Spinelli Donald and Nott

What Spinelli Donald and Nott does

Spinelli, Donald and Nott is a privately held civil litigation law firm founded in 1985 and headquartered at 300 University Avenue, Suite 100, Sacramento, California. The firm operates across ten practice areas: Public Entities Defense, Construction, Employment Litigation & Investigations, Personal Injury Defense, Product Liability Defense, Business Litigation, Real Estate, Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Defense, Appellate Practice, and Investigations Services. Its roster consists of two shareholders (J. Scott Donald and Ross R. Nott, each with over 30 years at the firm), one senior counsel (Suzanne A. Tollefson), and five associates (Jeffrey C. Arnold, Carter J. Nott, Kathleen M.H. Bray, Katherine L. Marlink, and Joanne L. Gothard), placing headcount within the 11–50 range.

The firm serves a defined mix of public-sector, insurance, and private clients — including school districts, municipalities, joint powers authorities (Schools Insurance Authority), the California Interscholastic Federation, general contractors, insurance carriers, and businesses — with a particular concentration in the defense of public entities, education/Title IX matters, and sports investigations. Work spans Northern California trial courts through the California Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court on appellate matters. The firm holds the AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell rating and is listed on its Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers; both named shareholders are ABOTA members and recognized as Northern California Super Lawyers.

Spinelli, Donald and Nott generates revenue through professional services fees — hourly rates, contingency arrangements, and fixed fees depending on matter complexity — with no proprietary technology stack and no public pricing. Client acquisition is sales-led and reputation-driven, relying on referrals, Martindale-Hubbell directory presence, professional association memberships (Association of Defense Counsel, Association of Workplace Investigators), and a firm website (sdnlaw.com). The firm has no external investors, no parent company, no funding rounds, and no disclosed M&A activity.

Name

Spinelli Donald and Nott

Legal name

Spinelli Donald and Nott

Website

https://sdnlaw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Spinelli, Donald and Nott is a Sacramento-based civil litigation law firm founded in 1985, serving public entities, insurance carriers, employers, and businesses across ten practice areas including public entity defense, employment, personal injury, insurance coverage, and investigations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Litigation Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Injury & Insurance Defense (BPAHAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAHALAG), Litigation Support & Civil Investigations (Witness/Asset/Skip Tracing) (BPAKAEAE)

Keywords

• Civil litigation defense
• Appellate practice
• Employment litigation
• Insurance coverage defense
• Workplace investigations

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Fees: Professional legal services billed through hourly rates, contingency fees, and fixed fee arrangements depending on matter type. Services span litigation, trials, appeals, investigations, and counseling.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Spinelli, Donald and Nott is a civil litigation law firm providing defense-side trial and appellate representation for public entities, private employers, insurers, and businesses across practice areas including public entity defense, construction, employment, personal injury, product liability, business litigation, real estate, insurance coverage and bad faith, appellate practice, and attorney-conducted workplace, Title IX, education, and sports investigations. The firm bills through hourly rates, contingency fees, and fixed-fee arrangements and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell with attorneys admitted to the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Product overview

Spinelli, Donald, and Nott is a civil litigation law firm offering legal services across ten practice areas including Public Entities Defense, Construction, Employment Litigation & Investigations, Personal Injury Defense, Product Liability Defense, Business Litigation, Real Estate, Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Defense, Appellate Practice, and Investigations Services. The firm provides both litigation representation and complementary investigation services, particularly focused on public entity representation, employment matters, and education/sports investigations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Public Entities Legal Services Defense of public entities and employees in litigation involving claims of sexual abuse, Title IX, wrongful termination, discrimination, disability accommodation, Title VII, retaliation, constitutional law violations, and dangerous condition of public property claims.
• Construction Legal Services Representation of general contractors, developers, and subcontractors in construction defects litigation, contractual disputes including delay and failure to perform claims, and mechanic's lien enforcement and defense.
• Employment Litigation & Investigations Representation in discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination cases; ADA claims evaluation and counseling; wage and hour claims defense; employment counseling; and neutral workplace investigations.
• Personal Injury Defense Defense in automobile accidents, premises liability, wrongful death, and mass-tort cases including class-action lawsuits and nationwide litigation.
• Product Liability Defense Defense of products in strict liability actions including agricultural products, automobiles, and machinery; prosecution of products liability cross-complaints in construction sites, workplaces, and injury events.
• Business Litigation Contractual disputes enforcement and defense; executive contracts and trade secret litigation including non-compete and non-solicitation agreements; contract drafting services.
• Real Estate Legal Services Real estate litigation including defense of professionals against negligence or fraud claims; land use counseling including Williamson Act, environmental easements, and water acquisition matters.
• Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Defense Insurance coverage investigation, analysis, and opinions for carriers and policyholders; first party claims investigation including arson and SIU matters; bad faith litigation defense.
• Appellate Practice Appeals in California Court of Appeals, California Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and United States Supreme Court; complex legal issues through dispositive motions and post-trial appeals.
• Investigations Services Attorney-conducted workplace, Title IX, education, and sports investigations for public entities, private employers, and educational institutions; impartial investigative reports with factual findings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Defense verdict in Miller v. Mauro - automobile case against plaintiffs seeking more than $4 million for brain injury and cervical fusion
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore: California-based law firm specializing in public entity and education law representation, including employment defense, investigations, and Title IX matters — directly comparable practice mix and client base to SDN's public entities and investigations work.
• Atkinson Andelson Loya Ruud & Romo: California law firm with a strong public agency and education practice serving school districts and municipalities — closely comparable client base and civil litigation defense orientation to SDN.
• Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP: Sacramento-based civil litigation and business defense firm with overlapping practice areas in employment, construction, and insurance defense — a directly comparable regional peer in the same metropolitan market.
• Weintraub Tobin: Sacramento-headquartered full-service law firm with litigation, employment, insurance, and public entity practices — directly comparable geographic and practice overlap, though at larger scale.
• Downey Brand: Sacramento-based law firm providing civil litigation, insurance, construction, and employment defense services — comparable practice mix and Northern California client base.
• Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard: Sacramento-based law firm with civil litigation, water/real estate, employment, and appellate practices — comparable regional peer with similar client profile.

Broad incumbents

• Jackson Lewis: National labor and employment law firm with workplace investigation practices — comparable on employment defense and investigations but at much larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Sedgwick LLP: Large national litigation firm with deep insurance defense, bad faith, and coverage practices — broad incumbent overlapping on insurance defense matters SDN serves.
• Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith: Large national defense firm with insurance, transportation, premises liability, and product liability practices — broad incumbent competing on the same defense-side matter types.

Regional players

• Hanson Bridgett: Northern California-based law firm with public entity, employment, construction, and insurance defense practices — comparable practice mix in overlapping California geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sdnlawapc

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Spinelli Donald and Nott