San Francisco Civil Rights Lawyers

I am an accomplished California attorney. I represent employees and tenants in a broad range of Employment, Landlord-Tenant and Civil Rights matters.

Dedicated to exceptional advocacy, I am diligent in fighting for the rights of my clients. I am genuine, experienced, and committed to justice.

I am also active in the community, currently volunteering at both Centro Legal and the Western Service Workers Association where I provide pro bono assistance to low-wage workers.

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...

David L. Fiol received his BA in Government from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) in 1984 and graduated from the Harvard Law School (Cambridge, MA) with his JD in 1988. He spent the first ten years of his career litigating aviation accident and other wrongful death and personal injury cases for a firm in New York City. He represented clients and family members injured by everything from automobile accidents to small private plane crashes to major disasters including the bombing and crash of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. During his tenure there he also litigated, insurance coverage, real estate...

Alden Knisbacher has represented clients in the Bay Area and across California since 1994. He has litigated hundreds of cases in various areas of law including employment, real estate, contract and business disputes, probate disputes, civil rights and other matters.

Mr. Knisbacher is a Georgetown Law graduate.

When not practicing law he can be found hiking, biking, running or cycling with his two children. Or, perhaps, playing with their pet bunny, Bobby.

Legal Experience Assistant United States Attorney, Northern District of California, 1994-2005. Civil Chief, 2001-2003 Deputy Civil Chief, 1998-2001 AUSA, 1994-1998, 2003-2005 Attorney of record in cases resulting in over twenty published decisions; Litigated hundreds of cases in federal district court; Litigated over 80...

I was born in Latin America and grew up in San Francisco. A product of the Bay Area, I studied economics at UC Berkeley before moving to Washington, DC, where I worked at both the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve. In 2003, I embarked on my legal studies at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, NY. Upon graduation, I worked as a corporate associate in Manhattan at a boutique international law firm. There I had the opportunity to work on a wide array of corporate transactions, from financing the construction of a hotel in NYC, structuring investments...

Dylan graduated from Cornell University (1986) and magna cum laude from UC Hastings College of the Law (1990). He clerked for Judge Melvin Brunetti in the Ninth Circuit and then spent a year teaching legal methods at Stanford Law School. From 1991-2001 Dylan practiced appellate law with Dennis Riordan until going out on his own in 2001. Thereafter he worked with lawyers around California on complex trials and appeals in both the civil and criminal arenas. Dylan joined Edward Kerley’s practice in 2014 and has since focused on the rights of California policyholders. He obtained two key victories on behalf...

Ehud Appel joined the California State Bar in 2018 after graduating with honors from U.C. Hastings College of the Law. He completed his undergraduate studies at U.C. Berkeley, majoring in Middle East Studies. Before pursuing a law career, he worked in education, healthcare, and the nonprofit world. He was a union representative, union organizer, and research analyst for United Healthcare Workers – West and the National Union of Healthcare Workers, where he represented nursing home and hospital workers throughout the Bay Area in grievances and collective bargaining.

During law school, he externed for the honorable judges Mary E. Wiss and...

Because divorce is a problem to be solved, not a battle to be won, I focus on alternatives to the court system, through Collaborative Law and Mediation. I believe that most families and children are best served by being supported to work together in resolving their family matters. The fundamental goal in both Collaborative Divorce and Mediation is client empowerment.

With either mediation or the Collaborative process you will have control of the decisions that are made and will be firmly supported, legally and emotionally, in achieving a successful dissolution of your relationship. This not only allows but also encourages you...

Ms. Jaffee’s main area of practice is civil litigation. She represents clients in a wide range of matters, including personal injury, medical and dental malpractice, real estate, premises liability, employment and general business litigation.

She joined Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz in September 2016. Prior to joining the firm, she worked as a civil litigation attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, including as a litigation associate in the San Francisco office of a multi-national law firm.

During law school, Ms. Jaffee interned with the State Bar of California and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ms. Jaffee obtained her...

Though he began his career practicing Entertainment Law in Los Angeles, Mr. Fink and his wife traded the glamour of Hollywood for the San Jose area' s charms. That early exposure to big city, high-pressure civil cases has served him well, particularly when dealing with the complex issues involved in contemporary employment cases. Mr. Fink is a partner in Mesirow & Fink, a small but energetic and creative law firm founded in 1976. Mr. Fink is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall, and he has six times been selected by San Jose Magazine as one of the...

In the last seventeen years, Law Offices of Joseph Salama has helped companies and individuals navigate successfully through the legal system. For some, this meant going before a jury, whether in federal or state court, or before an administrative law judge. For some, it meant getting out of the case as quickly and painlessly as possible. For some, it meant putting the right knowledge, documents, and systems in place to minimize the risk of litigation. But for all of them, it meant listening, understanding, and then making the commitment to meet their needs such that they could begin to outsource...

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...