Ganjam

Sanjeet Ganjam

Partner

Ganjam

Areas of Expertise

Sanjeet is a trial lawyer, representing private companies, family businesses, technology startups, and their owners and managers in a variety of business disputes.

Sanjeet focuses on fiduciary disputes among founders, investors and managers of corporations, LLCs and partnerships. He provides pre-litigation counselling on management rights, dissolutions, shareholder buyouts, books and records access, profit sharing, and control of operations and finances. When litigation is necessary, he aims to litigate forcefully, but efficiently, to achieve the best results for his clients.

In addition to fiduciary matters, Sanjeet handles insurance coverage cases on behalf of policyholders, as well as contractual disputes and business torts, including solicitation of employees and customers, theft of trade secrets and usurpation of business opportunities. He works closely with clients to navigate complex disputes and reach practical, cost-effective resolutions that align with their business goals.

Sanjeet represents clients in in a variety of forums, including in mediation, arbitration and state and federal court. He has substantial courtroom experience, has argued (and prevailed) before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has tried several cases.

Experience

  • Secured an arbitration award in favor of client in a valuation dispute over the buyout of his equity interest in a privately held company, increasing the final buyout price by $36 million.
  • Achieved a favorable, court-approved settlement on behalf of investors against the manager of a prominent restaurant in San Francisco who embezzled company funds. The manager relinquished ownership interests worth millions and paid $500,000 in additional damages following a two-week bench trial in San Francisco Superior Court, one of that court’s earliest fully remote civil trials.
  • Obtained a $2 million award in favor of shareholder clients against a manager who embezzled company funds. The award was confirmed by the Superior Court, after which the case settled on terms favorable to the clients.
  • Won a court order removing a director who breached his fiduciary duty by secretly usurping a business opportunity for himself. The order followed a two-week expedited bench trial involving several witnesses and experts.
  • Secured a preliminary injunction returning day-to-day control of a company to its Board of Directors after a manager seized control of the company’s finances and bank accounts, refused to obey Board decisions, refused to allow the Board to inspect the accounts, and stopped distributing profits to shareholders.

  • Recovered $3.2 million, a sum in excess of the policy limit, in a settlement with an insurer for bad faith denial of defense and indemnity. The client, who suffered significant physical injuries, ultimately recovered more than $7 million from the defendants, who collectively had only $2 million in insurance coverage.
  • Negotiated a $4.25 million settlement with several insurers who contested coverage for physical injury and property damage claims, including with an excess carrier who filed a rescission action in federal court alleging misrepresentations in the insurance application and the liability carrier for the insurance broker responsible for preparing the application for excess coverage.
  • Secured a $1.6 million settlement for a property developer for negligent destruction of property by a contractor, which was collected in full from the liability insurer.
  • Resolved a declaratory relief action brought by a liability insurer in federal court with a $600,000 pre-discovery settlement, despite facial policy exclusions.

  • Successfully defended an industrial startup against an established competitor in a multi-year federal dispute involving false allegations of trade secret misappropriation, breach of non-compete agreements and employee poaching. In this “bet-the-company” case, the clients were outspent 4-1.

  • Structured a pre-litigation buyout of a minority shareholder in a technology startup, avoiding significant legal expenses.
  • Obtained a $3.5 million default judgment against a solar energy contractor, following a prove-up hearing in federal court.
  • Won a $200,000 court judgment in favor of a real estate developer against a contractor that failed to perform.
  • Recovered $100,000 in refunds for an event organizer from several vendors that failed to deliver on their commitments, avoiding significant litigation expenses.
  • Secured $100,000 in liquidated damages for a client under a multi-year supply contract, before incurring significant litigation expenses.

Activities

  • Aids Legal Referral Panel
    • Board Member, 2022 – present
  • South Asian Bar Association Foundation
    • Board Member, 2024 – present

Speaking Engagements

Notable Speaking Engagements

Publications

Additional Publications