I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. degree (magna cum laude ) in Public Administration in 1982, and from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1985 with a J.D. degree.  After graduation, I took and passed the California Bar.

B. CLERKSHIPS AND CIVIL RIGHTS WORK:

I accepted two federal court clerkships, the first in the Northern District of Ohio, in Cleveland, and then the other in the Central District of California, in Los Angeles.  I worked on a wide variety of civil cases and trials and wrote numerous opinions.

After clerking I worked for a while in legal aid and civil rights type positions, litigating civil rights and constitutional cases, typpically representing plaintiffs, but with some defense work.  A published civil rights decision is Hood v. City of Los Angeles, 804 F. Supp. 65, 66 (C.D. Cal., 1992), later overruled, Silva v. Crain, 169 F.3d 608 (9th Cir., 1999).

C. MY EXPERIENCE OF OVER A DECADE OF HOA AND BUSINESS PRACTICE:

I was invited to work with the Beverly Hills firm then known as Wilner, Klein & Siegel, one of the premier law firms handling homeowner’s association, or HOA, matters in California, after litigating a case with them.  I worked closely with Len Siegel and others.  Len is a long-time HOA attorney, perhaps best known for handling the landmark case of Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Village Condominium Assn., (1994) 8 Cal.4th 361, 878 P.2d 1275, which established the presumptive validity of CC&Rs for common interest developments, or CIDs.  I was able to attend the oral arguments before the California Supreme Court and hear Len’s presentation in that case.

During over a decade of practice there, I handled wide range of HOA general counsel matters and an even more extensive variety of HOA litigation cases, such as election disputes, architectural disputes, challenges to CC&Rs and Rules actions, and claims for attorney’s fees under the CC&Rs and statutes.  I represented both plaintiffs and defendants, HOAs and individual owners, handling cases, large and small, from trial through appeal.  I handled numerous HOA appeals before various courts of appeal and the California Supreme Court on an wide range of issues, including constitutional and first amendment issues, and have a published decision in 14859 Moorpark Homeowner's Assn. v. VRT Corp., (1998) 63 Cal. App. 4th 1396.

In doing so, I often had the opportunity to work with, and against, a number of well known attorneys and firms who specialize in HOA law.

I also litigated numerous general real estate and business cases, including loan defaults and workouts and foreclosure matters, employment and housing discrimination matters, and constitutional issues.  An example case is D.A.N. Joint Venture v. Binafard, 168 F.3d 498, 1999 U.S. App. Lexis 6733 (9th Cir., 1998).

D. OTHER BUSINESS AND REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE:

I moved on from Wilner, Klein & Siegel (which later changed names when Len Siegel moved his HOA practice to another firm), joining a friend and fellow former federal law clerk, Laura Knox, in a very large, nationwide firm, to practice on complex commercial and maritime litigation.  We worked with noted Maritime law scholar Michael Lodwick (who later died of cancer).

I recently moved to Northern California a few years ago, and have practiced with local firms in the areas of: real estate, business, eminent domain, interest rate swap, employment, and buisness property tax litigation, at trial and appellate levels, in state and federal courts.  An example published decision is the case of Turlock Irrigation Dist. v. Zanker (2006) 140 Cal. App. 4th 1047.

During that time I have taken mediation classes at Berkeley and from Pepperdine University, to prepare for my mediation practice.