Denise Olrich  is an experienced business attorney representing clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and around the world. The Law Office of Denise Olrich  represents established businesses, start ups and entrepreneurs. Ms. Olrich handles all of your business law needs, including business planning and formation, purchase and sale of businesses, (including franchise opportunities), business contracts, employment matters, trademark and intellectual property, E-commerce, privacy law and dispute resolution matters in Northern California for over 30 years. Ms. Olrich currently serves as general and corporate counsel to many businesses. She represents all types of businesses, as well as professionals and business executives.

Ms. Olrich handles all aspects of business formation, including corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, limited partnerships and limited liability limited partnerships. Denise’s practice focuses on representation of business owners and entrepreneurs. She drafts and reviews all types of contracts and business forms, lease agreements, employment and contractor agreements, and purchase and sale of business agreements.

Attorney Olrich is an effective litigator with years of experience in resolving business disputes through mediation, arbitration and litigation.  Her goal is to resolve your dispute as quickly and efficiently as possible.   Her litigation experience includes fraud, real estate, professional negligence, unfair competition, collection, employment, bankruptcy adversary proceedings, including nondischargeability, preference and fraudulent transfer litigation.   Denise’s success rate in resolving cases quickly through the mediation process can help save your company time and money.

Ms. Olrich handles trademark registration  with the US Patent and Trademark Office and advises her clients regarding  their trademark strategies and intellectual property matters.

Denise also advises her clients regarding E-commerce issues, including advice regarding issues relating to operating your website as well as drafting of website policies, such as terms and conditions and privacy policies. She regularly drafts and reviews all types of business contracts, including commercial leases and business forms. Executive compensation, employment agreements, stock option plans,  and buy sell agreements are also included in her areas of expertise.  Denise also advises businesses regarding securing and protecting their intellectual property rights. Denise also litigates business disputes in state and Federal Courts and her extensive litigation experience enables her to draft contracts that withstand the test of litigation, should such problems subsequently develop.

Denise regularly publishes articles with legal advice for businesses, and lectures to business groups and students on business, construction, design, bankruptcy and commercial law topics.  Denise authored a legal advice column published in the Showplace Square News in San Francisco for more than 10 years.  She has also authored legislation by which attorneys fees incurred in the enforcement of judgments may be recovered by successful plaintiffs in breach of contract actions.

Denise has served for the past 3 years as a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California.  She has been appointed as a Special Advisor for its 2010-2011 term,  following her service last year Vice Chair for Programs and Publications.  During her service on the Executive Committee, Denise has organized two program series which provide continuing legal education to members of the California Business Law Section.  The initial series presented in 2009 was entitled  Focus on the Economy, which offered 13 weekly programs about legal , regulatory and business issues relating to the economic crisis.  Denise followed up the success of the Focus series with a new set of webinars  in 2010 called Essentials of Business Law, which instructed lawyers on all aspects of business law as presented by all Business Law Section standing committees, and which took place during the first quarter of 2010, with  thirteen weekly programs on diverse business topics .

Denise  is the past chair of the Cyberspace Law Committee of the Business Law Section, State Bar of California and  contributed to the  committee’s recently published Cyberspace Law and Policy: A Primer for State Policy Makers,   a guide to Internet Law for California legislators and policy makers.

She also past Chair of the Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies Committee of the Business Law Section.  During her service on that committee she helped draft the new limited partnership law of the State of California, enacted on January 1, 2010.

Denise is a member of the State Bar of California, and its Business Law   and  Intellectual Property Law Sections.  She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan,  the Sonoma County Bar Association. and the Intellectual Property Section of the Sonoma County Bar.  Denise served as a delegate to the State Bar of California, Conference of Delegates for the Lawyer’s Club of San Francisco for many years.

She has served on the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Bar Association (1995) and the  Board of Directors of Sonoma County Legal Aid (1994-1997), where she was active in fund raising and organized several wine auctions for this worthy organization.

Denise earned her Juris Doctor in 1980 from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan and  her B.A. in Sociology from Michigan State University, with high honors, in 1976.

Denise is an avid amateur photographer and enjoys photographing landscapes, as well as birds and flowers, especially at the Sonoma Coast State Beaches,  Yosemite National Park,  Point Reyes National Seashore and the wine country of Sonoma County.   The photos included on this website are samples of Denise’s photography.

Denise  may be contacted as follows: 

By telephone at 707 236-6488 or by

Email: [email protected]