I began my legal career in 1987, in San Francisco, working for a medium-size firm nationally recognized for its successful defense of highly publicized hemophilic factor/transfusion-associated AIDS lawsuits on behalf of a multinational pharmaceutical company and various regional blood banks. As part of that defense team, I was responsible for all pre-trial phases of complex multi-party litigation in various state and federal courts throughout the United States. I also defended medical malpractice and other general casualty lawsuits.

In 1990, I started working for an established solo San Francisco plaintiff's attorney. Our two-attorney firm maintained a diverse personal injury and business litigation practice, handling trade secret, unfair competition, real estate, professional malpractice, premises liability, employment law (sexual harassment, sex discrimination, wrongful termination), wrongful death, accident and automobile cases. Noteworthy among our many successful results for our clients were a $3.4 million judgment in a commercial real estate fraud case and a $1 million judgment for malicious prosecution.

In 1995, I met my future wife, who lived in the East Bay, and moved to Oakland. There I joined a three-attorney firm specializing in business and employment law litigation on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. My focus areas were disputes arising from real estate sales transactions, contracts, commercial leases and dissolutions of closed corporations and partnerships.

Several years later, when my wife and I decided to start a family and I wanted to open my own firm, we relocated to Sonoma County and bought a home in Healdsburg. I proudly opened my own law office in Healdsburg in 1999.