Sunday December 3rd 2023

Paula J. Bailey

Of Counsel

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Professional Background and Accomplishments

Ms. Bailey is an experienced transactional and litigation attorney, with over twenty years of in-house experience at two Fortune 100 fully integrated oil and gas companies (Atlantic Richfield Company, now bp PLC and Chevron Products Company) and as General Counsel at two of the largest privately held convenience store and motor fuel retailers in California. Ms. Bailey currently serves as General Counsel for H&S Energy, LLC and its affiliates, a privately held, motor fuel station retailer and convenience store operator with over 100 locations in California.

In her 30+ years of practice, Ms. Bailey has handled a wide variety of transactions, focusing on commercial and franchise matters, including formation and enforcement of gasoline franchise agreements for wholesaler relationships with independent retailers, vendor and service contracts and transportation agreements.  With respect to asset acquisitions (real property and businesses), she has handled over $300MM in new business acquisitions in recent years, including preliminary negotiations, drafting, and finalization of purchase agreements/lease agreements and all escrow and title policy insurance matters, through the close of escrow.  Additionally, Ms. Bailey has handled asset based financing and secured transactions from the borrower’s side, including loan documentation, working with lenders, drafting of security and lien instruments and title review.  

Ms. Bailey has had extensive experience in providing strategic guidance and oversight for litigation and employment matters, ADA claims, bankruptcy matters, antitrust issues, and corporate compliance.  Her experience working in-house allows Ms. Bailey to analyze litigation matters simultaneously from the perspective of the client and the attorney, and thus to provide advice that benefits the client’s business overall and efficiently addresses the specific dispute. 

Ms. Bailey began her legal career as a federal judicial law clerk for the Honorable A. Andrew Hauk and the Honorable Dickran Tevrizian, Central District of California. After her clerkships, she joined the Los Angeles office of the international law firm of Bryan Cave, LLP as an associate. From there, she began her in-house career as a Senior Attorney with ARCO Products Company. When ARCO was acquired by bp PLC, Ms. Bailey then joined the law department of Chevron Products Company, where she served as Senior Counsel. In 2010, she became General Counsel for United Oil Company, a privately held company founded in 1955, formerly ranked by the L.A. Business Journal as L.A.'s 5th-largest private company, with annual revenues of more than $3 billion, until the sale of the company to Fortress Investment Group in June of 2014.  Ms. Bailey has been Of Counsel with the law firm of Booth LLP and has served as General Counsel for her client H&S Energy, LLC and its affiliates since 2016.

Other Professionals

Areas Of Practice

  • Business Transactions
    • Gasoline & Convenience Store Franchise Law
    • Asset Based Acquisitions
    • Financing and Re-Financing Transactions
  • Business Litigation
  • Employment Law and Litigation
  • Americans with Disabilities Act

Education

  • Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA, BA, Political Science 1982
  • Loyola Law School, JD 1986

Admissions and Memberships

  • The State Bar of California
  • United States District Court, Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts
  • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Other Professionals
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