Farella Braun & Martel - FBM

What Farella Braun & Martel - FBM does

Farella Braun + Martel LLP is a San Francisco-based midsize law firm founded in 1962 that represents corporate and private clients in sophisticated business transactions and complex commercial, civil, and criminal litigation. The firm operates from two California offices — a LEED Platinum-certified headquarters at One Bush Street in San Francisco (relocated in 2023) and a Wine Country office in St. Helena opened in 1995 — and is co-led by Co-Managing Partners Holly L. Sutton and Karen P. Kimmey. Its practice spans 13 named areas including Business Transactions, Litigation, Employment, Clean Energy, Environmental Law, Insurance Recovery, Intellectual Property, Private Client, Real Estate, Tax, White Collar Criminal Defense, Wine Industry, and Cannabis.

The firm delivers services through a vertical-segmented model that concentrates expertise in Northern California industries where it has built domain leadership — wine, cannabis, and clean energy among them — supported by interdisciplinary teams and a low-leverage, low-attrition staffing approach. Technology is non-proprietary in the traditional sense (the firm provides bespoke legal counsel rather than packaged software), but the firm operates a content-driven thought-leadership platform (Farella Insights blog, podcasts, specialty blogs including The Policyholder Perspective and Farella Privacy Blog, newsletters, events, and CLE programming) used as a top-of-funnel client development channel.

Revenue is generated on a professional-services, fee-for-service basis through billable hours across practice areas, with no publicly disclosed pricing or fixed fees. Client composition spans enterprise corporations (e.g., Adobe, Sutter Health, Mission Clean Energy, TILT Holdings), wine and cannabis industry operators, nonprofits, government entities, and ultra-high net worth individuals. The firm has accumulated material case outcomes including an $8 billion trial-exposure defense caseload since 2017, a $575 million Sutter Health antitrust class action settlement, and involvement in more than 3,500 MW of solar power development.

Name

Farella Braun & Martel - FBM

Legal name

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Website

https://fbm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Farella Braun + Martel LLP is a San Francisco-based midsize law firm founded in 1962 that represents corporate and private clients in sophisticated business transactions and complex litigation across 13 practice areas, with particular depth in wine, cannabis, clean energy, and intellectual property matters in Northern California.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Transaction Services (Financial, Tax & Commercial Due Diligence) (BPAHAOAB)

Keywords

• Business litigation services
• Mergers and acquisitions law
• Intellectual property law
• Environmental law practice
• Estate planning services

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Professional Fees: Fee-for-service legal representation model serving corporate and private clients in sophisticated business transactions and complex litigation matters. Revenue is generated through billable hours across various practice areas.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Farella Braun + Martel LLP is a Northern California law firm delivering sophisticated business transaction services and complex commercial, civil, and criminal litigation representation. The firm operates through 13 dedicated practice areas including business transactions, employment, clean energy, environmental law, insurance recovery, intellectual property, litigation, private client, real estate, tax, white collar defense, wine industry, and cannabis. Services are billed on an hourly or matter-specific basis and delivered by partners and associates across two California offices.

Product overview

Farella Braun + Martel is a leading Northern California law firm offering comprehensive legal services through multiple practice areas. The firm provides sophisticated business transactions and complex commercial, civil and criminal litigation services. Key practice areas include Business Transactions (corporate governance, M&A, private equity), Litigation (antitrust, appellate, securities), Employment, Clean Energy (renewable energy development), Environmental Law, Insurance Recovery, Intellectual Property (patent, trademark, trade secrets), Private Client (estate planning, family wealth), Real Estate, Tax, White Collar Criminal Defense, Wine Industry, and Cannabis. The firm operates from offices in San Francisco (headquarters) and St. Helena, Napa Valley, serving corporate and private clients with over 60 years of experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business Transactions Legal counsel for corporate governance, SEC compliance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, securities representation, and individual director and officer representation. Targeted at corporate clients requiring sophisticated transactional support.
• Employment Law Employment law services covering workplace compliance, employment disputes, and related legal matters for employers.
• Clean Energy Legal counsel for renewable energy project development and clean energy regulatory matters. The firm has been instrumental in the development of more than 3,500 megawatts of solar power production facilities.
• Environmental Law Counsel on air quality and climate change, environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, extended producer responsibility, hazardous substances and wastes, natural resource protection, PFAS, product liability and stewardship, and Proposition 65 counseling and defense.
• Insurance Recovery Representation of policyholders and claimants in insurance coverage disputes against insurers.
• Intellectual Property IP services covering copyright, internet law, patent litigation, patent office litigation, trade secrets litigation, and trademark counseling and litigation. Ranked among the Top 50 law firms for patent litigation in Patexia's 2026 Patent Litigation Intelligence Report.
• Litigation Complex commercial, civil and criminal litigation including antitrust, appellate, business, healthcare, and securities and commodities litigation. Farella litigators have defended $8 billion in trial exposure since 2017.
• Private Client Services for ultra-high net worth clients covering executive representation, exempt organizations, family wealth, family-held enterprises, international tax and estate planning, and private wealth law. Ranked in Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2025.
• Real Estate
• Tax
• White Collar Criminal Defense and Internal Corporate Investigations
• Wine Industry
• Cannabis

Quantifiable outcome

• Trial exposure defended: $8 Billion since 2017
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Yale Law School's Peter Gruber Rule of Law CliniccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Farella and the clinic filed amicus briefs on behalf of former senior U.S. national security officials in support of Anthropic's challenges to its designation as a supply chain risk by the U.S. Department of War.
• Perkins CoiecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2025Farella joined over 500 law firms in signing amicus brief opposing the Administration's unlawful retaliation against Perkins Coie and other law firms. The firm continued to support law firms fighting executive orders in April 2026.
• La CocinacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 April 2021Farella served as the pro bono legal partner to La Cocina in the development of La Cocina Municipal Marketplace in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. The nation's first women-led food hall is home to seven women-of-color chefs in a 7,000-square-foot facility.
• Housing Action Coalition (HAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFarella represents HAC pro bono in litigation challenging housing element compliance by Bay Area cities including San Mateo and Lafayette. The partnership addresses housing affordability and regulatory compliance issues.
• Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun ViolenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel with Giffords Law Center successfully defended City of Morgan Hill in a lawsuit challenging its local ordinance requiring reporting of lost or stolen firearms brought by NRA's California state affiliate.
• Access NowminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided legal assistance to Access Now and a coalition of civil society organizations to draft and file amicus briefs in the 9th Circuit regarding NSO Group's Pegasus spyware technology targeting WhatsApp users including dissidents and journalists.
• Centro Legal de la RazaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFarella lawyers teamed up with in-house lawyers from Oracle and Dropbox and Centro Legal de la Raza to help victims of violent crime apply for U-Nonimmigrant Status visas.
• Oracle and Dropbox (In-house counsel)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Oracle and Dropbox in-house legal teams to provide pro bono services to crime victims seeking U-visa status.
• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACLU and Farella filed lawsuit against federal agencies to obtain records revealing conditions at federal prisons and tent-like detention facilities. Firmed litigation efforts in June 2025 to document unsafe conditions at tent facilities.
• National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFarella and Democracy Forward represented NCRC and California Reinvestment Coalition in successful challenge of OCC's harmful 2020 Community Reinvestment Act rule changes that would have gutted anti-redlining rules.
• Asian American Bar AssociationminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• National Center for Lesbian RightsminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• LGBTQ+ Bar AssociationminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Asian Americans Advancing JusticeminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Korean American Bar AssociationminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• California Rural Legal AssistanceminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Lambda LegalminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• South Asian Bar AssociationminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Bar Association of San FranciscominorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Centro Legal de la RazaminorOthersSupported organization through diversity and inclusion initiatives

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves2 records

Broad incumbents

• Fenwick & West: Premier technology and life sciences law firm in Silicon Valley. Directly competes with Farella on technology M&A, venture capital, and IP matters across the Bay Area.
• Reed Smith: International law firm with significant California presence. Competes with Farella on litigation, insurance recovery, and energy matters across the West Coast.
• Morrison Foerster: Global law firm with major San Francisco presence and strong technology, clean energy, and environmental practices. Overlaps with Farella on clean energy M&A, environmental law, and tech litigation.
• Cooley LLP: Large technology and life sciences-focused law firm with major Bay Area presence. Competes directly with Farella for tech M&A, venture capital, and IP litigation matters in Northern California.
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati: Premier technology and life sciences law firm based in Palo Alto. Competes with Farella for high-stakes technology transactions, IP, and venture capital mandates in the Bay Area.
• Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe: Global law firm headquartered in San Francisco with strong technology, energy, and infrastructure practices. Competes with Farella in clean energy, technology transactions, and complex litigation.
• Perkins Coie: Major Pacific Northwest-founded firm with significant Bay Area presence. Farella joined amicus brief alongside 500+ firms supporting Perkins Coie; competes on technology, IP, and litigation matters.

Direct peers

• Buchalter: California-based mid-size law firm with comparable practice mix including real estate, corporate, litigation, and insolvency. Closest structural peer to Farella as a similarly-sized California firm.
• Hanson Bridgett: San Francisco-based mid-size law firm serving Northern California clients across business, litigation, and real estate. Closest geographic and structural peer to Farella in the Bay Area market.
• Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell: Los Angeles-based mid-size law firm with similar full-service practice areas including real estate, corporate, and litigation. Comparable to Farella in size, structure, and California focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FarellaBraun
• Facebookfacebook.com/FarellaBraunMartel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/farella-braun---martel-llp
• Instagraminstagram.com/farellabraunmartel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Farella Braun & Martel - FBM