Robert H. Bunzel has been a Partner of Bartko Pavia LLP for over two decades as an accomplished jury trial lawyer, bench/bar association president, and visionary for the future of this firm. He is proud of overseeing Bartko Pavia's multigenerational growth, which has expanded in antitrust, employment, and IP under his leadership, and will now support the next generation of exceptional firm professionals while Rob remains the firm’s general counsel and bridge to the future.
Rob represents both plaintiffs and defendants in civil, criminal, and regulatory matters such as venture finance, business and shareholder disputes, environmental and employment law, class actions, data breaches, and professional malpractice. He has also handled matters involving the evolving complex areas of healthcare, privacy, and security breaches. Rob’s practice includes representing clients and law firms in professional malpractice claims, ethics issues, bar matters, partner mobility, and fee disputes, as well as in litigation involving the severance of officers, partners, and shareholders across many industries.
His legal work has involved significant international discovery and foreign court appearances, including examinations in Zurich and Lugano, through pioneering requests for civil judicial assistance to Switzerland. He has traveled to Japan, China, and Taiwan to obtain evidence for American civil and criminal proceedings and has represented foreign officials in U.S. legal matters, including heads of State of the Philippines, South Korea, and most recently Egypt.
Rob has represented both for-profit and nonprofit entities and their directors, officers, and shareholders in state and federal litigation and governmental investigations concerning, among other things, antitrust, finance, sports, philanthropic, real estate, technology, and medical issues, including matters involving the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also has achieved recoveries for defrauded parties in Ponzi schemes, including for Trustees in bankruptcy. One of his trials was nationally televised. Rob has testified as an expert witness regarding the standard of care in business litigation and appeared as an expert in the U.K. High Court on the subject of breach of fiduciary duty under California law.
Rob also worked as an Assistant District Attorney for Alameda County, trying numerous cases and learning the skills of jury selection and direct and cross-examination, which serve him well to this day.