Steven J. Adamski

Steven J. Adamski is a partner with Robins Borghei LLP and with Adamski Moroski Madden Cumberland & Green LLP, and has represented both private and public clients in a wide range of matters including breach of contract, water rights, real estate and sports law.

A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), Steve is rated AV® Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer review rating given to attorneys based on legal ability and ethical standards.

Steve started out his practice as a litigator. His primary focus now is providing legal assistance and counseling to individuals, businesses, and public entities.

From 1995 until the team sold in 2011, Steve provided a wide range of legal services to the Golden State Warriors. From 2001 until 2011 he was the team’s general counsel, handling a number of complex matters and disputes for the franchise including employment matters, coach and player related disputes, breach of contract, financing, local taxation, sponsorships and broadcast rights. He regularly represented the franchise in its ongoing relations with both the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda. After 2011, he continued to advise the team on a limited basis.

Steve was one of the original authors and editors of The Rutter Group’s Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial. In 2016, Steve partnered with James Wagstaffe of Kerr & Wagstaffe, LLP to create the Wagstaffe Group dedicated to providing federal litigators and courts with simple, comprehensive and authoritative guidance to navigate the complexities of federal litigation. Together with LexisNexis, the Wagstaffe Group has produced a national multimedia guide to pretrial federal civil procedure. This three-volume practice guide features accessible and to-the-point analysis along with online videos on all aspects of federal civil procedure before trial. For more information on this publication, see link here.

Steve currently lives in San Luis Obispo with his family, and has family ties to the Central Coast of California dating back several generations.

Other Highlights:

Steve defended Atascadero Mutual Water Company (AMWC), one of the state’s largest and oldest mutual water companies, against claims it was improperly extracting groundwater from the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin. The action resulted in the courts and public entities recognition that: (a) AMWC draws water from the Atascadero Sub-basin a distinct and legally separate hydrologic unit from much larger Paso Robles Groundwater Basin; (b) AMWC had a common law right to withdraw water from the Sub-basin and (c) the Sub-basin was not in overdraft.
He represented landowners owning thousands of acres of farmland in the longstanding adjudication of the Santa Maria Groundwater Basin.
Steve developed and implemented a litigation strategy which allowed his client, a minority general partner, to emerge as the sole owner of the Golden State Warriors.
Steve defended the Golden State Warriors against a $30-million claim for breach of agreement involving the potential sale of Personal Seat Licenses for Warriors games played at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Arena.
Steve is admitted to practice law in all State and Federal Courts in California.