JN
Biography
Mr. Godes has been a frequent media commentator on sports-related legal issues for national and local media outlets, including USA Today, Sporting News Radio, Sports Business Daily, the San Diego Union-Tribune, XX Sports Radio and XTRA Sports Radio. He has spoken and has written many articles on sports, health, long-term care, employment and litigation-related subjects for the San Diego Union-Tribune, California Law Business, the San Diego Daily Transcript and the San Diego Business Journal.
Active in the community, Mr. Godes was a member of the board of directors of the Junior Seau Foundation, which focuses on improving the lives of San Diego’s children, for over 10 years. He is an active supporter of and outside general counsel for Fresh Start Surgical Gifts, which provides reconstructive plastic surgery and related services to children and young adults with physical deformities. Mr. Godes served as chairperson of the American Diabetes Association’s "Step Out to Fight Diabetes" walk in San Diego in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and served as the Community Leadership board chairperson for the Greater San Diego Chapter of the American Diabetes Association for over two years thereafter. The State Bar of California has honored him for his pro bono work.
Mr. Godes graduated with a B.A., cum laude, from the University of the Pacific in 1984, and he received his law degree from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1987. Before entering private practice, Mr. Godes was a staff investigator for and testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care, and he has since testified before the California Legislature on issues relating to long-term care.
Mr. Preis focuses his practice on high stakes / complex business litigation, business divorce (breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, bad faith, shareholder derivative actions and unfair business practices), employment litigation, and intellectual property litigation. His clients include aerospace companies, hospitals, engineering firms, advertising companies, software companies, venture capital firms, transportation companies, food service companies, medical equipment distribution companies and alternative energy production and research firms. He also represented (pro bono) through acquittal the first former Marine to ever be prosecuted by a Federal Civilian Court for an alleged Law of Armed Conflict Violation. (U.S.A. v. Jose L. Nazario, Jr., U.S.D.C. Central District of California, Case No. ED CR 07-127 SGL). He has been quoted in numerous National periodicals concerning the (mis)use of Civilian courts to prosecute Marines for actions in combat.
Active in the community, Mr. Preis has served on numerous charitable boards, and is the co-founder and president of the Soldiers of the Sea, Band of Brothers, Inc., an organization dedicated to bridging the gap between Southern California’s business and military communities. He is a trustee of the November 10th Association in Newport Beach, a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a member of the Military Order of the Carabao in Washington, D.C. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1990 through 1994, and again from 2002 to 2005, including service in Desert Storm and Somalia.