Curtis E. Smolar, Esq.
Founder and President

curtis@capitallegal.com

Mr. Smolar’s practice includes complex civil litigation, commercial litigation, real estate litigation, employment litigation, and securities litigation.  He has handled cases involving contract disputes, securities, real estate, business torts, entertainment, licensing, intellectual property, mold and other toxic substances, Business and Professions Code Section 17200, California's Proposition 64, contractual interpretation, unfair competition, unlawful detainer, SLAPP, and arbitrations.

Mr. Smolar has successfully briefed issues before the California Courts of Appeal, as well as local federal and state courts.  He has appeared in numerous arbitrations, winning successful judgments totaling more than two million dollars in 2004 alone. 

Mr. Smolar also has significant transactional experience.  He has negotiated large and small corporate and licensing deals for numerous clients, ranging from the small Internet start-ups to well-established multibillion dollar publicly traded companies.  He assists companies in all stages of their corporate life from inception and incorporation, securitization, employment issues, to corporate development events including mergers and acquisitions.

Having worked for four years in New York City prior to law school at Miramax Studios and Broadway Video, Lorne Michaels’s production companies, Mr. Smolar has a particularly keen eye towards entertainment and licensing issues.  He has assisted creative people and businesses with company organization, intellectual property licensing, and intellectual property asset development.

Mr. Smolar is a member of the San Francisco Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Association, the San Francisco Lawyer’s Club as well as the San Francisco and American Bar Associations.  He is a member of the California State Bar.  Additionally, Mr. Smolar is a member of the advisory board for the Webby Awards and offers guidance on a regular basis to several San Francisco based start-up companies.

Mr. Smolar holds a B.S. with Honors from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University.  He grew up in Manhattan and currently lives with his family in San Francisco.