Nathaniel Kelly

Nathaniel G. Kelly is the founder of the Law Offices of Nate Kelly, a California litigation practice representing companies, founders, shareholders, and boards in high-stakes commercial disputes. His practice focuses on three areas: high-stakes litigation, business breakups, and corporate governance disputes.

Mr. Kelly represents clients at every stage of dispute resolution — from pre-filing demand and negotiation through arbitration, trial, and appeal. He is admitted to all California state and federal courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and federal courts in Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington D.C.

His practice includes bet-the-company commercial litigation, trade secret misappropriation and enforcement, breach of fiduciary duty and shareholder oppression claims, derivative actions, hostile takeover defense, forced buyout and dissolution proceedings, and post-acquisition disputes including earn-out enforcement.

Selected results include a $7,418,642 judgment entered by the Superior Court of California, County of Orange (March 2026) on claims of breach of fiduciary duty and trade secret misappropriation; a judgment after bench trial dismissing with prejudice a hostile takeover complaint on all causes of action (Alameda County Superior Court, 2025); a property partition bench trial result in which the client received 76% of $1,530,000 in sale proceeds (Alameda County Superior Court, 2025); a $3.5M minority shareholder buyout following 16 months of contentious litigation (2025); a $1.5M corporate dissolution resolved through mediation following a successful preliminary injunction motion (2024); a successful defense of a federal trade secret preliminary injunction in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2024); and an appellate court victory in a breach of contract appeal, with costs and attorneys' fees awarded to the client (2024).

Mr. Kelly has resolved over $200M in business disputes across California state and federal courts, AAA and JAMS arbitration, and appellate proceedings.

Prior to founding his firm in 2010, Mr. Kelly practiced at Kaye Scholer LLP (now Arnold & Porter), where he advised on complex commercial transactions for institutional clients.

Recognition:

— Top 100 Bet-the-Company Litigators® in America (top 0.5% of business litigators nationally)

— Super Lawyers, Business Litigation — Northern California 2024–2026; Southern California 2025–2026. The only attorney to appear on both regional Business Litigation lists in 2025.

— Super Lawyers Rising Star — Northern and Southern California, 2016–2022

— Avvo Rating 10.0 — "Superb"

J.D., USC Gould School of Law — High Honors, Merit Scholarship

B.A., University of Maryland — Dean's Scholar, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Offices in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, and Laguna Beach