Overview

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Skye Daley is a Partner at Buchalter. His practice is focused on representing clients in high stakes, complex business and commercial litigation and arbitration

Skye represents clients ranging from small businesses and start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, semi-governmental agencies and banking institutions. He has experience representing his clients in both state and federal court, as well as in arbitration and in administrative proceedings. In addition to business and commercial litigation, Skye has extensive experience representing employers in a variety of employment matters, advising his clients on questions of labor and employment compliance, and forcefully and successfully asserting his client’s rights in trade secret disputes.

Recently, Skye obtained a full defense award on behalf of a San Diego-based financial institution following a four-day arbitration. A cross-complaint had been filed against Skye’s client by one of its borrowers alleging, inter alia, negligent misrepresentation and fraud in the inducement of the borrower’s loan agreements claiming Skye’s client made representations inconsistent with the express terms of the loan agreements. The Arbitrator rejected borrower’s claims and found that Skye’s client’s representations and conduct were consistent with the express terms of the loan agreements and within customary industry standards for banking institutions, resulting in no exposure to borrower’s multi-million dollar claim.

In addition to his work in litigation, Skye has recently had scholarly work published in Bloomberg Law discussing the origins and basics of the Common Interest Doctrine and its application as a tool in litigation. He is the Chair of the Cathedral City Planning Commission, a member of the Riverside County Superior Court’s Subcommittee to Eliminate Bias and Promote Equal Justice and the Bench-Bar Subcommittee, a past member of the Board of Governors of the LGBT Bar Association of Los Angeles, and is a coach of the La Quinta High School mock trial team.

Skye has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in San Diego by Super Lawyers Magazine since 2023. Most recently, Skye was recognized in the 2026 Legal 500 U.S. Elite rankings in the area of Commercial Litigation.

  • (ADR Services, Inc., Los Angeles) Obtained a full defense award on behalf Mr. Daley’s San Diego based financial institution client. A cross-complaint was filed against Mr. Daley’s client by one of its borrowers alleging, inter alia, negligent misrepresentation and fraud in the inducement of the borrower’s loan agreements claiming Mr. Daley’s client made representations inconsistent with the express terms of the loan agreements. The Court rejected borrower’s claims and found that Mr. Daley’s client’s representations and conduct were consistent with the express terms of the loan agreements and within customary industry standards for banking institutions, resulting in no exposure to borrower’s multi-million dollar claim.
  • (San Bernardino County Superior Court) Obtained a six-figure judgment on behalf of Mr. Daley’s landlord client after a single-day trial in San Bernardino County Superior Court. The defendant in the case was a tenant who operated a large gym in a shopping mall owned by Mr. Daley’s client in San Bernardino County. The tenant had not paid rent for two months. Mr. Daley filed an unlawful detainer action against the tenant, which the tenant fought, resulting in a short trial. Mr. Daley obtain a judgment in excess of six-figures in past due rent and won possession of the premises back for his client.
  • (Riverside County Superior Court) – Represented homeowners in the Coachella Valley who filed suit against their general contractor at the conclusion of a $3.6 million renovation project that ended with a fire that burned Mr. Daley’s client’s home down. Following an evidentiary hearing, the Court found that the general contractor was unlicensed at the time of the project and had not “substantially complied” with California’s contractor licensing laws (the sole defense to an unlicensed contractor claim), leaving the contractor potentially liable for the return of all monies paid. The finding by the Court forced the general contractor to settle Mr. Daley’s client’s claims.
  • (Riverside County Superior Court) – Represented a homeowner who had been sued for defamation. The Plaintiff claimed that Mr. Daley’s client had defamed the Plaintiff as part of an HOA dispute. Mr. Daley had the entire case against his client dismissed at the pleading stage, by filing and winning an anti-SLAPP motion – arguing that his client’s speech was protected – leading to the complete dismissal of the action as to his client.
  • (San Joaquin County Superior Court) – When Mr. Daley’s temporary staffing client learned that a competitor had stolen the client’s customer list, pricing and other data, Mr. Daley sought and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order and then a Preliminary Injunction preventing the competitor from targeting his client’s customers.
  • (Riverside County Superior Court) – Represented one half of a business partnership that sought to purchase and flip certain real property. After a dispute arose amongst the partners that also involved the lender on the project, Mr. Daley sued to stop the foreclosure of the property by the lender and sued the other half of the business partnership for damages. The other partner countersued Mr. Daley’s clients, claiming breach of contract and other claims. Mr. Daley succeeded in preventing the foreclosure, and, on the eve of trial, the lender and other business partners settled with Mr. Daley’s clients, paying Mr. Daley’s clients 120% of the money they had put into the project. The Cross-Complaint filed against Mr. Daley’s clients by the other partner was dismissed with prejudice, without Mr. Daley’s clients paying anything.

Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

Education

  • Pepperdine University School of Law, J.D.
    • Editor of the Journal of Business Entrepreneurship & the Law
  • Northeastern University, B.A., Political Science, magna cum laude

  • 2026 Legal 500 U.S. Elite, Commercial Litigation
  • Named “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers, 2023-2026

  • Labor Contractors/Temporary Staffing

  • Chair of the Cathedral City Planning Commission
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Desert Bar Association
  • The Warren Slaughter-Richard Roemer American Inn of Court
  • Former Member of the Board of Governors of the LGBT Bar Association of Los Angeles
  • Riverside County Superior Court’s Committee to Eliminate Bias and Promote Equal Justice
  • Coach of the La Quinta High School Mock Trial team

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