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Areas of
Practice:
Business/Corporate
Commercial Transactions
Business Acquisitions
Real Estate
Technology Licensing
Commercial Litigation
Bar
Admissions:
California, 1974
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Education:
University of California, Los Angeles,
1970—B.A. Economics
Loyola Law School, 1973—Juris Doctor
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan,
1974—International Tax and Business
Transactions
Achievements:
AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating for
competence and ethics issued for attorneys.
Ranked in the top 5% of attorneys in Northern California as one of
the "Northern
California Super Lawyers" for 2008
Professional Associations and Memberships:
Lawyers Club of San Francisco, Commonwealth Club of Northern
California,* Japan Society of Northern California,* Japanese Chamber
of Commerce of Northern California,* California International
Relations Foundation (in conjunction with California Senate Office
of International Relations)*
* Member of Board of Directors
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STEVEN G. TERAOKA is the Managing Partner of Teraoka
& Partners LLP, a San Francisco based international corporate law
firm specializing in domestic and international transactions. Mr.
Teraoka has been practicing law for the past 34 years as both a
business transactional and trial attorney. He now serves as a
counselor and general counsel to multi national Japan and European
based companies. Since 1988, he has been rated as an “AV” attorney,
the highest rating for superior legal competence and ethics issued
by the Martindale-Hubbell Directory, a worldwide compilation of
attorneys. Mr. Teraoka has been recognized, and featured in the
August 2008 San Francisco Magazine, as one of the Super Lawyers of
Northern California in 2008.
Mr. Teraoka was born in the Midwest, raised in Central California,
and educated at the University of California at Berkeley and UCLA,
graduating as a UCLA Bruin in 1970 with a degree in Economics. He
was captain of the UCLA Karate Team and holds a Black Belt from the
Japan Karate Federation. He obtained his law degree from Loyola Law
School and did post-graduate studies work in international business
transactions at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, in 1974. He has
interned with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission,
Western Regional Headquarters, and with a prestigious Beverly Hills
entertainment law firm. His work at the Beverly Hills firm included
handling various matters for motion picture celebrities and
entertainment-related business ventures, which is where his
experience in corporate securities regulation over various
syndicated enterprises began.
He worked as an associate with the San Francisco law firm of
Burden, Reis, Eikan & Krinsky, a boutique law firm specializing in
corporate securities, real estate, tax and litigation. Mr. Teraoka
continued his work in corporate securities regulation and real
estate, and during the economic downturn in the mid 70’s, he
developed litigation skills.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Teraoka tried several jury
trials, one of which included a six week jury trial in Los Angeles
County involving franchise litigation, resulting in a favorable
verdict of more than $450,000. He co counseled a 53 day jury trial
regarding a complex international construction contract dispute in
Alameda County, resulting in a favorable net verdict of $1.3
million. The latter involved a contract negotiated in Germany,
drafted by an attorney in Tel Aviv, signed in Korea, performed in
South Korea and Oakland, and applied California law. In addition to
other trial work, Mr. Teraoka has tried bench cases, argued appeals
to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (BAP), and arbitrated and
mediated numerous types of business cases, as well as tried
administrative hearings before the California Public Utilities
Commission.
Mr. Teraoka’s leading precedent-setting case in California was In
Re Western Travel Plaza, a case before the California Public
Utilities Commission that deregulated motor carrier transportation
regulation covering sightseeing operations in California in 1980.
This landmark case was appealed to the California Supreme Court by
opponents including the California Bus Association and other major
transportation carriers, and review was ultimately denied by then
Chief Justice Rose Bird. The ruling achieved by Mr. Teraoka became
law in California motor carrier regulation in sightseeing
operations, and opened the way for tour bus carriers to
competitively serve the Bay Area.
Mr. Teraoka’s initial calling has and continues to be in
business, real estate, corporate and cross-border transactions,
particularly between the United States and Japan. Utilizing his
experience in the entertainment business, Mr. Teraoka has
represented various business and advertising agencies from Japan
that have used Mr. Teraoka’s service and experience to procure
licensing and merchandising agreements with American celebrities for
commercial use in Asia. As an example, Mr. Teraoka has procured IP
licensing rights from American entertainers and celebrities ranging
from The Carpenters, Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett, Steven Spielberg,
Sammy Sosa, to name a few, all in cross-border licensing and
commercial endorsement engagements in Japan.
Mr. Teraoka has a broad, diverse background in legal matters,
with the added involvement in cross-border issues, which makes his
experience unique and advice valued by larger growing businesses. He
is currently outside general counsel for Kikkoman Sales USA, Inc.
and JFC International Inc. (formerly Japan Food Corporation). The
firm has performed work related to Japanese animé and the Pokémon®
phenomenon, helped Sega® in business acquisitions, assisted Nomura
Research® and its U.S. affiliates in corporate structuring, and has
negotiated TV agreements to broadcast LPGA® tournaments in Japan.
He has been chairman of the Government Relations Committee of the
Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California since 1996.
Prior to serving in this capacity, Mr. Teraoka was the Past
President of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California
in 1994 and was active in welcoming the Emperor and Empress of Japan
to San Francisco.
He has also served from 1996 to 2008 as an Executive Board Member
on the Board of Directors of the California International Relations
Foundation in conjunction with the California Senate Office of
International Relations. He was a member of the Asian Pacific
Business Advisory Committee under Senate Subcommittee on Asian Trade
& Commerce, California State Senate, chaired by former Senator Hilda
Solis (1995-2000). Periodically, Mr. Teraoka has testified on behalf
of Japan industry in California before both California Senate and
Assembly committee hearings.
He has traveled on numerous Senate delegations to Japan,
accompanying California legislators and representatives of the
Governor’s Office. In the 1996 inaugural Japan trip, his delegation
met with former Ambassador Walter Mondale. That meeting with
Ambassador Mondale served as a catalyst to initiate the California
Japan Scholar Student Exchange Program, which has now exchanged over
600 students between California and Japan. Mr. Teraoka remains
active in the promotion of this program.
Mr. Teraoka is actively involved in
other community and professional organizations including, among
others, The Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco, The Commonwealth Club of
Northern California and the Japan Society.
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