HOWELL MOORE & GOUGH ATTORNEYS AT LAW - Key Persons
Brian Gough practices in the area of complex business litigation, principally involving contract and business disputes, partnership and closely held corporation dissolutions, real estate and landlord tenant issues, business torts, employment contracts, and trade secret and competitive business practice disputes. In addition, he has represented numerous attorneys, accountants, and real estate brokers and agents in the area of professional malpractice defense. Brian has litigated major cases, including class actions, in both federal and state court, and has argued successfully in the California Court of Appeal and before the California Supreme Court. Brian enjoys an AV rating from Martindale-Hubble, the highest rating given practicing attorneys in terms of both professional competence and ethics.
Brian earned his undergraduate degree, with honors, from Stanford University in 1971, and his J.D. from UCLA, before being admitted to the California Bar in 1974. Brian practiced in Los Angeles for nearly twenty years with the regional firm of Macdonald, Halsted & Laybourne, which later merged with the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie, where he served as Chair of its Litigation Department and on its long range planning committee. In 1992, he moved to Santa Barbara and initially joined Schramm & Raddue as a senior partner, before forming the firm of Howell Moore & Gough LLP with partners Joe Howell and Ed Moore.
Brian served as President of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association in 2002 and now sits on the Board of Directors of the Channel Islands YMCA and Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics. He is a past president of Business & Industry Associates, a support organization for Santa Barbara City College, served on the Board of Trustees of Marymount School, and was Co-Chair of the Litigation Section of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association.
Brian and his wife Judy have three sons, Kevin, Christopher and Andrew. Judy is a lecturer in the EMS Program of the Linguistics Department at UCSB. Brian's outside interests include golf, tennis, hiking, travel and home remodeling.
Education
University of California at Los Angeles School of Law (J.D., 1974)
Stanford University (B.A., 1971), Political Science with Honors
Ed Moore began his career in 1974 as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Santa Barbara. In 1978, he joined the firm of Westwick & Collison, becoming a partner in 1980. In 1981, he joined the firm of Egenolf & Moore where he practiced until 1993. Thereafter, he was a partner with the Schramm & Raddue before forming the then new firm of Howell Moore & Gough LLP in 1996 with partners Joe Howell and Brian Gough.
Ed practiced in the area of civil litigation for his entire career. Among his many clients, Ed represented title companies, real estate brokers, buyers and sellers of real property, general contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, and property owners in general business disputes. Ed handled litigation involving construction defects, breach of contract, mechanics liens, landlord-tenant disputes, specific performance actions, claims for real estate commissions, failure to disclose cases, the defense of title companies, and other general business and real property disputes.
Ed and his wife Christie have lived in Santa Barbara since 1974 and raised two children, Amanda and Meghan, both of whom are teachers, while Christie is a retired teacher. In 2014, Ed retired from the practice of law to pursue his many outside activities, including tennis, bike riding, wind surfing, snowboarding, travel, and grandchildren.
Education
Santa Clara University School of Law (J.D., 1974)
University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., 1971) - Political Science
James Griffith began his legal career in 1983 in the civil litigation department of the Santa Barbara firm of Schramm & Raddue, where he practiced with Joe Howell and Ed Thoits. After spending a year traveling solo around the Pacific Rim, he settled in Kyoto, Japan and lived there for several years, where he learned to speak and read Japanese, taught American contract, business and constitutional law at a prestigious Japanese university, and also worked in the legal department of a large trading company. After returning to the U.S., he practiced at Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy before opening his own firm focusing on estate planning, trust and estate administration, trust and probate litigation, and general civil litigation.
Joe Howell has been a business and transactions lawyer in Santa Barbara since 1974. His clients include individuals and established business entities, as well as start-up and emerging growth companies. In recent years, a large part of Joe's practice has been devoted to the representation of clients engaged in merger, acquisition and sale of business transactions. He often assists them in the transition of their business interests, whether to the client's next generation or to a private or public company buyer.
Joe also represents a broad array of insurance/financial services and technology companies, retailers and restaurants, as well as professionals/groups in the healthcare, legal and accounting fields. Given the breadth and depth of his relationships in the legal, business and professional communities of Santa Barbara, Joe brings a unique level of personal and professional experience to his clients. In addition to those clients for whom he has served as counsel for years, Joe continues to add a select group of new clients, including both start-up and seasoned business entities. Joe enjoys an AV rating from Martindale-Hubble, the highest rating given practicing attorneys in terms of both professional competence and ethics.
Joe began his career in 1973 as a Briefing Attorney (law clerk) at The Supreme Court of Texas. He moved to Santa Barbara in 1974, joined the firm of Schramm, Raddue and Seed (which became Schramm & Raddue) and practiced with that firm as a partner and as Managing Partner until forming Howell Moore & Gough LLP in 1996.
Joe and his wife Barbara drove through Santa Barbara on their honeymoon in 1973 and decided it was the place they wanted to live. They moved to Santa Barbara a year later. Barbara recently retired after serving as a teacher and education coordinator. Son Ben is a lawyer and daughter Sarah is a teacher, both living in Los Angeles with their respective families.
Joe's outside activities include Board and leadership roles with a variety of community organizations, cycling, distance running and competing in marathons and triathlons. Joe was inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame as a Community Leader and was selected for the Santa Barbara News Press Lifetime Achievement Award and as Semana Nautica Athlete of the Year. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of American Riviera Bank.
Education
University of Arizona (B.A. 1969)
The University of Texas School of Law (J.D. 1973)
Kim McDaniel has been a business and transactional lawyer since 1986. His practice focuses on the representation of start-up, emerging growth and mature companies, intellectual property and technology transactions, and food and wine industry clients. Kim has represented a variety of start-up and emerging growth companies, assisting them in their formation, protection of their intellectual property, investment by angel and venture capital investors, product commercialization and distribution, and liquidity events (mergers, acquisitions, etc.). Kim's intellectual property and technology transactions practice includes licensing and product commercialization, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and technology protection (including the registration of trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office). In this practice area, he has represented clients in various industries, including the software, biotechnology, wireless, medical device, semiconductor, and entertainment industries. Kim has also represented various food and wine industry clients in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, licensing, supply, distribution, manufacturing and real estate.
Kim began his career in 1986 with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in their San Francisco office. In 1992 he joined Nestlé USA where he was Senior Counsel for Nestlé Beverage Company and Beringer/Wine World Estates Company. He moved to Santa Barbara in 1996 and became a partner in the law firms of Nida & Maloney and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, before joining Howell Moore & Gough LLP in 2005.
Kim grew up in Orcutt in North Santa Barbara County, where he attended Righetti High School (at which his father, Bill McDaniel, taught mathematics). Kim and his wife Katy have three children, Dylan (graduate of Cal Poly SLO, B.S. in Materials Engineering), Hannah (graduate of Cal Poly SLO, B.A. in Graphic Communication) and Carley (graduate of University of Oregon, B.A. Cinema Studies).
Kim's outside activities include cycling, all good music, guitar and wine.
Education
California State University, at San Diego (B.A. 1980)
The University of Puget Sound School of Law (J.D. 1986), with Honors
Rick Battles has been practicing law in Santa Barbara since 1984. Rick's practice focuses primarily on local government work, with an emphasis on the representation of special districts. Rick also has extensive experience handling a wide range of real estate and business transactional matters. Rick enjoys an AV rating from Martindale-Hubble, the highest rating given practicing attorneys in terms of both professional competence and ethics.
Rick began his law career with the Santa Barbara firm of Mullen & Henzell L.L.P. where he was a partner and served as Chair of the firm's Business and Real Estate Department. Rick joined Howell Moore & Gough LLP in 2008, bringing his many years of experience representing individual, business and public agency clients.