Nancy has specialized in commercial and real estate litigation for more than 30 years. She counsels clients on rights and remedies, and handles litigation to recover money or regain possession of property. She represents landlords in tenant bankruptcies nationwide, and has particular expertise using provisional remedies to get faster results for her clients.

Nancy is a respected author and speaker in her areas of practice. For more than 15 years, she has authored the bankruptcy chapter in the California Landlord-Tenant Practice treatise published by California Continuing Education of the Bar, and in 2016 she joined CEB's Real Property Advisory Committee. She has written and spoken on a variety of topics in business and lease litigation, including creative use of creditors' remedies, commercial lease rights and litigation strategy, landlord rights in tenant bankruptcies, and provisional remedies.

Nancy is also a dedicated advocate for women's rights. She is a life member and past president of Queen's Bench, one of the oldest women's bar associations in the country, and went on to become president of the National Conference of Women's Bar Associations (NCWBA). As past president of the NCWBA, she became active in international advocacy for women's rights. She was an invited speaker at international women's conferences in Nigeria and Switzerland, and has discussed women's rights and the legal system with lawyers, judges, and activists from Islamic countries, Taiwan, the Middle East, Africa, China, and Bulgaria, at multiple meetings hosted by the International Diplomacy Council over the past several years.

In 2013, after years of planning, Nancy founded the International Action Network for Gender Equity & Law (IANGEL), to harness the power of volunteer legal resources and to connect it to the cause of gender equality locally, nationally, and internationally. She now leads IANGEL as its president, and Hanson Bridgett proudly supports its important work for justice and human rights around the world. See iangel.org.

Bar Admissions

• California
• Supreme Court of the United States
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Education
J.D., Order of the Coif, University of California, Davis School of Law (1983)
B.A., with honors, University of California, Santa Cruz (1980)

Significant Accomplishments
Successfully handled hundreds of commercial lease disputes, resulting in millions of dollars collected for shopping center owners and managers

Collected millions of dollars for a major credit insurance client, handling multiple claims involving international collection issues and strategy

Protected and advanced rights of real estate owners on lease and claim issues in retail tenant bankruptcies throughout California and nationwide

Prepared and enforced first amendment access rules and regulations for major shopping center owners

Professional Associations

• California CEB Real Property Advisory Committee
• Queen's Bench Bar Association (President, 1996)
• National Conference of Women's Bar Associations (President 2001-2002)
• California Women Lawyers (International Envoy, 2004)
• American Bar Association, Litigation and Law Practice Management
• International Council of Shopping Centers
• Commercial Real Estate Women
• Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum

Professional Activities and Experience
Accolades

• Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ (2005-2022)
• California Lawyers Association, Wiley W. Manuel Pro Bono Legal Services Award (2019–2021)
• Boalt Hall Women’s Association, inaugural Women Advancing the Law Practitioner Award (2015)
• Top Rated Lawyers™ in Real Estate Law; Martindale-Hubbell™ (2013)
• Bar Association of San Francisco, Outstanding Service Award

"New Case Confirms Co-Tenancy Clauses Are Generally Enforceable," Real Estate Litigation Law Alert (July 2022)
"A Bloody Problem: Free Speech and Private Property Rights Collide in California," American Bar Association (April 2020)
"Calif. Should Allow Grisly Image Bans on Private Property," Law360 (December 2019)
"Labor Action at Retail Locations: Free Pass or Trespass?" co-author, Shopping Centers Law Alert (October 2016)
"Tenant Bankruptcies: Relief from Stay, Rent Claims, and Lease Issues," Chapter 14 of California Landlord Tenant Practice (Cont.Ed.Bar 2d ed. 2015)
California Real Estate Bankruptcies: Law and Litigation, contributing author (Cont.Ed.Bar 2010)
"You Can Change the World," Report on International Diplomacy Council Meeting, Queen's Bench Newsletter (May 2003)
"Women, Lawyers, and Mammograms: a Perspective on Misdirected Advocacy," Women Lawyers Journal, Vol. 88 No. 3 (Spring 2003)
"Tenant Bankruptcies: What Landlord Lawyers Need to Know," Case 'N Point Newsletter, v.4 (Cont.Ed.Bar 2003)
"Getting Results in Commercial Litigation," CEB, Civil Litigation Reporter (1994)
"The Law of Reproductive Rights," project coordinator, editor, and contributing author, California Women Lawyers (1993)
"Disclosures to Prospective Tenants," co-author, Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy (September 1992)

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