Eric C. Kastner is a founding partner of Kastner | Banchero LLP. Mr. Kastner has been practicing law in the Silicon Valley since 1976.

PRACTICE AREAS:
For the last twenty years, Eric Kastner has represented company founders, CEO’s, CFO’s, other senior executives, and principals in venture capital firms in California and throughout the United States in all employment matters. He has negotiated and concluded hundreds of sophisticated employment agreements, compensation packages, stock option grants, and severance, change-of-control, and other transition-related agreements with management and their inside and outside counsel. Mr. Kastner also advises management teams of acquired companies during mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Kastner is also a successful litigator, having pursued and vindicated the rights of his clients in many trials and arbitration proceedings. He has prosecuted and defended claims for wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and ERISA violations, and he has represented clients before State and Federal administrative agencies in disputes over independent-contractor status, wage and hour claims, and Cal-OSHA citations.

Mr. Kastner’s litigation practice includes general commercial cases, with an emphasis in trade-secret and intellectual-property matters, competition cases, and fraud, breach of contract, and other disputes involving letters of intent, contests for corporate control, and promised financing.

Mr. Kastner is admitted in California, The United States District Court in the Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts of California, in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Supreme Court.

For the last six years, Mr. Kastner has been named one of the top labor lawyers in the Silicon Valley by San Jose Magazine and for the last three years has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Newton, Kastner & Remmel, Partner,
1984 – 2004

Boornazian, Jensen & Garthe, Partner
1981 – 1984

Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, Associate
1976 – 1981

Naval Legal Service Office, Fifth Naval district,
Senior Defense Counsel
1973 – 1976

EDUCATION:
Naval Justice School,
1973

University of California, Davis,
J.D., 1972

University of California, Berkeley
B.S., with honors, 1969