OF COUNSEL
Mr. Buchanan joined the Commercial and Business Litigation Practice Group of McCormick Barstow in 2001. He has practiced commercial and business litigation since 1984 after serving as a research attorney at the California Court of Appeal.
Timothy J. Buchanan
Mr. Buchanan has represented clients in numerous major litigation matters in both federal and state trial courts and appellate courts in California. His trial experience includes cases in the areas of contractual disputes, intra-entity business conflicts, securities and other fraud, intellectual property rights, trade secret misappropriation, and unfair competition. Mr. Buchanan also acts as a mediator and arbitrator of commercial and business disputes, and has been both party-selected and court-appointed as discovery referee in complex litigation.
Mr. Buchanan has also done extensive appellate work. He commonly appears in State and Federal Courts of Fresno and neighboring areas. Mr. Buchanan is a member of the firm’s Appellate Practice and Intellectual Property Strategic Business Units.
Mr. Buchanan is admitted to practice before all California State Courts, U.S. District Courts in the Eastern, Central and Northern Districts of California, and U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Juris Doctor, 1981
Santa Clara University School of Law
Member, Law Review Board of Editors
Bachelor of Arts, History, 1977 magna cum laude
University of California, Los Angeles
Concentrating in Business and Commercial Litigation in the State and Federal Courts with an emphasis on Intellectual Property Rights, Contracts, Corporate and Business Dissolutions, Unfair Competition, Fraud, Business Torts, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Appeals.
Mr. Buchanan is a member of the State Bar of California, Fresno County Bar Association, Federal Bar Association (Board of Directors, San Joaquin Chapter, President 2014), and Association of Business Trial Lawyers and is on the panel of arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association. He also serves as a settlement conference judge pro tem for the Fresno County Superior Court.
Honors and Awards
Mr. Buchanan is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated with Martindale-Hubbell®. He was also selected for inclusion in the Northern California Super Lawyers list (2013-2023) for his primary practice area of Business Litigation.
Community Involvement
Mr. Buchanan is a past board president of the Community Food Bank, has served on the Foundation Council for the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART), and has been a board member for the Fresno Philharmonic. He also serves as a coach of a local high school mock trial program.
Reported Cases
Valley First Credit Union v. The Auto Store, VerdictSearch, vol. 7, Issue 43 (November 3, 2008)($2.4 million jury verdict in business fraud case)
Rowe v. Exline, 153 Cal. Appl 4th 1276 (2007)
NMSBPCSLDHB v. County of Fresno, 152 Cal. App. 4th 954 (2007)
Atlanta Corp. v. Allen, 300 F.3d 1055 (9th Cir. 2002)
Publications & Lectures
Mr. Buchanan is an Adjunct Professor at California State University, Fresno, where he has taught Introductory Business Law, Government Regulation of Business, Media Law and Real Estate Law.
Mr. Buchanan has been on the panel of many seminars on civil litigation topics, including summary judgment practice, injunctions, electronic discovery and discovery techniques.
Author
“Google Scan” Project Dodges Copyright Infringement: The Love-Hate Relationship of Consumer Technology and “Fair Use.” ABTL San Joaquin Valley Report. Volume 5, No. 1, Spring 2014.
“Chasing Rainbows: The Quest for the Perfect Arbitration Clause.” Mondaq. 13 March 2012. Web.
