Henry Lerner is a partner with the firm, resident in the San Francisco office where he specializes in business litigation. Henry brings to the firm strong expertise in real estate and commercial litigation and transactions, as well as experience in law firm, government and corporate in-house law practice.
Prior to joining Allen Matkins, Henry was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of USL Capital Corporation (formerly U.S. Leasing International), a diversified national commercial finance company and member of the Ford Financial Services Group. As general counsel, in addition to managing the legal department, Henry handled legal work for USL Capital's financing activities and central corporate functions, and sat on the company's Investment and Operating Committees. Following Ford's decision to exit from the commercial finance business, Henry was responsible for the legal work and negotiations for the sale of the company's $10 billion in assets.
Before he went in-house, Henry was the senior litigation partner at Stein Lubin & Lerner, a San Francisco based law firm, specializing in real estate, creditors' rights, securities and other business litigation. From 1982 to 1984, Henry served in the U.S. State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser, where he was responsible for arbitrating international claims at The Hague under the Algiers Accords which settled the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Henry has also served on the National Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association.
Education
Henry received his B.A. with high honors from the University of Michigan in 1970, his M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1972, and his J.D. from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law at Boalt Hall in 1977, where he was a member of the California Law Review.