Atty. Nathaniel Kelly
Nathaniel G. Kelly is the founder of the Law Offices of Nate Kelly, a California litigation practice representing companies, founders, shareholders, and boards in high-stakes commercial disputes.
Profile Summary
About Nathaniel Kelly at a glance
Nathaniel Kelly is a Founder based in San Francisco, California, practicing at Law Offices of Nate Kelly. Their practice focuses on business, ip, litigation, and adr. Educated at University of Southern California, Gould School of Law School (J.D. American, 2008) and University of Maryland (B.A. Government, 2005). Active member of State of California: State Bar of California — 2009 Federal Courts: U, S, and District Court, Northern District of California U. Serands clients in San Francisco, CA and the surrounding metropolitan area.
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About
- Nathaniel G. Kelly is the founder of the Law Offices of Nate Kelly, a California litigation practice representing companies, founders, shareholders, and boards in high-stakes commercial disputes
- His practice focuses on three areas: high-stakes litigation, business breakups, and corporate governance disputes
- Mr. Kelly represents clients at every stage of dispute resolution — from pre-filing demand and negotiation through arbitration, trial, and appeal
- He is admitted to all California state and federal courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and federal courts in Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington D.C
- His practice includes bet-the-company commercial litigation, trade secret misappropriation and enforcement, breach of fiduciary duty and shareholder oppression claims, derivative actions, hostile takeover defense, forced buyout and dissolution proceedings, and post-acquisition disputes including earn-out enforcement
- Selected results include a $7,418,642 judgment entered by the Superior Court of California, County of Orange (March 2026) on claims of breach of fiduciary duty and trade secret misappropriation
- a judgment after bench trial dismissing with prejudice a hostile takeover complaint on all causes of action (Alameda County Superior Court, 2025)
- a property partition bench trial result in which the client received 76% of $1,530,000 in sale proceeds (Alameda County Superior Court, 2025)
- a $3.5M minority shareholder buyout following 16 months of contentious litigation (2025)
- a $1.5M corporate dissolution resolved through mediation following a successful preliminary injunction motion (2024)
- a successful defense of a federal trade secret preliminary injunction in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2024)
- and an appellate court victory in a breach of contract appeal, with costs and attorneys' fees awarded to the client (2024)
- Mr. Kelly has resolved over $200M in business disputes across California state and federal courts, AAA and JAMS arbitration, and appellate proceedings
- Prior to founding his firm in 2010, Mr. Kelly practiced at Kaye Scholer LLP (now Arnold & Porter), where he advised on complex commercial transactions for institutional clients
Recognition
- — Top 100 Bet-the-Company Litigators® in America (top 0.5% of business litigators nationally) — Super Lawyers, Business Litigation — Northern California 2024–2026
- Southern California 2025–2026
- The only attorney to appear on both regional Business Litigation lists in 2025. — Super Lawyers Rising Star — Northern and Southern California, 2016–2022 — Avvo Rating 10.0 — "Superb" J.D., USC Gould School of Law — High Honors, Merit Scholarship B.A., University of Maryland — Dean's Scholar, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa Offices in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, and Laguna Beach
Practice Areas Explained
Nathaniel Kelly's Areas of Practice
Each practice area below reflects the types of cases Nathaniel Kelly handles, with a brief overview of what that area of law covers.
Business attorneys advise founders and growing companies on entity formation, contracts, financing, M&A, and dispute resolution.
Nathaniel Kelly is one of 501,317 business attorneys indexed nationally. Browse business attorneys in California →
IP attorneys protect inventions, brands, and creative work through patent prosecution, trademark registration, copyright, and trade-secret enforcement.
Nathaniel Kelly is one of 106,079 ip attorneys indexed nationally. Browse ip attorneys in California →
Civil litigation attorneys for breach of contract, business disputes, civil rights, and class action lawsuits.
Nathaniel Kelly is one of 454,532 litigation attorneys indexed nationally. Browse litigation attorneys in California →
Mediators and arbitrators for civil, commercial, family, and employment dispute resolution.
Nathaniel Kelly is one of 73,906 adr attorneys indexed nationally. Browse adr attorneys in California →
Jurisdictional Context
Why local counsel matters in California
Practicing law in California. Legal matters in California are governed by state-specific rules of civil and criminal procedure, statutes of limitations, and substantive law. Cases originating in San Francisco are typically filed in the local municipal court or the appropriate California state district court, depending on subject matter and amount in controversy. An attorney licensed in California brings working knowledge of local procedural deadlines, judicial practices in this andnue, and the substantive law that applies to cases brought here. Out-of-state attorneys generally cannot represent clients in California courts without local counsel or pro hac vice admission.
Looking for additional California attorneys? Browse all attorneys in San Francisco or all attorneys in California.
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