Before joining Lamb & Kawakami LLP, Patrick L. Rendón successfully ran his own firm Smith & Rendón. Like others at L&K, Mr. Rendón has a broad and substantial base of experience. He was formerly an associate at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue where he specialized in environmental and construction matters. Mr. Rendón also practiced as in-house counsel at Fluor Corporation, a Fortune 500, international construction company. Mr. Rendón is fluent in Spanish and has negotiated construction, infrastructure, and project finance contracts throughout Latin America.

At L&K, Mr. Rendón has focused in litigation and trials. Mr. Rendón has tried cases through to jury verdict and has served as lead appellate counsel before the California Court of Appeal. He has represented clients in a broad range of cases from business and partnership disputes, to real estate and construction disputes, to land use and environmental matters. Mr. Rendón has represented clients at contaminated sites for over twenty-years and has represented multiple clients in many of the largest Superfund sites in the Los Angeles area. His litigation experience extends beyond contaminated sites. He has handled CEQA matters, including representing a city in a CEQA lawsuit where the plans of heavy industrial use were potentially incompatible with the projected residential and mixed-use designation of an area. Mr. Rendón has also represented owners and contractors in claims for delays, acceleration and extra work, and in the litigation arising out of complex construction disputes, including a dispute involving a $340 million airport expansion project and a $200 million construction dispute at a hospital. Mr. Rendón has also represented partners and real estate brokers in litigation arising from real estate development projects.

A substantial part of Mr. Rendón’s practice includes representing clients before regulatory agencies, including the US and California EPA. This experience includes negotiating cleanup levels and plans for contaminated sites and advising clients on the development and transition of such sites from heavy industrial use to mixed and residential uses.

University of Southern California, School of Law, J.D. 1985

Haverford College, B.A. 1982

I have found that trials fuel my creative and competitive spirit. When I am presented with a new case, I enjoy the challenge of understanding the underpinnings of the dispute, and from there I enjoy developing a strategy and presenting the case in a manner that will ultimately appeal to the jury. On the competitive side, outside of professional sports, there are very few opportunities where adults play to win. At trial, I am there to win, a challenge made even greater by the fact that neither the witnesses nor the evidence evolve in an ideal or even expected order. I also enjoy the challenge of tailoring the required presentation to the trier of fact. A jury is drawn in by a very different presentation than the Court of Appeal, and I enjoy the challenge of developing the most persuasive presentation to the audience at hand.
The skills I learned as a transactional lawyer are invaluable in litigation and vice-versa. I have negotiated and drafted construction contracts valued up to $1.2 billion. I also was the lawyer who negotiated the sale of what was at the time one of the largest land sales in California; the sale of a 6,700 acre master-planned development with mixed land uses that included residential, retail, business parks, public and open spaces, and a golf course. That background enables me to understand the business side of a dispute. This is important on two levels: On a technical level, understanding the underlying business enables me to develop a more effective discovery plan, to ask more effective questions at depositions, and to develop a more persuasive theme for a case. On a practical level, my goal is to achieve a net victory for a client. Although I enjoy trials, these are expensive and risk laden endeavors. As a former transactional lawyer, I find there are many similarities to consummating a transaction and settling a case. Identifying and negotiating the common ground are very important throughout the course of a case and important to keep in mind at all stages of case so that when a beneficial settlement opportunity presents itself, it can be seized.
As lawyers, my colleagues at L&K and I feel a responsibility to champion a cause. Now that we have been able to establish our practices, we are able to apply our knowledge and skills to other areas that are important to us. In my particular case, I have been able to expand my practice into representing individuals who have been the victims of financial abuse. There is one case that I am especially proud of. I was contacted by a disabled individual whose deceased father had left his sizeable estate in the hands of his only other surviving family member, a successful businesswoman and daughter. The father’s expectation, though unwritten, was that the able daughter would provide for the disabled daughter. The will and trust were amended to leave the entire estate in the hands of the able daughter; the will was also amended to expressly disinherit the disabled daughter. No other attorneys were willing to take the case, the disabled individual had no money, the will and trust were ostensibly unassailable, and the only favorable witness, the father, was dead. We took the case, we developed and fashioned causes of action based on theories of law which at the time were unrecognized in California, and were able to survive summary judgment and present the case to a jury which rendered a multi-million dollar verdict in favor of our client. The able daughter/defendant in that case challenged the verdict, and went to the Court of Appeal three different times. Each time, we successfully represented our client. 

Construction: Transactional

  • Negotiate and draft construction contracts valued up to $1.2 billion in both English and Spanish for both private and public works projects ranging from a cogeneration facility in the Dominican Republic, to a petrochemical plant in Columbia, to a mining facility in Chile, to a manufacturing facility in Los Angeles. Negotiate and draft project finance, joint venture, and related documents associated with the foregoing.
  • Counsel and advise clients on broad range of issues that arise during the course of construction projects, from mechanics’ liens, insurance and bonding issues, to the preparation of, and responding to, contract claims, including delay, acceleration, changed conditions, and extra work claims.

Construction: Litigation

  • Represent government entities, owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and design professionals in litigation.
  • Represent government entity in $240 million lawsuit after general contractor was terminated for default.
  • Represent subcontractor in $200 million lawsuit alleging defective work, delay claims.

Environmental: Transactional

  • Negotiate prospective purchaser agreements and cleanups of “brownfield” properties and the development of industrial properties and manufacturing facilities to residential uses. These projects involve extensive negotiations with agencies, developers and concerned citizens on issues ranging from liability, potential uses, and future monitoring requirements.
  • Negotiate settlements in various enforcement actions brought by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control in matters involving soil and groundwater contamination as well as non-compliance with orders, notices of violation, permit requirements, and reporting matters.
  • Counseled and advised clients on corporate structuring in connection with acquisitions, sales and in order to address and manage environmental liabilities.

Environmental: Litigation

  • Represent owners and operators in federal and state Superfund sites in excess of $250 million in cleanup and response costs.
  • Represent owners and operators in private cost recovery litigation involving contaminated properties.
  • Represent government entities in CEQA and land use disputes, including trial.
  • Represent owners and operators in insurance coverage and bad faith litigation.
  • Representation PRPs in administrative appeals; have appeared before and negotiated cleanup actions and levels for contaminated properties before California Regional Water Quality Control Boards, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and other agencies.

Financial Abuse of Elders & Dependent Adults

  • Represent elders, dependent adults, estates and dis-inherited heirs in both probate and civil court, through to verdict. Served as lead appellate counsel and have obtained favorable opinions in such cases from the Court of Appeal.

General Business Disputes

  • Represent joint ventures, partnerships, and limited liability companies in litigation between and among members and partners in connection with dissolution, valuation, real estate and development matters.
  • Litigate and negotiate the settlement of trademark infringement suit brought by specialty food, competing companies.
  • Represent developers of master planned communities in Riverside and San Diego Counties in multi-million dollar lawsuits involving governance, sale and development of communities.