Blackhawk Lawyers

Jessica is a partner at Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP and specializes in litigating employment law cases on behalf of employees. From violations of wage and hour laws to sexual harassment and discrimination, Jessica has represented both individuals and groups of people in class actions. She also advises executives in pre-litigation matters such as severance agreements and employment agreements. If you have an employment law issue in the Bay Area, please contact her office today and set up a free consultation.

As a partner with San Francisco's Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP, Peter Rukin represents Bay Area clients in a wide array of complex litigation matters, including employment, wage and hour, and business disputes. Mr. Rukin has built a reputation as a thoughtful and strong advocate for his clients, whatever their disputes may be. Mr. Rukin specializes in complex litigation, with a focus on wage and hour and equal employment opportunity claims. Since 2003, as class counsel he has recovered tens of millions of dollars on behalf of thousands of California employees and consumers. Peter also represents clients with respect...

Before starting my family law practice, I worked for 5 years at a non-profit, where I successfully litigated in court on behalf of survivors of domestic violence and their children. I obtained Temporary and Permanent Restraining Orders, Child Visitation and Custody Orders, as well as Child Support. Since 2007, I have offered amicable, uncontested divorce and separation options for those who want to stay out of court, including high conflict and complex cases involving domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness. I provide services as a Mediator (neutral third party), Collaborative Divorce attorney (using a team approach),...

Law Office of Arezou Bakhtjou is located in Oakland, CA and helps clients in Richmond, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, Hayward, San Leandro, Pleasanton, Martinez, Palo Alto, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, and all Bay Area Counties including Alameda County, Contra Costa County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Solano County, and San Francisco County.? Memberships: Alameda County Bar Association ?Alameda County Bar Association Criminal Division (Board Member) Women Lawyers of Alameda County Alameda County Court Appointed Attorneys Program Alameda County Bar Association Judicial Appointments Evaluation Committee Experience: County of Contra Costa Court Appointed Attorneys Program Placer County...

Aaron Clefton is the Managing Partner of Rein & Clefton. He is dedicated to advancing the civil and economic rights of persons with disabilities and all people who are vulnerable or impoverished. Aaron is lead counsel on all ADA cases for Rein & Clefton. He has over 17 years working in the field of disability rights, 5 years of that as an attorney. He has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer honor of “AV-Preeminent” in 2021, given to attorneys “who are ranked at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal expertise, communication skills, and ethical standards by their peers.” That same year...

Recognized as one of the top plaintiff’s lawyers in California and founder and Chief Legal Counsel of the Dolan Law Firm, Chris Dolan spearheads significant and challenging lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts against insurance companies, Fortune 500 companies, cities and other public agencies, and product manufacturers.

Under Chris’ leadership, the Dolan Law Firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for its clients and become one of California’s premier plaintiffs’ firms serving clients injured due to the fault of another or were discriminated against or treated unfairly in the workplace.

John Hyland is a partner with Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP. He practices exclusively in the area of employment law. John was Of Counsel with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in the firm’s San Francisco office where he advised and represented companies in State and Federal court actions covering all areas of employment law, including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, disability law, employee privacy, employee leaves, and wage and hour issues. John regularly conducts training seminars and presents on a wide array of employment law issues. Law & Politics Magazine selected John as one of its Northern California Super Lawyers...

Ryan Davis is the managing partner of Golden State Workers Compensation. Mr. Davis received a juris doctorate from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in May of 2014 and is a current member of the California Bar Association. Mr. Davis is also an NBA certified agent and has represented clients such as Jason Terry. In addition to his professional commitments, Mr. Davis takes an active interest in a variety of volunteer and speaking engagements. Mr. Davis has volunteered numerous times at Berkeley Youth Alternative, which is a non-profit for at risk youth, in Berkeley, California. These volunteer activities include mentorship, career...

Robert Davis is a Workers' Compensation Attorney with over 30 years of experience. Mr. Davis has handled thousands of cases before the Workers Compensation Appeals Board with a value of over 100 million dollars. Mr. Davis has work for both applicants and defense law firms. He is an aggressive, ethical and experienced Workers' Compensation Lawyer who knows exactly how to navigate your case through the confusing and frustrating maze the insurance company creates. His experience working for the insurance companies gives him a distinct advantage over the vast majority of Workers' Compensation Lawyers, not only because he knows the opponents playbook,...

I have practiced immigration and naturalization law exclusively since 2003. My practice emphasizes immigration and naturalization for applicants with criminal convictions, removal defense, and working with criminal defense counsel to minimize the immigration harm from convictions. I am licensed by the State Bar of California (license #227178) and received my juris doctorate degree in 2003 from the University of California, Davis, School of Law.

Arthur Lazear has practiced law for more than 40 years, helping to obtain successful results for worthy clients nationwide. Mr. Lazear has prosecuted some of the biggest class actions ever litigated in employment law, but has never abandoned his level of personal attention to each client, which is the firm’s hallmark.

Mr. Lazear’s father was a janitor, an immigrant from Ukraine who worked nights in a tireless effort to provide his children the hope of a better life, that they might realize the American Dream. The example set by his father inspired Mr. Lazear’s lifelong commitment to protecting and enforcing the...

A resident of Oakland, Len spent much of his legal career with prestigious, top-ranked, San Francisco law firms. Mr. Watkins brings the same level of expertise, and standard of excellence, to his practice in the East Bay. Focusing on consumer bankruptcy and business law, Mr. Watkins’ depth of experience and training include: A Masters of Business Administration, concentrating on finance, from the University of California, at Davis A stock brokerage license (inactive) from the National Association of Securities Dealers A California Real Estate Broker’s license Previous Experience Business Attorney Norris & Norris (now...

I have been in solo private practice representing plaintiffs in the areas of environmental, land use, and elections law for almost thirty years. My clients are usually local environmental groups, neighborhood associations, homeowner associations, and occasionally individuals or government agencies. In addition to my law degree (New College of Calif., 1990) have undergraduate and masters of science degrees in biology from Brown University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University. I spent ten years working as a researcher in agricultural biotechnology before doing a career change and getting my law degree.
I represent clients...

Mr. Mastro was born in Oakland, grew up around the East Bay, and has spent his life living throughout the Bay Area, from San Francisco to San Jose. Mr. Mastro graduated from the Santa Clara University School of Law in May 2006. He then passed the California State Bar Examination in July 2006 on his first attempt. Thereafter, Mr. Mastro became a Deputy Public Defender in San Joaquin County, representing clients in all manner of criminal cases, in a high-volume capacity. In 2009, Joe decided to return home to open his own law firm. Since then...

I am a former police officer and deputy district attorney in Contra Costa County. I received my Bachelor's Degree from California State University Sacramento and a Juris Doctor from John F. Kennedy University, School of Law. As principal attorney of this firm, I guide the firm’s staff and manage major cases and matters on behalf of individual and business clients. I have tried numerous cases to verdict and have appeared before the California Court of Appeal, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. Our firm practices real estate, labor and employment, and business litigation. Our firm also drafts wills, trust...

Specializing exclusively in criminal law, Joseph and this team of attorneys have represented thousands of criminal defendants facing serious felony charges. He has extensive experience defending MMJ collectives, cooperatives, cultivators, and caregivers facing criminal charges for helping patients. Joseph Tully has over fifteen years experience practicing criminal law in California and has been certified as a Criminal Law Specialist by the California Board of Legal Specialization. In addition, Mr. Tully has been recognized by The National Trial Lawyers as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in both 2013 and 2014. From Shasta to Oakland to Los Angeles,...

MANJULA MARTIN is a criminal defense attorney at Lamano Law Office. Prior to her work with LLO, she clerked for the San Francisco District Attorney’s office where she worked on domestic violence cases, sexual assault crimes, and felony preliminary hearings. She received the Cali Excellence Award for Criminal Litigation in 2008 and helped draft a presentation that was used at an international conference on identifying and combatting Human Trafficking. It was during this tenure that she realized that her true passion in helping people.

Ms. Martin went on to represent low-income women seeking to leave abusive situations in...

Joseph A. Motta was born and raised in the East Bay. He attended St. Mary’s College and graduated in 1984. He graduated from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento in 1987. Joe’s legal career started as a Deputy District Attorney in Contra Costa County; from 1988 to 2004. There, he handled thousands of cases. He was a trial attorney on every team including Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Homicide. He supervised the Misdemeanor, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault Teams; as a supervisor, he maintained his own load of serious cases. As a deputy D.A., Joe prosecuted a number of high...

Shahrad Milanfar is a Trial Attorney and Mediator who has focused his career on serious personal injury, automotive, asbestos and other types of product liability, transportation/ trucking, and habitability cases. Since the beginning of his career, Shahrad has worked on catastrophic injury cases such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), serious orthopedic injuries, including quadriplegia and paraplegia.

Shahrad gained his trial and courtroom experience while working with the district attorney’s office and as a civil trial attorney. He has handled cases form inception to verdict as the primary trial attorney. Over the past 20+ years, Shahrad has managed serious personal injury and...

Attorney Adam M. Carlson is managing partner at Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook. While he is skilled in various areas of law, he focuses the majority of his practice handling cases related to wrongful death, civil rights, and personal injury. He believes that tailoring each case to each client’s needs is key to providing aggressive and compassionate legal representation.

Before joining the firm, Carlson served as an intake assistant for our team, where he was responsible for fielding calls from potential clients. It was at this time that Carlson decided he wanted to do more. He found that he was passionate...

For more than 30 years, Mike Appel has devoted his practice exclusively to personal injury and wrongful death cases. He represents clients throughout California, both in State and Federal courts. Born and raised in Redondo Beach, Mike attended St. Mary’s College of California, Moraga, California, where he majored in English. He was an editor of the college’s literary magazine, "The Phoenix." He also played rugby for the Gaels, and was a member of the team that went on the first annual rugby tour of the East Coast. Mike received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970. At graduation he also received...

In my early years as a financial planner, I realized that estate planning was an often-overlooked area of planning not only by clients but by their financial advisors. The reason I became an attorney was to help people make sure that their wishes are carried out during incapacity and after death. I had seen too many people impacted by the lack of estate planning or poor estate planning. I did not want to see the government or the courts take control of a person's property in a way that was not consistent with the person's wishes and intent. I am passionate...

Stephen offers experienced business and legal counseling to individuals and corporations throughout the Bay Area, including: (1) Business litigation and dispute resolution services involving misappropriation of trade secrets, non-compete/solicitation agreements, mechanics lien and payment bond claims, commercial leases, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent misrepresentation and unfair, unlawful or fraudulent business practices (Bus. & Prof. C. sec. 17200); (2) Construction contracting; (3) Intellectual Property licensing and distribution; and (4) E-commerce, website terms of use, privacy policies and data protection and security.

Hannah Sargent received her undergraduate degree from University of California Los Angeles and graduated from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. While in school, she spent time clerking for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Jose. She is a former military officer, company commander, two-time Iraq war veteran and decorated AH-64D Apache Helicopter pilot. She is currently the principal attorney at Sargent Law Office, where she practices litigation, business and commercial law, and estate planning, and she lives in Castro Valley with her family. Between her time working and being with her family, she enjoys...

Visit www.ponlaw.com for comprehensive information about Poniatowski Leding Parikh Law Corp. and Mark D. Poniatowski.

Mr. Cross is an expert in the field of criminal law. Mr. Cross will fight more aggressively than anyone to bring you the best outcome possible. He passionately cares about defending his clients and does everything within his power to help them. Having attended the University of California, Berkeley for Undergraduate studies, he received a B.A. in Legal Studies. He subsequently attended the prestigious San Francisco Law School to receive his J.D. He is a member of many associations, including the State Bar Association, the Alameda County Car Association, the San Mateo County Bar Association and the Delta Theta Phi...

OLIVER GREENWOOD is the principal of the Law Offices of Oliver Greenwood in Pleasant Hill. He is the author of chapters 1, 4, 12, 16, and 17 in the CEB Guardianship Handbook. Mr. Greenwood received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D. from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. A frequent speaker regarding probate matters and a member of the Judicial Council's Probate & Mental Health Advisory Committee. Mr. Greenwood is also a contributing author to CEB's conservatorship and powers of attorney and health care directives books. Mr. Greenwood's areas of practice include conservatorships, guardianships,...

Areas of Expertise

Business advice and counseling
Contract drafting and review
Corporate structure and transactions
Licensing and regulation
Employment and labor negotiation
Insurance coverage and claims handling
Education

B.A., Colgate University, 1991
Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude
J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School, 1994

Martin is an experienced business attorney who facilitates transactions while minimizing the risks and pitfalls facing his clients. Martin takes a “can-do” approach to legal problems that focuses on crafting deals through an integrative and value creating process rather than conflict.