Gregory de la Peña
Gregory de la Peña is a partner in de la Peña and McDonald. He focuses his practice on trial and appellate matters, arbitration and mediation. He specializes in real estate, general negligence, construction defect, insurance, product liability, environmental, toxic and hazardous substance law, commercial/business litigation, and complex, multi-party litigation.
Mr. de la Peña has represented developers, general contractors, commercial and residential property managers and owners, realtors, homeowners, subcontractors and product manufacturers.
Mr. de la Peña attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned two bachelor’s degrees, one in economics and one in political science. In 1986, he earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. While in law school he served an externship with the United States Federal District Court, Northern District of California.
1986, Mr. de la Peña was admitted to the State Bar of California and the Bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. He is also a member of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Mr. de la Peña has litigated and tried a wide variety of cases to a successful conclusion. Most recently, he was in a four-month trial in Johnson v. Buck Center where he defended the developer and general contractor of a housing complex below the Buck Institute for the Study of the Aging. In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that either the Buck Trust or the contractors caused a landslide that caused severe damage to many homes, with four homes having to be completely demolished. Mr. de la Peña received a defense verdict completely vindicating his clients and the Buck Institute was found to have caused the slide.
In other cases, he won a motion for summary judgment in a race discrimination case on behalf of a major hotel chain, and he settled a product liability claim for $5,000 against a tire manufacturer where a tire failed – causing a crash with major injuries to a plaintiff.
Special Expertise
- Real Estate
- General Negligence
- Construction Defect
- Insurance
- Product Liability
- Environmental
- Toxic and Hazardous Substance
- Commercial Business
- Complex Multi-Party Litigation
Academic Credentials
- J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law
- B.A., University of California Berkeley
Memberships
- The State Bar of California
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- The Bar Association of San Francisco
- Institute of Real Estate Management
- Defense Research Institute
