Education

Law School/Year: Thomas Jefferson School of Law, 1986

College/Year: Western State University, 1984

Bar Admissions

California, Indiana, Guam, U.S. Supreme Court, Southern District of California, Central District of California, Northern District of Indiana, Southern District of Indiana

Practice Areas

Civil Litigation, Insurance, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury & Property Damage, Product Liability     

Major Cases

All of my cases are special to me, but I felt especially good about representing a non-English-speaking gentleman who was sitting in the back seat of a city bus on his way to his job as a dishwasher. The bus driver drove over a dip in the road, causing the bus to bottom out. My client sustained a serious back injury, but the bus company said it wasn’t at fault, that he must not have been sitting properly and that his injuries weren’t that bad. They never offered a dime. The only witness was another passenger who was imprisoned for a felony. We took his deposition in prison and used it in trial. We used an excellent interpreter and great experts and the jury came back with a verdict just under a million dollars.

Professional Background

Before becoming an attorney, I was an insurance adjuster. I then became an insurance defense attorney representing civil defendants. Although I usually won my cases, I often didn’t feel good about winning. I saw many people, who should have won their cases, lose or settle for cheap simply because their lawyers didn’t know how to fight well-funded defense attorneys. Some lawyers were just too scared or inexperienced to take a large or complex personal injury case to trial.  After years of working for the insurance industry and learning all their tricks, I decided to put on the white hat, and I now represent plaintiffs against those powerful insurance companies. I love what I do and I sleep much better.

Professional Affiliations

I am on the board of directors of the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the American Association for Justice and the San Diego County Bar Association. I teach business law and international business law as an adjunct professor at a local university. I am also a column editor for the Trial Bar News and I volunteer my time to teach trial skills to other lawyers through the San Diego Inn of Court.

Personal Affiliations

In addition to practicing law, I spent 24 years proudly serving our country as a naval intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. My last duty was as the deputy reserve intelligence area coordinator for systems, which kept me on the cutting edge of information technology, systems and security, and which I have been able to implement into my law practice. I have found technology to be a great equalizer. 

Personal Background

My hobbies include music, photography, cooking, sailing and travel. I love computer technology and I spend a lot of my leisure time reading and learning about new software or equipment. I have a 17-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son and I’m one of those few parents who know more about computers than their kids do.