Santa Clara Lawyers

I am an accomplished Divorce, Family, and Arbitration & Mediation attorney. I compassionately represent clients throughout the Bay Area with a broad range of family law matters.

As a Certified Family Law Specialist, I provide the experience, knowledge and skill needed to advocate for the best possible outcomes. I am dedicated to exceptional counsel to meet your family's legal needs and goals.

Jon Welner is a leading practitioner of environmental law in California. His broad and deep experience over twenty years enables him to solve regulatory problems for clients in virtually every area of environmental practice, including air, water, hazardous materials, hazardous waste, consumer products, traditional and renewable energy, and natural resources. Jon helps clients make sense of the “alphabet soup” of state and federal environmental regulatory agencies in order to achieve their business objectives. He regularly represents clients in court to defend their interests and achieve their goals.

Jon has a robust land use practice and assists clients to successfully navigate the...

Ryan Hafey is a dedicated attorney whose career reflects a strong foundation in both academic achievement and practical legal experience, guided by a deep commitment to social justice. He began his legal career at The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, where he supported the Department of Airports’ legal team. Ryan later turned his attention to immigration law, working on complex asylum and deportation matters at a large firm in downtown San Francisco. He served clients from India, Nepal, and Central America, developing a reputation for skillful advocacy. In 2021, Ryan joined a San Leandro law firm where he continued his work on...

As an experienced General Counsel with two stints at late-stage growth companies, Ronak Ray leads all legal matters for maturing businesses. He supported TaskUs’ board as corporate secretary and 18,000 people globally while managing to close a $500 million transaction with Blackstone before joining another scaling technology company at Pantheon as their General Counsel. Most recently, Ronak was appointed as Executive Managing Director of modCounsel to support growth companies for concierge in-house legal services from early stage to publicly listed businesses.

For over twenty years I have focused my entire legal practice on exclusively representing employees in a wide variety of employment matters, including wrongful terminations, unpaid wages, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, defamation and severance negotiations. I handle all lawsuits on a contingency fee basis, meaning that I do not charge a fee in a litigation if I do not secure a recovery on behalf of my client. I have advocated on behalf of several hundred employees in State and Federal Court and have completed nearly twenty trials.

Since 2007 our office has been dedicated to representing San Francisco and Sacramento area employees and victims of serious injuries in a wide range of employment, wrongful termination and injury cases. Individual approach to each client and each injury or employment case is what distinguishes us from other attorneys, as we recognize that each case is as different as each person who has been either injured or aggrieved by their employer.

Since its opening, The Zinn Law Firm has resolved by settlement, trial or arbitration over 200 cases in their clients’ favor, and has obtained tens of millions of dollars on behalf of its injured clients. Mr. Zinn has developed into one of the most well-regarded and sought after trial lawyers representing injured persons in the Bay Area.

I am a Certified Family Law Specialist, accredited by the California State Bar. With a deep commitment to helping individuals navigate some of life’s most challenging and emotional moments, I excel in providing personalized, compassionate, and practical solutions. My expertise lies in one-on-one consultations, where I support clients in a variety of situations, from mediation and second opinions to those looking to handle family law matters independently. I also assist clients with pre-marital and post-marital agreements and handle all aspects of divorce, legal separation, and parentage actions—including child custody, child support, spousal support, and complex property division. I firmly believe that...

For the past 45 years, I have dedicated my legal career to representing individuals in Northern California who have suffered catastrophic injuries. My practice areas include workers' compensation, industrial accidents, death claims, orthopedic injuries, amputations, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Andrew is a senior counsel in the Oakland/East Bay office of Ericksen Arbuthnot and co-chair of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. He is AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected as a Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Star by Thomson Reuters. Andrew has extensive litigation experience representing individual and institutional clients in state and federal court. His areas of practice include insurance coverage and defense, intellectual property, personal injury, professional liability, real estate, and other commercial issues.

Andrew has B.A. degrees in Cognitive Science and History, and a minor in Philosophy, from the...

As an attorney and financier with over three decades of experience, I have been advising companies on various aspects of real estate transactions. My work includes forming legal entities, establishing joint ventures, handling property acquisitions and sales, conducting due diligence, managing land use planning and entitlements, ensuring environmental compliance, and dealing with both secured and unsecured financing. Additionally, I am well-versed in construction contracts, litigation, and arbitration. I am transaction-oriented and have significant experience in handling a broad spectrum of commercial contracts. My skills include reviewing, drafting, and negotiating joint venture agreements, development agreements, construction contracts, public utility agreements, vendor agreements,...

For over 8 years Mrs. Bansmer has been practicing law and providing legal services in the areas of Divorce and Family Law. She has a degree in economics and psychology from the University of California-Davis. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. She founded Bansmer Law with the strong conviction that clients deserve practical advice with sound legal counsel. At Bansmer Law, compassionate and aggressive legal representation is implemented to produce winning results.

Who am I? Why do I do this? What are you getting when you hire me and my staff? Am I any good at this lawyer stuff? Will I win? Those are all good questions; and I even have answers for some of them.

I started the firm in the mid 1990’s after the Savings and Loan implosion killed commercial real estate for about five years.

In 1978, I got my California real estate license, and two years later, my broker’s license. In 1993, I was awarded the nationally recognized CCIM designation by the Commercial Investment...

Paul DeAngelis practices in the San Francisco Bay Area. He concentrates on real estate matters, including litigating buyer and seller disputes arising from transactions, neighbor and HOA disputes, and broker defense issues. He also provides transaction and counseling services to buyers and sellers, to property owners to resolve neighbor and HOA disputes, and to brokers and agents regarding risk management and BRE compliance issues. The information in this profile and any reviews or endorsements do not constitute a guarantee, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of any legal representation. It is a communication within Rules of Professional Conduct of...

John Runfola is a highly experienced and effective criminal defense attorney. His cases have at times drawn international attention, and he has succeeded in winning favorable results for clients both at trial and through skillful pre-trial work. He is listed in Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers and has earned the highest rating from the national lawyer registry Martindale Hubbell. Prior to starting his own practice, Mr. Runfola served as a Public Defender in San Francisco, where he gained invaluable courtroom experience. He is a seasoned trial lawyer, yet is equally adept at the behind-the-scenes work that often proves critical to a...

Former prosecutor, combat veteran (USCG), complex dispute resolution, competitive business litigation, depositions, trials, law and motion, appeals.

Mr. Kronenberg's practice focuses on: - Catastrophic Injury: including representing people who consumed food allergens or pathogens, as well as workers who used defectively designed or manufactured food processing equipment, victims of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord trauma, nerve damage, and severe orthopedic injuries arising from construction accidents, industrial accidents, dangerous premises, auto accidents, wrongful death, governmental or public entity liability, and professional negligence. Mr. Kronenberg has more than a decade of experience litigating personal injury and product liability cases from their inception through trial and appeal. - Consumer Protection: litigating class action claims arising from...

Bryan Kemnitzer is a partner at Kemnitzer, Barron, and Krieg, LLP. He received a B.A. from Stanford University in 1972 and a J.D. from McGeorge School of Law (University of the Pacific) in 1975. Bryan was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1975. He has been a civil litigator for more than 30 years and has tried numerous jury cases to judgment. He has served as an arbitrator, and as a Judge-Pro-Tem.

For more than 30 years, his practice has been focused on representing consumers, with an emphasis on the auto industry. Bryan has been involved not only in...

Mr. Rose is dedicated to providing the best legal representation for injured victims and their families in a compassionate, efficient and effective manner. He is a passionate advocate for his clients and resolves most cases in a matter of months, rather than years. He is most widely known as one of the leading bicycle lawyers, pedestrian lawyers, and motorcycle accident lawyers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Rose also serves as a Mediator of claims throughout California.

I'm the CEO & Managing Attorney at Tenant Law Group, PC, a San Francisco-based law firm dedicated to justice for California renters. We help California tenants who have been harassed or forced to endure uninhabitable living conditions recover money for their losses. We represent tenants in disputes with landlords arising out of illegal evictions from rent-controlled apartments, harassment, defective conditions and repair issues, rodent and other pest infestations, floods, and fires. Law Firm 500 recognized Tenant Law Group as the 22nd fastest growing law firm in the United States in 2019 (the firm’s first year of eligibility)...

Erik Christensen litigates, and provides counsel on, corporate and employment issues in California and the District of Columbia. His experience includes working as a senior associate at top-ranked global law firms, including Littler Mendelson and Greenberg Traurig. Before this, Erik externed at the California Supreme Court and the First District Court of Appeal, two of the most prestigious opportunities provided to law students in California. Erik also served as a law clerk for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Victim Impact Program (sometimes referred to as the “Special Victims Unit.”) His experience includes years of service with the 101st Airborne’s...

I spent nearly 25 years as a state court prosecutor. The majority of those years were served in Alameda County, and a few years were served in Santa Clara County. I specialized in high profile, complex felony prosecutions. I was the trial prosecutor in the case of People v. Madison, Merel, and Cazares. The case involved the prosecution of three men for the murder of Gwen Araujo, a transgender, teenaged girl from Newark, California. The famous case became the subject of a Lifetime Network movie called, "A Girl Like Me."

There is no aspect of the...

Brian exclusively represents employees in a wide variety of California employment law matters, including terminations based on illegal discrimination or in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (including disability or health discrimination, failures to accommodate a disability, and pregnancy discrimination), unpaid wages (including unpaid overtime, unpaid rest and meal breaks, or cases of independent contractor misclassification), protected leave law violations (including Pregnancy Disability, California Family Rights Act, baby bonding/ maternity/ paternity leave, and FMLA violations), unlawful harassment (hostile work environment and sexual harassment) and unlawful employment retaliation claims (including whistle-blowing retaliation and workplace safety complaint retaliation)....

Leslie Leone, principal attorney at Leone Law Firm, is the best California personal injury attorney and employment attorney to help you deal with unreasonable insurance companies and unfair employers so that you can obtain the justice and compensation you deserve.

Leslie Leone began her legal career as a staff attorney for the Teamsters Union and also worked for the Operating Engineer's Union. As a Union attorney she negotiated contracts and grievances for hundreds of Union members. She is also a San Francisco native who attended UC Berkeley and Golden Gate University Law School.

Call Leone Law Firm for a FREE consultation...

With more than 25 years experience in family and personal injury law, I bring a seasoned expertise to both the conference room and the courtroom. As an experienced trial lawyer in all phases of litigation, I can successfully navigate diverse disputes across a range of legal areas. My expertise as a collaborative practitioner means that I am equally effective in mediating or negotiating a resolution that, when appropriate, does not involve litigation. I also assist clients as a mediator or a mediation-consulting attorney. I understand that every individual circumstance – every dispute – is unique...

Stephen W. Penn is a Certified Family Law Specialist who has been in private practice since 1991. He received a Bachelor of Science from California State University, Los Angeles and his law degree from Glendale College of Law. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University, Master of Science in Taxation from Golden Gate University and Master of Arts from John F. Kennedy University in Counseling Psychology.

Prior to commencing his legal career, Mr. Penn served as Vice Chancellor of the West Valley-Mission Community College District and Director of Finance and Chief Business Officer of California State University...

As a litigation attorney, Mr. Loew’s primary areas of practice include trust and estate litigation (including will and trust contests), fiduciary litigation, and financial elder abuse actions.

Mr. Loew is certified as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the State Bar of California’s Board of Legal Specialization, a title held by less than half of one percent of practicing attorneys in California, and by only about three percent of estate planning attorneys.

In addition to the areas described above, Mr. Loew is the founding President of the San Mateo County Law Library Foundation, helping provide access to...

Colby Dean LaVelle II proudly manages LaVelle Law Offices with the personal attention of a boutique law firm but with the resources of larger law firms. An honored graduate of Santa Clara University of Law, Mr. LaVelle has dedicated his career to the pursuit of justice. He began his legal career working for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. Following his success litigating criminal matters, Mr. LaVelle started the LaVelle Law Offices. Now with eight locations across California, The LaVelle Law Offices is an incarnation of Mr. LaVelle's desire to serve the public, as he...

You’ve spent your life building your wealth. And no matter how large or how modest – protecting your assets matters. Ivette Santaella understands that estate planning may seem daunting. You might feel uncomfortable talking about what happens after death. Or maybe you’re worried that you don’t understand the laws well enough. Santaella Law Group, APC is here to guide you through your concerns and make estate planning easy. Ivette has more than 30 years of experience talking her clients through their goals, translating and helping them navigate the law, and working with them to come up with a solid plan for...

Lynn Gorelick has been an attorney for over 34 years. Attorney Lynn Gorelick is the Immediate Past President of the California DUI Lawyers Association. This is the only and most well respected legal organization for California Lawyers specializing in DUI defense. Ms. Gorelick has been a member of this organization since its inception and has served on the Board of Directors for over 15 years. She is committed to the protection your rights.

Ms. Gorelick is a Faculty and Sustaining member of the National College of DUI Defense. She has been a featured speaker at the...

Stephen G. Opperwall has 40 years of experience representing clients in civil lawsuits.

In 1997, Mr. Opperwall was first designated a Certified Specialist in Creditors' Rights, a specialist designation that has been earned by only 8 attorneys in California.

In 2007, Mr. Opperwall was also named to the list of Super Lawyers of Northern California, a list that is reserved for the top 5% of attorneys.

Mr. Opperwall has been named to the Multi Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group of attorneys who have recovered $2,000,000 or more for at least one client, something which Mr. Opperwall has done...

James H. (Jim) Gulseth was born and attended high school in Devils Lake, North Dakota and graduated with an A.B. degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Jim earned his JD degree at the University of California Hastings School of Law in San Francisco and is admitted to practice in the State of California and before the Federal District Court, Northern District of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. He is a member of the Corporations, Business Transactions, Securities and Tax and Intellectual Property Sections of the State Bar of California. Jim’s reported cases include...

Indy Colbath is a licensed California attorney who has focused the entirety of her legal career on family law issues, including: divorce, annulment, child custody, child support, spousal support, property division, and domestic violence restraining orders. Indy has a breadth of courtroom experience she relies upon when assessing her clients’ family law matters, as well as strong relationships with the local legal community and bench. Indy has effectively represented her clients in an array of complex family law litigation, many of which involving high net worth individuals. Even though Indy has a passion for courtroom advocacy, she understands that every...

Laura received her undergraduate degree in 2003 from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, graduating Summa Cum Laude and with distinction in her major (English). After graduation, Laura went on to work as a paralegal at Latham & Watkins, LLP, in their Silicon Valley offices and later attended U.C. Hastings College of the Law, graduating with her J.D. in 2008. While at Hastings, Laura was the Executive Articles Editor of the Hastings Women's Law Journal and recipient of the Roger J. Traynor Student Writing Competition Award for her Note "On the Steps of the Mosque: the Legal Rights of Non-Marital Children...

Former prosecutor. Experienced criminal, DUI, and juvenile defense attorney across California from North to South. Marc also represents people in Restraining Order cases.

I am the owner of Professional Legal Coaching. I coach attorneys at all stages of their careers to be more successful and contented. As an Associate and then a Solo for 24 years. I moved into Legal Coaching 9 years ago and now I coach attorneys all over the United States. My book, BE A BETTER LAWYER: A Short Guide to a Long Career has recently been published by the American Bar Association and is available also on Amazon.

Mahal is a family law attorney based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She began her practice in 2014, having spent the previous fourteen years as a law clerk, educator, and paralegal specialist for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Her law practice integrates her passion for civil rights and her love for community. Mahal was born in Vallejo, and after a series of family tragedies enrolled herself in the tenth grade at Oakland Technical High School. She was legally emancipated as a minor the following spring. These childhood experiences inspired her to become an attorney and...