Schweppe, David M.

I am an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and have been practicing law for approximately nineteen years in California. For the last twelve, I have had my own practice. Prior to starting my own law practice, I practiced law with the Los Angeles law firm of De Castro, West, Chodorow & Burns, a firm specializing in business and commercial transactions, taxation, securities, real estate and estate planning, where I was one of their principal transactional and securities attorneys. I also have a B.S. in economics and an M.B.A. (concentration in finance) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; prior to attending law school I was a banker in the commercial finance and real estate division of State Street Bank and Trust of Boston. I am currently serving as a judge pro tem for the San Bernardino County Municipal Court. I have served as a fee dispute arbitrator for the Los Angeles Bar Association and as a public member of the County of San Bernardino Investment Advisory Committee, which committee consists of two county supervisors, the county chief administrative officer, the county auditor, the county treasurer, the county investment officer and the county superintendent of schools and acts as an oversight committee with respect to the investment of county funds. I also had been an instructor on business law in the Chaffey College Small Business Management Certificate Program.

I am a transactional attorney rather than a litigator. My practice is a commercial transactions practice emphasizing the business and personal legal needs of small- and medium-sized businesses and their owners, professionals and entrepreneurs, including high-technology entities. A significant portion of my practice is devoted to acting as general counsel, officially or unofficially, for a number of my business clients, in which capacity I frequently negotiate and prepare a broad range of commercial agreements (e.g., licensing, joint venture, confidentiality, severance, strategic alliance, technology partnership, shareholder, distribution or employment agreements), resolve business disputes as they arise, provide legal and business advice on a broad range of legal issues, review contracts, handle employment matters, negotiate and document debt and equity financings and supervise pending litigation. Entities I represent are involved in multimedia and internet activities, software development, nuclear power, clothing manufacturing, graphic arts and construction. Another significant segment of my practice involves representing clients with respect to the formation, organization, acquisition, sale, development, financing and management of privately and family held businesses, whether conducted or organized as corporations or partnerships. Another portion of my practice is devoted to representing clients in real estate transactions, for example, negotiating and documenting the purchase and sale of developed and undeveloped real property, preparing and reviewing leases of all levels of complexity, establishing partnerships, joint ventures and other entities for the acquisition of real estate and representing clients in all aspects of public and private real estate syndication transactions. In addition to my background in general commercial and real estate law, I have substantial experience in private placements, partnerships, limited liability entities, corporations, business start-ups, professional corporations, securities, venture capital, acquisitions, mergers, taxation, financial planning and business counseling. I also have represented a number of SBA licensed small business investment companies and venture capital groups for several years and in such capacity have significant experience in the structuring, restructuring and supervision of troubled equity and debt investments.

Separate from my personal practice, until my resignation in September, 1995, I also was a partner of the Los Angeles-based law firm of Curls, Schwartz, Brown & Roushon, a minority certified law firm formed in early 1991 specializing in municipal bond transactions, insurance company reorganizations and other institutional and governmental transactions. Through the firm, I participated as bond counsel, disclosure or underwriters counsel in approximately 37 offerings involving over 4 billion dollars of municipal bond financings on behalf of a wide variety of California issuers including the State of California, the University of California, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Children's Hospital of Orange County, Loyola University and the City of Pasadena.