Neil J Wertlieb

Lecturer in Law

  • B.S. Berkeley, 1980
  • J.D. Berkeley, 1984

Neil J Wertlieb teaches Life Cycle of a Business: From Start Up to Sale. Mr. Wertlieb has taught a version of this course as a faculty member at UCLA Law since 2002. He is an experienced transactional lawyer who, in addition to teaching, provides expert witness services.

Mr. Wertlieb has practiced transactional law for approximately four decades, including as a Partner at the law firm of Milbank LLP, where his practice focused primarily on acquisitions, securities offerings and restructurings. He has represented clients in a wide variety of business matters, including formation and early round financings, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, international securities offerings and other international transactions, fund formations, joint ventures, partnerships and limited liability companies, reorganizations and restructurings, independent investigations and general corporate and contractual matters. Mr. Wertlieb also served as Milbank’s General Counsel.

Mr. Wertlieb has also served as an expert witness in over 100 disputes involving business transactions and corporate governance, and in cases involving attorney malpractice and attorney ethics. He is Senior Advisor, Milbank@Harvard, to Harvard Law School Executive Education, and is also the General Editor of Ballantine & Sterling: California Corporation Laws, a 7-volume treatise on the laws governing corporations and other business entities in California.

Mr. Wertlieb served as Chairman of the Ethics Committees of each of the California State Bar, the California Lawyers Association, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He also served as Chairman of the California State Bar’s Business Law Section and its Corporations Committee. Mr. Wertlieb was recognized by California Law Business as one of the top 100 most influential lawyers in California, and is the 2024 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the California Lawyers Association’s Business Law Section.

Mr. Wertlieb received his law degree in 1984 from the UC Berkeley School of Law, and his undergraduate degree in Management Science from the School of Business Administration also at the University of California at Berkeley. He is admitted to practice in California, New York and Washington, D.C. He also served as a Judicial Extern for Justice Stanley Mosk on the California Supreme Court.

For more information, please refer to Neil Wertlieb's profile on his firm's website: www.WertliebLaw.com.

Bibliography

  • Books
    • Guide to the California Rules of Professional Conduct for Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Counsel. California Lawyers Association (Fourth Edition published Fall 2020). Editor.
    • Litigating and Judging Business Entity Governance Disputes in California. LexisNexis/Matthew Bender Publisher (2019-Present). Contributing Author and Editor.
    • Lexis Practice Advisor: Ethics For In-House Counsel, Contributing Author (2015-present).
    • Ballantine & Sterling: California Corporation Laws. LexisNexis (2012-present). General Editor.
    • Lifecycle of a Business. Course Reader (2002-present).
  • Articles
    • When Sense of Duty Fails.  Los Angeles Lawyer (March 2024).
    • Annual Review 2023. California Lawyers Association eNews Ethics Spotlight (March 2024); Business Law News (2024, Issue 1).
    • The New ‘Snitch Rules’ .  California Lawyers Association eNews Ethics Spotlight (November 2023).
    • The 'Snitch Rule'.  email alert sent by the Business Law Section of the California Lawyers Association to its members (October 10, 2023).
    • B-Law B-Law B-Law: Ethics for Business Lawyers – Client Trust Accounts.  Business Law News (2023, Issue 2).
    • Client Trust Accounts and Bank Stability Concerns. California Lawyers Association eNews Ethics Spotlight (May 2023).
    • B-Law B-Law B-Law: Ethics for Business Lawyers – Annual Review 2021, Business Law News (2022, Issue 2).
    • Ethical Issues When Fees Are Paid by Non-Clients, California Lawyers Association Legal Perspectives (Fall 2022).
    • What is Informed Written Consent?, California Lawyers Association eNews Ethics Spotlight (June 2022).
    • Who Is the Client? The Ethics Rule Implications for In-House Counsel and Outside Counsel, ABA Business Law Today (March 2022).
    • Conflicts of Interest in M&A Transactions, California Lawyers Association eNews Ethics Spotlight (January 2022).
    • The Rules of Professional Conduct Apply to In-House Lawyers. ABA Litigation News (December 20, 2021); ABA Corporate Counsel (Fall 2021)
    • B-Law B-Law B-Law: Ethics for Business Lawyers – The No Contact Rule, Business Law News (2021, Issue 3).
    • Who Is the Client? Ethics Issues in Structuring Start-Ups and Representing Early-Stage Companies, Business Law Today (December 8, 2021).
    • B-Law B-Law B-Law: Ethics for Business Lawyers – Negotiations and Documentation, Business Law News (2021, Issue 2).
    • The Importance of Knowing Who Is, and Who Is Not, Your Client. Business Law News (2019, Issue 3); California Real Property Journal (2019, Vol. 37, No. 4); 
      California Lawyers Association Legal Perspectives (Fall 2021)
    • B-Law B-Law B-Law: Ethics for Business Lawyers – Flat Fee Engagements, Business Law News (2021, Issue 1).
    • The Attorney Disciplinary System, California Lawyers Association eNews Ethics Spotlight (July 2021).
    • CLA Issues its First Advisory Opinion on Ethical Screens, The Daily Journal (March 16, 2021).
    • B-Law B-Law B-Law: Ethics for Business Lawyers, Business Law News (2020, Issue 4).
    • Soliciting Gifts from Clients, California Lawyers Association eNews Ethics Spotlight (December 2020).
    • Sometimes You Need an Expert Witness, California Lawyers Association eNews (October 2020).
    • The New Ethics Committee of the California Lawyers Association: An Active First Year!, 26(3) California Trusts and Estates Quarterly (2020).
    • Attorneys and Cannabis Clients: Know Your Risks, 16(2) American Bar Association Expert Witnesses (Summer 2020).
    • Legal Ethics and the Coronavirus, California Lawyers Association eNews (April 2020).
    • Consensual Sexual Relations With Clients? No. Not Ever. Not Even On Valentine’s Day!, California Lawyers Association eNews (February 2020). LACBA Update (February/March 2020
    • Advance Fee Deposits and Your Client Trust Account, California Lawyers Association eNews (December 2019).
    • The Importance of Knowing Who Is, and Who Is Not, Your Client, 37(4) California Real Property Journal (2019). Also published in Business Law News (Issue 3, 2019).
    • The Importance of Knowing Who Is, and Who Is Not, My Client, California Lawyers Association eNews (September 2019).
    • Cannabis Clients – High Times, or Buzz Kill?, LACBA Update (August 2019).
    • Warning: New Rules of Professional Conduct Are Here & They Apply to You!, California Young Lawyers Association eNews (Spring 2019).
    • An Update: Rules of Professional Conduct, The Practioner (Summer 2018).
    • New Rules: The Entirely New Rules, Daily Journal (June 1, 2018). Part 3 of a 3-part series.
    • New Rules of Conduct: The Uncontroversial, But Important, Daily Journal (May 25, 2018). Part 2 of a 3-part series.
    • New Rules of Conduct: The Disruptive and Controversial, Daily Journal (May 18, 2018). Part 1 of a 3-part series.
    • Proposed New Ethics Rules, and Their Impact on Solo Practitioners, The Practitioner (Spring 2018).
    • The Proposed Rules of Professional Conduct, Business Law News (2018).
    • Proposed New Ethics Rules: What You Need to Know, Family Law News (2018).
    • Best Behavior: Proposed Conduct Rules, Los Angeles Lawyer (Nov. 2017).
    • Ethics Issues in the Use of Expert Witnesses, The Professional Lawyer (2017).
    • Special Coverage – Proposed Rules of Professional Conduct: Lawyer as Third-Party Neutral (Rule 2.4), Daily Journal (Sept. 11, 2017).
    • Special Coverage – Proposed Rules of Professional Conduct: Organization as Client (Rule 1.13), Daily Journal (April 24, 2017).
    • What Transactional Lawyers Should Know About Conflicts of Interest (with Nancy T. Avedissian), 2016(1) Business Law News (2016).
    • The No Contact Rule Actually DOES Apply to Transactional Lawyers (with Nancy T. Avedissian), 2015(4) Business Law News (2015).
    • The Rules of Professional Conduct DO Apply to In-House Lawyers (with Adam S. Bloom), 2015(3) Business Law News (2015).
    • Ethical Issues for the In-House Transactional Lawyer (with Adam S. Bloom), 2010(2) Business Law News (2010).
    • Addressing Conflicts of Interest in a Transactional Practice (with Nancy T. Avedissian), 2008(4) Business Law News (2008).
    • Ex Parte Communications in a Transactional Practice (with Nancy T. Avedissian), 2009(1) Business Law News (2009).
    • Hostage Situation: Holders of Preferred Stock Can Become the Victims of Legal Blackmail by Common Stockholders When an Early-Stage Firm Fails - Unless They Take a Simple Step Up Front, The Deal (2004).

Courses Available

LAW 759

Life Cycle of a Business: From Start-up to Sale
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Holding Corporations Accountable for Human Rights Violations: The Case Doe v. Chiquita Brands in the Context of the Justice and Peace Process in Colombia
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