Shea & McIntyre, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

Based in San Jose, California, the firm handles civil law for both businesses and individuals. Its work spans business law, employment law, real estate, civil litigation, and estate matters. The firm also handles enforcement of judgments, the step that turns a court award into actual payment. That mix keeps it in general civil practice across the South Bay.

The business side runs across entity formation, contracts, corporate counseling, and transactions. It also covers disputes involving partnerships, corporations, and limited liability companies. In my opinion this pairing of transactional and litigation work helps clients, because the lawyer who drafts a contract already knows where it can break.

Business formation usually starts with a choice of entity. A partnership, a corporation, and an LLC each carry different tax and liability rules, and that choice shapes the paperwork filed with the California Secretary of State. Contract disputes then tend to hinge on the exact terms set down earlier, which is why the drafting stage carries so much weight.

How the team is built

The firm names three attorneys: Marc L. Shea, John F. McIntyre, Jr., and Kevin Elliott. Two of those names sit in the firm name itself, Shea and McIntyre.

A roster this size often means clients deal with the same lawyers across the life of a matter. As a reviewer, I read a three-attorney firm as one where the people on the sign are the people doing the work. Questions get answered by someone who already holds the file.

Shea & McIntyre carries a P.C. designation, which marks it as a professional corporation under California law. That structure is standard for law practices in the state, and it sets how the firm is owned and taxed.

Employment work on both sides

The firm takes employment cases for both employers and employees. Handling both sides is a distinct choice, and it lets the lawyers see wage claims and termination disputes from each vantage point.

The employment matters the firm lists include wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment, wage and hour disputes, and severance agreements. Wage and hour claims in California often turn on detailed records: time sheets, pay stubs, and meal and rest break logs. Discrimination and harassment claims usually pass through an agency step, either the California Civil Rights Department or the federal EEOC, before they reach a courtroom.

An employer defending a wage claim and a worker bringing one read the same statutes from opposite ends. A firm that works both sides carries that double view into each case it takes.

Real estate and estate matters

The real estate practice covers leases, contracts of sale, easements, and construction defects. Each of these attaches to a specific document or boundary line, so the work stays concrete. Construction defect claims often depend on inspection reports and the timeline of when a problem first appeared.

The firm also handles wills, trusts, and probate, including probate litigation. Probate in California runs through the county Superior Court, and it moves faster or slower depending on whether the estate draws a challenge. A will contest or a trust dispute is where the litigation side of this practice comes in.

Pairing estate planning with probate work means one firm can draft a plan and later defend it if relatives disagree. In my opinion that continuity is worth something to families who want a single office to hold the whole history.

Litigation and collecting on judgments

Civil litigation runs across the firm's practice areas: business disputes, employment claims, and real estate matters. Litigation in California civil court moves through pleadings, discovery, motions, and, if a case does not settle, trial. Most civil matters resolve before trial, which puts weight on the discovery stage where each side exchanges documents and testimony.

Enforcement of judgments is the part clients think about least until they need it. Winning a judgment and collecting on it are separate tasks. Collection can involve wage garnishment, bank levies, or liens on property, and it often takes its own set of filings after trial. Listing this service means the firm follows a case past the verdict to the point where a client recovers money.

Where the firm works and how long

The firm serves San Jose, Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, Alameda County, and the wider Silicon Valley area. That footprint covers much of the South Bay and the Peninsula, reaching both companies and individual residents.

Shea & McIntyre states that it has served the area for more than 50 years. Five decades in one region gives a firm a long memory of local courts, filing habits, and opposing counsel. The site does not name a specific founding year.

The through line across the practice is civil work for San Jose businesses and residents, handled by three named attorneys under a single professional corporation. The firm drafts the contracts, leases, and estate plans, and it handles the litigation that follows when those documents come into dispute.