Nopar & Associates

What the firm handles

The firm works in two connected fields: business law and real estate law. It runs both in transactional and litigation form. That means it drafts and negotiates deals, and it also takes disputes to court when a deal breaks down.

Nopar & Associates is based in Silicon Valley, with offices in Palo Alto and San Jose. In my opinion, the pairing of business and real estate work fits a regional economy where the same client often needs both in the same year.

The business and corporate side

On the business side, the firm names a clear set of services. It handles entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, and the buying and selling of businesses. It also covers franchise law, joint venture agreements, technology licensing, and executive compensation. The firm handles business litigation as well, so a client with a dispute stays with the firm that drafted the deal.

Entity formation usually starts with a choice of structure: a corporation, a limited liability company, or a partnership, each with its own tax and liability rules. Mergers and acquisitions move through due diligence, a purchase agreement, and a closing where ownership changes hands. A lawyer who is also a CPA can read the financial statements under those deals. Alan Nopar, the managing attorney, holds that accounting credential.

Franchise law covers the disclosure documents and agreements that tie a franchisee to a brand's system, and California adds its own registration rules on top of the federal ones. Technology licensing sets the terms for who may use a piece of software or intellectual property, and for how long. Executive compensation work shapes the pay, equity, and severance terms that senior hires negotiate. These are the deal types that a Silicon Valley company meets as it grows.

Real estate work

The real estate practice covers commercial and residential property. The firm handles purchases and sales, commercial leases, private lending and financing, 1031 exchanges, and construction contracts. It also takes real estate disputes, including breach of contract claims, non-disclosure claims, and boundary disputes.

Transactions and financing

A 1031 exchange lets an owner defer capital gains tax by moving proceeds from one investment property into another, inside strict deadlines set by the tax code. The steps are technical, and a missed date can cost the tax benefit. Nopar holds a California real estate broker license, and that gives the firm direct knowledge of the property side of these deals.

Commercial leases run long, and their terms on rent increases, repairs, and renewals can bind a tenant for years. Private lending and financing work documents the loans that fund a purchase or a project, along with the security behind them. The firm handles both the drafting and the disputes that arise when payments or conditions fall short.

Contracts and disputes

Construction contract work often turns on scope, payment schedules, and who carries the risk when a project runs late. Boundary disputes usually involve surveys and title records, and they can reach court when neighbors disagree over a line. As a reviewer, I read this breadth as a firm comfortable on both the paper and the courtroom ends of property law.

How the team is built

The site names three attorneys. Alan S. Nopar is the managing attorney. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School, a CPA, and a licensed California real estate broker, and the firm states he has practiced for over 35 years. That mix of law, accounting, and real estate licensing is uncommon to find in one person.

Jonathan A. Blau is Senior Counsel and also a Stanford Law School graduate. The firm notes that Nopar and Blau have over 75 years of combined experience. Craig Alan Hansen is listed as Counsel. The site names him without a published bio, so his background is not something a reader can confirm from the firm's pages.

Titles like senior counsel and counsel usually mark experienced lawyers who advise on client matters, and they sit below the managing role in a firm's structure. In a small firm, that setup lets a managing attorney lead while other lawyers focus on the client work. The combined experience the firm cites points to a team that has seen many deal cycles in the region.

Where the firm practices

Nopar & Associates serves Santa Clara County and San Mateo County. Named communities include Palo Alto, Menlo Park, San Jose, Mountain View, Los Altos, and Los Gatos, along with parts of the Central Coast. The client area covers much of Silicon Valley's business corridor.

The Palo Alto office is on Page Mill Road, near Stanford Research Park. The San Jose office is in the downtown core, near the Santa Clara County Courthouse. Placing an office within walking reach of the county court is practical for a firm that litigates as well as drafts.

What the site documents

The firm's pages give a specific account of what it does and who does it. The managing attorney's page points to over 35 years of practice, and the site does not state a founding year. Its pages describe scope, staffing, and services, and they leave out case results and settlement figures.

That still leaves a clear picture. Nopar & Associates is a two-office business and real estate firm in the Bay Area, led by a Stanford-trained attorney who is also a CPA and a broker, with a Senior Counsel from the same law school and a third attorney in a counsel role. The work covers corporate deals, franchise matters, property transactions, and the litigation that can follow any of them.