current

Private law practice emphasizing business, real estate and intellectual property transactions in California and Colorado, as well as related litigation. Recent representative transactions include: Representing a British publicly-traded provider of outsourced online customer acquisitions as special counsel in the negotiation of Spanish-language marketing service agreements with Latin American telecommunications companies; Representing a retail beverage client in an asset sale transaction as Seller’s counsel; Representing a restaurant client as Buyer’s counsel in the acquisition of several restaurant properties in Colorado, including advising on and forming holding and operating entities for each location and representing the client in liquor license proceedings for each location; Representing a Taiwanese investor in the restructuring of his holdings in a California venture capital stage technology corporation; Representing several Norwegian investors in real estate residential development transactions in Florida; Advising a Colorado debt management business, SaaS and consulting group in real property leasing matters, copyright and trademark matters as well as general business law matters.

Business Affairs Manager

Univision Music Group

2003 - 2004

Senior in-house attorney under Vice President of Business Affairs at what was then the largest Latin music label, now part of the Universal Music Group. Responsibility over staff of 2 junior attorneys and support staff. Representative experience includes: Negotiating recording and licensing agreements as well as music publishing agreements ? General in-house counsel work; and Preparing and filing copyright registrations.

Partner

Gee & Sunada

1995 - 2003

Representative experience includes: Serving as special real estate counsel for Hilton Hotels, Inc. in property acquisition transactions; Advising clients in and negotiating business and real property transactions; Advising and preparing estate and succession plans for clients.

Associate

Thorpe and Thorpe, a P.C.

1988 - 1995

Representative work includes: Advising and representing clients in commercial real property financing, purchase, and sales transactions as well as office and shopping center landlords in leasing matters; Advising and representing clients on business transactions, including transactions in Latin America; Representing clients in litigation and arbitration matters.

Colorado Bar Association  # 268792

Member

2006 - Current

California State Bar  # 137035

Member

1988 - Current

California

Since 1988

Colorado

Since 2006

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Q. If I am looking to start a business, but the name is taken on facebook and instagram but inactive, can that be trouble?

August 7, 2019

A: It's possible that you may have an issue with the name. I'd probably look at the US Trademark database (uspto.gov) to see if anyone has filed a trademark for the name. If not, I'd check the database for your state's secretary of state and any fictitious business name (i.e., "doing business as" or "dba") database in the state where you plan to do business to see if anything has been filed. I would also check to see if there is a website with the name. This does not guarantee you won't have issues, but if no one has filed any of these documents with respect to the name you are proposing to use, the chances of your having a problem with the name are probably less. ... Read More

Q. A probate question involving a small, family owned C Corp - A son inherited shares, but refuses to sign Agreement.

November 27, 2018

A: I'm not a Michigan lawyer, and so cannot advise on Michigan law in this regard. I assume your corporation is a Michigan corporation. Normally, however, if there was no requirement in the will that the son agree to a shareholders agreement as a condition for getting his shares, then he is entitled to his shares without the agreement. Unless Michigan law says something different, a shareholder is normally not required to enter into such an agreement once the shares are legally his. Here, it appears they are. I would definitely try to buy him out or it may be a problem to close any sale of the business. You may have some other alternatives under Michigan law and I would STRONGLY advise that you contact a Michigan small business/corporate lawyer before doing anything further. ... Read More

Q. can a tenant remodel a home without permission and then move out and ask for thier money back

April 10, 2018

A: The answer is probably no. Usually, a lease requires the tenant to return the property to the landlord at the end of the term in the same condition in which the tenant received it, reasonable wear and tear excluded. Most leases also do not allow any material alteration of the premises without the written approval of the landlord. And no normal residential lease allows a tenant to make structural repairs without the landlord's approval. There are statutes that allow a residential tenant to make emergency repairs and then deduct the cost of those repairs from the rent payment, but these don't normally apply to a "remodel."

You should get advice on this from a local California lawyer well-versed in residential landlord/tenant disputes and leases, as this is likely to be a litigated matter. ... Read More