Lincoln, Gustafson, & Cercos

What Lincoln, Gustafson, & Cercos does

Lincoln, Gustafson & Cercos (LGC) is a private, full-service law firm organized as a Limited Liability Partnership, founded in 1987 in San Diego, California. The firm provides civil litigation defense, insurance coverage and bad faith representation, construction defect defense, employment law compliance and litigation, catastrophic injury defense, business counseling, intellectual property, and appellate services across 16 practice areas. It serves enterprise clients including major insurance carriers (e.g., AIG, Zurich, Travelers, Swiss Re, CNA), national construction and development firms (e.g., D.R. Horton, Cemex, Perini Building Company), hospitality and gaming operators (e.g., MGM Resorts, Bellagio), public entities (e.g., City of San Diego, City of El Cajon), and large retailers and food and beverage operators.

LGC generates revenue through professional service fees, including hourly billing, fixed-fee arrangements, and contingency or flat-fee structures depending on practice area and matter type. It distributes services exclusively through direct attorney engagement from offices in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, with no digital self-serve, marketplace, or product-led motion. Marketing is limited to a LinkedIn presence, a blog publishing legal insights, and community/pro bono involvement.

The firm holds the Martindale-Hubbell AV-Rated firm designation, with multiple partners individually rated AV-Preeminent; two attorneys are members of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). The firm is not a technology company and has no proprietary platform, app, or AI capabilities disclosed.

Name

Lincoln, Gustafson, & Cercos

Legal name

Lincoln, Gustafson & Cercos, LLP

Website

https://lgclawoffice.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Lincoln, Gustafson & Cercos is a private, AV-Rated full-service law firm founded in 1987, providing civil litigation, insurance defense, construction, and employment law services to enterprise clients across California, Nevada, and Arizona.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services (Civil Litigation & Business Counseling)

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Employment & Labor Law (BPAHAAAD)

Keywords

• Civil litigation defense
• Insurance defense counsel
• Construction defect law
• Employment law defense
• Business legal counseling

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Fees: LGC generates revenue through fees for legal representation across its practice areas including civil litigation, insurance defense, construction defect, employment law, and business counseling. Revenue is derived from hourly billing, fixed-fee arrangements for specific matters, and contingency or flat-fee structures depending on the practice area and client arrangement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Lincoln, Gustafson, & Cercos (LGC) is a full-service law firm providing civil litigation defense and business legal counseling across 16 practice areas, including insurance coverage and bad faith, construction defect, employment and labor, premises liability, product liability, professional liability, intellectual property, class action defense, transportation, public entity, appellate, and trusts and estates. The firm represents Fortune 500 corporations, insurance carriers, developers, contractors, hospitality operators, manufacturers, retailers, and public entities in California, Nevada, and Arizona, with pro hac vice appearances in other states.

Product overview

Lincoln, Gustafson & Cercos is a full-service law firm (not a software/product company) offering comprehensive legal services across 16 practice areas. The firm provides legal counsel and litigation defense services rather than technology products. Core service areas include civil litigation, insurance defense, construction law, employment law, business counseling, and specialized practice areas such as intellectual property, product liability, and appellate advocacy. The firm operates from offices in California, Nevada, and Arizona, representing clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to individual businesses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Civil Litigation Defense Civil litigation representation for corporations, partnerships, LLCs, joint ventures, and other entities in state and federal courts across California, Nevada, and Arizona, covering breach of contract, fraud, business torts, and regulatory enforcement matters.
• Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Defense Representation of insurance carriers on coverage evaluations, bad faith litigation, and regulatory compliance assistance with Gramm-Leach-Bliley, HIPAA, ACA, Dodd-Frank, and state insurance regulations across CA, NV, AZ.
• Construction Law & Defect Litigation Construction law representation covering defect litigation, payment disputes, contract drafting, insurance coverage evaluation, OCIP/wrap claims, construction accidents, mechanic's liens, bond claims, and Miller Act claims, including pre-litigation claims under SB 800 and Chapter 40.
• Employment & Labor Law Defense Employment law services including HR policy counseling, regulatory compliance, and litigation defense for discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, wage and hour disputes, EEOC/DFEH matters, and class action defense.
• Catastrophic Injury Defense Defense representation in catastrophic personal injury cases involving automobile accidents, trucking accidents, product failures, premises liability, and other high-exposure matters.
• Premises Liability Defense Defense representation for property owners and hospitality/retail operators in premises liability cases including slip-and-fall, ADA compliance, and other injury claims.
• Product Liability Defense Defense of manufacturers, retailers, and distributors against product defect claims including recreational equipment, automobiles, and building products.
• Professional Liability Defense Representation of professionals (accountants, attorneys, architects, engineers, real estate brokers) against liability claims.
• Class Action Defense Defense of class action litigation including unfair business practices, consumer legal remedies, false advertising, and wage and hour claims.
• Appellate Practice Post-trial appellate advocacy, including handling appeals and filing writs challenging interlocutory trial court orders, with an in-house appellate team able to carry matters through appeal without outside referral.
• Business Counseling & Commercial Litigation Business legal services including entity formation, compliance, contract drafting, risk management advice, and commercial litigation representation for corporations, partnerships, LLCs, joint ventures, and other entities.
• Intellectual Property Services Intellectual property services including trademark registration, copyright protection, trade secrets counseling, and IP litigation; supported by a registered patent agent (John Kaiser) authorized to practice before the USPTO.
• Public Entity Defense Representation of public entities against tort claims, First Amendment claims, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 actions, and federal/state tort claims act matters across CA, NV, AZ.
• Transportation Industry Defense Transportation industry legal services including trucking accident defense, cargo claims, motor carrier compliance, and contract disputes.
• Property & Real Estate Law Property and real estate legal services including easement disputes, landlord-tenant matters, lease preparation, and property tax appeals.
• Trusts & Estates Estate planning and administration services including wills, trusts, probate actions, and trust administration.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully represented clients in over 50 jury trials (Thomas J. Lincoln alone)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers34 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Selman Breitman LLP: California-based insurance defense and civil litigation firm with a comparable three-state western footprint (CA, NV, AZ) and similar mix of insurance defense, construction defect, and premises liability work. Directly competes for the same carrier panel positions as LGC.
• Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP: California-founded insurance defense and civil litigation firm with offices in Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Has a near-identical insurance carrier client base, practice area mix, and regional scope to LGC, making it one of the most direct head-to-head competitors.
• Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP: California-based civil litigation and insurance defense firm with offices in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Competes directly with LGC for the same insurance carrier panels, construction defect matters, and premises liability defense work across the same western geography.
• Hanna Brophy LLP: California-based insurance defense firm specializing in workers' compensation and civil litigation. Headquartered in Oakland with offices throughout California, it competes with LGC for insurance carrier defense work on the California side of LGC's practice.
• Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley: California-based civil litigation and insurance defense firm with offices in California and Nevada. Competes directly with LGC for insurance defense, construction defect, and general liability work in the same western U.S. markets.
• Bowman and Brooke LLP: National insurance defense and product liability firm with strong California presence. Competes with LGC for product liability, premises liability, and insurance defense matters, particularly for the manufacturing and retail clients in LGC's customer base.
• Watt Tieder Hoffar & Fitzgerald LLP: Virginia-based but nationally recognized construction defect and insurance defense firm. Competes with LGC for the same general contractor and developer clients on complex construction defect litigation, particularly in the western U.S.

Broad incumbents

• Sedgwick LLP: National litigation firm with a large insurance defense practice serving many of the same Fortune 500 insurance carriers as LGC. As a much larger, full-service firm, it competes for panel positions and high-value matters that exceed LGC's scale capacity.
• Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP: One of the largest U.S. insurance defense and civil litigation firms with 1,400+ attorneys nationwide. Represents many of the same insurance carrier clients as LGC and competes for the same panel work, but at substantially greater scale and geographic reach.
• Clyde & Co LLP: Global insurance and reinsurance litigation firm with major U.S. presence. Represents the same international insurance carriers (Swiss Re, AIG, Zurich) that are LGC clients, but at substantially greater scale and global reach that LGC cannot match.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lincoln-gustafson-&-cercos
• Xx.com/ghlegal101

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles26 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 Lincoln, Gustafson, & Cercos