James L. Stoelker

has been appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as a judge on the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Jim will be sworn in and assume the bench on December 23, 2010. While we will miss his daily presence in our office, we know that his new position as a Superior Court judge will be to the benefit of the larger community and wish him all the best.

Effective immediately the name of the firm will be changed to

Mount, Spelman & Fingerman, P.C.

We will continue to represent our clients in intellectual property litigation, business litigation, and real estate litigation.

We look forward to carrying on the traditions of excellence and professionalism exemplified by our colleague, Jim Stoelker.

61-year old Judge Stoelker of Saratoga brings more than three decades of experience to the legal profession. He joined Mount in 1987 and practiced in the areas of real property and title insurance litigation.

Prior to joining Mount, he was a partner for Mount, Kraw, and Stoelker in 1987; Eller, Burt and Stoelker from 1984 to 1987; and Garrison, Townsend and Orser from 1983 to 1984.

Stoelker served as a staff litigation attorney for Western Title Insurance from 1976 to 1983 and an associate attorney for Atwood and Hurst from 1974 to 1975.

He has also acted as an arbitrator, mediator, referee and judge pro tem at the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Stoelker is a frequent lecturer for Continuing Education of the Bar, on topics such as real property remedies, escrow, title insurance claims, mechanics liens, and boundary law.
He earned his law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University (SCU).

He is currently president of the SCU Law School Alumni Association. He is also past president and current member of the board of directors at the St. Thomas More Society of Santa Clara County – an association of Catholic judges and lawyers – receiving the St. Thomas More Award in 2004. Stoelker’s appointment fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James C. Emerson.

Also appointed to the Santa Clara County Superior Court in this round were: Andrea E. Flint, Thomas E. Kuhnle, JoAnne McCracken, and Drew C. Takaichi.

Santa Clara University (SCU) began offering its JD/MBA in the mid-70s, thanks to professor emeritus Jost Baum, who saw “a need for students who wanted to go into the corporate and business side of practice to understand things that typically were not taught in law school, like finance, accounting, and understanding financial statements.”

As soon as the program became available at SCU, two students signed up: Dan Mount B.S. ’74, J.D./MBA ’77, and Andy Kryder B.S. ’74, J.D./MBA ’77.

Mount had a degree in economics and “wondered whether I would end up in law or business. The joint degree would give me the chance to explore both.”

Both Mount and Kryder graduated in three years, even while working part-time. Today, the program takes four years. Kryder claims he is the sole first graduate, reasoning that he was handed his diploma first, because K comes before M. But, Mount disputes this assertion.

Both agree the joint degree was worth it, because it has had such a strong impact on their careers and opened many doors that remain closed to attorneys without business backgrounds.

Upon graduation, Mount’s got a job as a business litigator. “With an MBA, I understand financial statements, and I know when to litigate,” he says. “We fight about money only when it makes money sense.” His MBA has continued to pay dividends, when it comes to the day-to-day management of his firm. “An MBA helps you better understand the service business we are in as lawyers.”

Beyond the courtroom, Mount says his business degree allows him to offer more when he sits on boards of nonprofits. “You understand how to manage affairs. You understand the financial environment and the budgets. You can help raise money.”

Mount has served on the University’s Board of Fellows, as well as the board of EHC Life Services, a nonprofit providing emergency housing for the homeless.

Mount associate On Lu, in association with the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) and the Minority Bar Coalition of the Bar Association of San Francisco, organized a full-day seminar to help small firms and solo practitioners attract new clients, generate more business, and increase revenues.

The Rainmaker Institute’s Stephen Fairley was brought-in to teach attendees how to generate lawyer-to-lawyer referrals, increase word-of-mouth, and effectively utilize social media strategies to secure new business. Fairley told attendees at the October 14 conference that, in an economic drought, they need to know how to make it rain to keep enticing new clients through the door.

Nearly three-dozen attorneys gathered at the San Francisco Bar Association Office to hear from the small firm marketing expert.

Fairley has trained more than 7,000 attorneys in the secrets of “making rain.” He has conducted seminars throughout the country in conjunction with various state bar associations, including the California Bar Association.

Dan has been with Mount since 2004. During that time, he has led the firm’s efforts on more than 60 “false marking” cases. These involve prosecuting defendants who falsely represent their products to the public, by marking them with expired patents. Thanks to Dan’s efforts, companies have been able to “level the playing field” in certain consumer industries by reducing the amount of false advertising that exists.

Prior to joining Mount, Dan interned for Judge Mark Wolf at the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts and volunteered as a law clerk at Bay Area Legal Aid. He also worked as a database programmer and network technician, and served as the youngest elected official in Howard County, MD.

Dan has published several articles, including an analysis of the federal CAN-SPAM Act, which made the cover of the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Internet Law. He also founded the acting troupe, RealityCheck.