Insights & News

Patrick M. Ryan Earns Repeat Recognition as 2025 Top 100 Lawyer

Partners named as 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers

Congratulations to Patrick M. Ryan and Jason A. Zweig on being named to the 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers!

Bartko’s Patrick M. Ryan Named 2024 Top 100 Lawyer

San Francisco, CA — Bartko is proud to announce that Patrick M. Ryan, co-managing partner and head of the litigation, intellectual property, and antitrust groups, has been named to the prestigious Top 100 Lawyers list by the Daily Journal. This award highlights Patrick’s pioneering approach to complex litigation and his dedication to securing early, decisive victories for his clients.

Arkansas Business Journal Spotlights $222.7M Trade Secrets Win

The Arkansas Business Journal recently featured Bartko Pavia LLP’s major courtroom victory in the Zest Labs v. Walmart case, where a federal jury awarded Zest Labs $222.7 million in a trade secrets retrial against the retail giant.

Boutique Merger Creates Bicoastal 'Sweet Spot' In NY, Calif.

California-based litigation boutique Bartko LLP announced Monday that it has merged with New York-based Pavia & Harcourt to create a combined 61-lawyer firm with a substantial bicoastal platform in San Francisco

California, New York Litigation Boutiques Combine to Create Bicoastal Firm

Bartko is combining with Pavia & Harcourt to create Bartko Pavia, which will have 61 lawyers across Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

Bartko Pavia’s Patrick M. Ryan obtains $222 million jury verdict against Walmart

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Hospitals Score Another Massive Victory Against the Blues as Court Rejects Insurance Companies’ Second Attempt to Dismiss Healthcare Providers’ Antitrust Claims

San Francisco, CA – In a June 5, 2023 Order, only made available on the public docket late June 6, 2023, the Honorable Evelio Grillo of the Alameda Superior Court, in VHS Liquidating Trust, et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, et al., Case Number RG21106600, issued a comprehensive Order resoundingly rejecting the Defendant Blues’ second attempt to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ claims.

Bartko Secures Major Victory In Kalamas v. John Muir Health

Luzann Fernandez, Patrick Ryan, Chad DeVeaux, Kerry Duffy, and Lisa Ferguson secured a major victory in Kalamas v. John Muir Health. The Bartko team filed an anti-SLAPP motion seeking to strike substantial portions of the plaintiff-doctor’s 800-plus-page Complaint against our clients John Muir Health and Calvin Knight, and two other defendants.  The Complaint seeks significant damages for employment retaliation, infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract.  In support of these claims, the Complaint targeted statements made during medical peer-review proceedings and academic critiques of medical protocols and scientific theories proposed by the plaintiff.  Finding that these allegations targeted core speech and petition activities protected by the First Amendment, the California Constitution, and Civil Code § 47(b)’s litigation privilege, the Court granted Bartko’s motion, striking the plaintiff’s emotional distress and contract claims in their entirety, dramatically limiting the scope of her retaliation claims, and dismissing all the claims against the three remaining defendants.  Please see the attached November 9, 2022 Order here. This sets up a motion for attorneys’ fees against a wealthy individual. This victory comes on the heals of a win in the Peterson v. Sutter Med. Found., No. 3:21-cv-04908-WHO, 2022 WL 2869531 (N.D. Cal. July 20, 2022)—an important anti-SLAPP decision decided last July in a case handled by Michael Abraham, Steve Steinberg, and Chad DeVeaux, leveraging Chad’s and Patrick’s prior anti-SLAPP work in numerous other cases.  Patrick and Chad are leading practitioners in anti-SLAPP jurisprudence, having collectively prevailed in over 25 such motions across their career and working on some of the most important cases, including at the California Supreme Court level.  In fact, this recent victory marked a “hat trick” for Bartko, as this was the third anti-SLAPP victory of the year.

Bartko Law Firm Expands Into SoCal With Preeminent Labor & Employment Group

San Francisco, January 15, 2020. Bartko Bunzel & Miller is pleased to welcome a top-tier Northern and Southern California labor and employment practice with co-chairs Louise Ann Fernandez and An Nguyen Ruda joining the firm. Their clients following them to the Bartko firm include healthcare providers and media companies.  Ms. Fernandez, Ms. Ruda and their group, including associate Elina Tilman, will complement and bolster Bartko’s complex litigation and real estate practices by providing additional vital services for corporate clients.