Areas of Practice

• Administrative Hearings & Adjudication
• Administrative Investigations
• Administrative Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Arbitration
• Auto Dealer Fraud
• Banking & Finance Law
• Bankruptcy Law
• Bankruptcy Litigation
• Business & Commercial Law
• Business Organizations
• Business Successions
• Closely Held Businesses
• Collections
• Commercial Bankruptcy
• Commercial Leasing
• Commercial Real Estate
• Complex Litigation
• Condominiums & Cooperatives
• Construction Contracts
• Construction Law
• Construction Liens
• Consumer Bankruptcy
• Contracts
• Conveyancing
• Creditors' Rights
• Debt Discharge
• Debtor/Creditor
• Directors' & Officers' Liability
• Dissolution
• Eminent Domain
• Estate Administration
• Ethics
• Ethics & Professional Responsibility
• Federal Trial Practice
• Foreclosures
• Formation & Business Planning
• Franchising
• Garnishment
• Government Construction Contracts
• Housing & Construction Defects
• Joint Ventures
• Landlord/Tenant
• Lemon Law
• Lending & Secured Transactions
• Licensing
• Limited Liability Companies
• Litigation & Appeals
• Loan Workouts
• Mediation
• Mini-trials
• Mortgages & Foreclosures
• Partnerships
• Probate & Estate Administration
• Professional Responsibility
• Real Estate Law
• Reorganizations & Restructuring
• Residential Real Estate
• Secured Transactions
• State Trial Practice
• Title Insurance
• Toxic Mold
• Toxic Torts
• Transactions
• Trusts
• Wills
• Workouts

Certification/Specialties

• Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California
• Mediator
• California Real Estate Broker

Bar Admissions

• California, 1980
• U.S. District Court Northern District of California, 1980
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of California, 1986
• U.S. District Court Central District of California, 1990
• U.S. District Court Southern District of California, 1991
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1992
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1988

Education

• Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, California, 1980
  J.D.
  
  
• Sangamon State University, 1994
  T.A. Education
  Major: Computer Programming and Education
  
  
• Antioch College, Ohio, 1974
  B.A.
  Major: Economics
  
  

Published Works

• "Civil Litigation in the Shadow of Bankruptcy", Contra Costa Lawyer, June, 1993
• "The Real Estate Market and Bankruptcy, Discussion of the Real Estate Crisis and Bankruptcy", Bar Journal, November, 2007
• "Inside the Minds: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Strategies", Aspatore Books, 2008

Classes/Seminars Taught

• Consumer Bankruptcy: Chapter 7: Step-By-Step Procedures, National Business Institute
• Consumer Bankruptcy: Tips from the Pros, National Business Institute
• Consumer Bankruptcy: Ethical Obligations for Debtors' Counsel

Honors and Awards

• Super Lawyer - Top 5% of Attorneys in California
• Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission, Commissioner, 2003

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Alameda County
  Mediator, Private Mediator
  
  
• Alameda County Superior Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Program
  Court Panelist
  
  
• Alameda County Superior Court
  Arbitrator
  
  
• Bankruptcy, Contra Costa County Bar Association
  Member
  
  
• Continuing Education of the Bar, 1979 - 1981
  Legal Research Assistant
  
  
• Contra Costa County Bar Association
  Member
  
  
• Contra Costa County, Mount Diablo Municipal Court, 1986
  Small Claims Judge Pro Tem
  
  
• Contra Costa County Municipal Court
  Arbitrator
  
  
• Contra Costa County Superior Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Program
  Court Panelist
  
  
• United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern Division, Dispute Resolution Program
  Court Panelist