Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.
- Potter Stewart
Paul Cliff
Paul Cliff is a director in our San Bernardino office who works in our Real Estate Practice group. His work focuses on real property and related business transactions. This means that Paul is often called upon to counsel clients on acquisitions and dispositions of commercial and industrial buildings throughout California. He also advises many clients on the development of industrial, retail and office projects. Naturally, as part of that acquisition, disposition and development work, he will work with our clients concerning all aspects of their finance needs. He routinely advises landlords and tenants with respect to leasing transactions. Finally, in his role as general counsel for many of these owners, developers and users of real property, Paul will assist in entity governance and review transaction documents and forms such as master service agreements, purchase orders, or standard terms and conditions. The general counsel role extends to mergers and acquisitions and coordinating the client’s needs with lawyers practicing in more specialized disciplines, including employment, taxation, and litigation.
A proponent of legal education, Paul has taught programs about forming business entities for purposes of real estate investment at local universities. He graduated cum laude with a degree in mathematics and economics from Claremont McKenna College and earned his juris doctor from the University of Southern California Law Center, where he was editor and board member of the Major Tax Planning and Computer Law Journal. Paul remains fascinated by California’s unique and arcane rules concerning the rights and remedies available to owners, users and financiers of real estate assets. These current interesting times enable him to put his 30+ years of experience in studying these matters at the service of those developers, investors, users and financiers who separately retain our firm for assistance. In all cases, Paul has the same commitment to our clients’ success.
Paul is a member of the State Bar of California, and its Business Law and Real Property Law sections, and a member of the Riverside County Bar Association.
Education
- J.D., University of Southern California Gould School of Law
- B.A., cum laude, Claremont McKenna College
- Law Journal, Editor and Board Member
AREAS OF PRACTICE
Our real estate practice is one of the largest in the American West, including Arizona, California, Colorado and Nevada with experience in all aspects of the real estate development process, from due diligence, acquisition and finance, through land use permitting and entitlements, to leasing and sale.
Our business and finance attorneys represent national, regional and local clients participating in significant transactions.
Welcome to one of the largest and most sophisticated estate planning practices in the Southwest and California.
ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS
- Co-Author, Fennemore Notice To Clients – Corporate Transparency Act, Fennemore Client Alert, December 29, 2023
- Author, “Commercial Loan Workouts – A Practical Introduction,” Riverside Lawyer, July/August, 2008
- Author, “Catastrophe Planning for Real Estate Practitioners: Traps for the Unwary Contained in Risk of Loss and Premises Damage Provision in Real Property Purchase and Lease Documents,” Volume 25, No. 2 25 California Real Property Journal 23, 2007
- Co-Author, Yvette Green, “Damage, Destruction, Insurance, and Indemnity,” Chapter 15, Ground Lease Practice, 2d ed. Cal CEB, 2009
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
- Member, State Bar of California
- Member, State Bar of California, Business Law and Real Property Law Sections
- Member, Riverside County Bar Association
Admissions
- California