Steven H. Wilhelm

Firm Overview

The firm of Steven H. Wilhelm, A.P.C. was created in or about 1980. Preceding the creation of Steven H. Wilhelm, A.P.C., the principal of the company, Steven H. Wilhelm, was a law clerk to the Honorable Howard B. Turrentine, Judge of the U.S. District Court, Southern California District in San Diego from 1974 through 1975. Thereafter Mr. Wilhelm was the eleventh lawyer in what was then a rapidly expanding Wall Street type law firm known as Sullivan, Jones & Archer (subsequently the firm has splintered into approximately 10 different law firms in San Diego) with primary focus in complex securities fraud litigation and antitrust litigation.

In late 1976, Mr. Wilhelm took a sabbatical to Kansas to obtain his license to practice law in Kansas. On return from the sabbatical Mr. Wilhelm affiliated with the Law Offices of Joseph St. John, which firm later became the firm of St. John, Debusschere, Wilhelm & Daley. While at that firm Mr. Wilhelm handled the complex civil litigation for the firm as well as establishing the infrastructure for the business and business litigation section of the firm.

In 1980, Mr. Wilhelm left St. John, et. al. to join Herbert R. Schultze (now senior patent counsel with Agilent Technologies, an affiliate of Hewlett Packard) in the practice of law under the name of Wilhelm & Schultze, in Rancho Santa Fe and San Diego from January of 1980 through December of 1983.

At the end of 1983, Mr. Schultze left for other opportunities and Mr. Wilhelm focused his practice on the San Diego metropolitan area on a prospective basis. From 1984 through 1996, Steven H. Wilhelm, A.P.C. grew to as many as five lawyers, four associates and one partner, with the present size of the firm from 1997 through the current time being one partner, one paralegal, administrative staff and the various of counsel and/or joint-venture relationships.

The firm's focus throughout the years has continued to be that of business transactional work and business litigation across the entire business spectrum, with occasional cases being handled in other varied areas of civil litigation.

Today the primary focus of the firm, i.e. the business and business litigation, is handled by the principal of the firm, Mr. Wilhelm, along with one of counsel relationship (Bradley Nemeth), and two joint-venture relationships, one of which is Mr. James Clevenger. Mr. Nemeth is a certified tax and probate specialist and has international tax and asset protection expertise. Mr. Clevenger is a full-time professor at a local university, finding time to assist Mr. Wilhelm in the areas of copyright, trademark, tradename law, and the licensing of the same, all of which fall under the classification Intellectual Property Law.

Additionally, the firm will, from time to time, joint venture cases and/or transactions with outside firms usually in the pursuit of complex transactional and/or litigation matters. The primary firm with which Steven H. Wilhelm, A.P.C. has associated in complex civil litigation over the last several years has been Terry Singleton & Associates. The Singleton firm is heavily involved in complex litigation involved in the subject areas of wrongful death, negligence actions, corporate business actions and other related ancillary types of cases. Over the course of time and through the association with Singleton & Associates, the joint ventures have been able to achieve large settlements and large jury verdicts in very complex, and novel litigation situations running the gamut from shareholder disputes with local shipyards to and including disputes with national and international athletic federations and associations.

Curriculum Vitae of the one of-counsel relationship as well as the two joint-venture relationships are enclosed on our web page under the attorney profile section. It should be noted that the firm and it's of-counsel and/or joint-venture relationships practice in the subject areas referenced on a basis of percentage fee agreements as well as hourly fee agreements depending on the facts and circumstances, on a case- by-case basis. The particular fee agreement entered into will vary depending on the type of case, the type of damages and many other variables that have to be reviewed at the time. Initial consultations in any of the referenced areas are free of charge, however the consultation must be arranged in advance by way of telephone interview.