Quail Valley Lawyers

Daniel Kessler is the head of the firm’s litigation department and one of the firm’s founding partners. Mr. Kessler has litigated and tried a wide variety of business cases ranging from employment terminations to real estate development disputes to fraud and conspiracy to water rights. Mr. Kessler has secured multiple million-dollar jury verdicts for his clients, including significant punitive damage awards. Mr. Kessler has successfully defended clients before, during and at trial, including prevailing on several motions to dismiss the opposition’s case in its entirety, saving the expense of further trial. Mr. Kessler is a strong advocate for alternative dispute...

More than twenty years of diverse experience as a trial attorney representing and counseling domestic and international clients in a vast array of matters. More than ten years of experience providing arbitration, mediation and other ADR services involving many domestic and international issues. Representation and ADR services have included: REAL ESTATE (purchase/sale, title, easements, financing, mortgage lending:underwriting - securitization, leases, fraud, environmental, receivership, foreclosure, appraisal/valuation); BUSINESS & CORPORATE (purchase and sale, formation: corporation - partnership - joint venture - LLC - LLP, capitalization, equity adjustment, fiduciary duties, D&O liability, executive compensation, internal investigations, fraud, business torts, unfair...

Michael Oberbeck is a senior counsel focusing on business litigation issues. At BKCG, Mr. Oberbeck has extensively litigated employment disputes, commercial and real property disputes, international manufacturing and distribution litigation, and trademark and franchise issues. Mr. Oberbeck has litigated cases throughout California in both state and federal courts, and he has obtained many client-favorable results at trial, arbitration, and mediation. Mr. Oberbeck also has authored and successfully argued several matters before the California Courts of Appeals for BKCG clients. Born in Evansville, Indiana, Mr. Oberbeck graduated, cum laude, from Purdue University in 1993 with a double major in Psychology...

Jon McGrath has been practicing employment law in Southern California for over ten years, upholding the principle of "preventative law", which focuses on legal compliance and risk avoidance for smaller sized businesses in Orange County and throughout the state. Jon has a successful track record of being a business owner himself and understands the issues that Californian business have with compliance and a multitude of state and federal employment laws and regulations, such as dealing with discrimination and harassment matters.

Mr. McGrath is a graduate of California State University at Long Beach and California Western School of Law in San...

Attorney Davis founded the Law Offices of Terry K. Davis in June 1993 Bar Admissions: Admitted to California Supreme Court U.S. District Court (Central and Eastern Districts), U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit U.S. Supreme Court Reported cases: Carter v. California Dept. of Veterans Affairs (2006) 38 Cal.4th 914 Professional Affiliations: American Inns of Court, Robert A. Banyard Chapter, Orange County Orange County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Directors and Past Vice-President, 2010 California Employment Lawyers Association Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles Education: Juris...

Joshua Waldman is a senior counsel whose practice focuses primarily on business disputes. Mr. Waldman began his legal career as an extern for the Honorable Napoleon Jones, Jr. from the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California. He was an associate for Walsworth, Franklin Bevins and McCall and Collins & Bellenghi, focusing on civil litigation, with an emphasis on business and employment disputes before joining BKCG. Since joining BKCG, Mr. Waldman has secured many positive outcomes for BKCG clients by winning dipositive motions, achieving extremely favorable settlements, and prevailing in multiple trials and arbitrations. Born in Phoenix, Mr....

Ms. McMillan obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of New South Wales in Australia in April 1993, after which she returned to the United States to attend law school. Ms. McMillan received her J.D. from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California in 1996, having graduated from Western State University Magna Cum Laude in the top 5% of her class. Ms. McMillan was placed on either the Honor Roll or the Dean’s High Honors Roll for every semester of law school. Ms. McMillan received a number of American Jurisprudence...

Specialized in family law and drafting wills and trusts, Anne B. Howard is licensed to practice in the State of California and in the U.S. District Court for the Central and Southern Districts of California. With over 20 years experience, Ms. Howard is devoted to helping families with their legal issues through both litigation and mediation.

She is adept at strategizing cases and helping clients with issues including, but not limited to: divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support/alimony and property division.

Let Anne also help you preparing your will and trust so that your family and friends are taken care of...

Margaret B. Seymour, a retired U.S. District Judge (District of South Carolina, 1998–2022), was the first African American woman federal judge and chief federal judge in South Carolina. She served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge (1996–1998) before her district court appointment. Over 26 years, Judge Seymour presided over complex securities, contract, class action, commercial, banking, bankruptcy, employment, discrimination, and environmental cases, as well as criminal matters like drug conspiracies, white-collar crime, and Ponzi schemes. She sat by designation on the Fourth Circuit and participated in two three-judge-panel redistricting cases. She served twice on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of...

Seth Aronson joined Phillips ADR in 2023, mediating disputes up to ten figures in securities, consumer class actions, privacy, false claims, shareholder derivative, antitrust, RMBS fraud, and complex litigation. He serves on the ADR panel for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Retiring from O’Melveny & Myers LLP in 2022 after 40 years as a trial and appellate lawyer, Seth was managing partner of O’Melveny’s Los Angeles office and chaired its Securities Litigation practice. Ranked by Chambers USA for 20 years, he was named California Securities Litigation Attorney of the Year twice by Benchmark Litigation, a “Top 100 Lawyer”...

Layn R. Phillips, founder of Phillips ADR Enterprises (PADRE), is a former U.S. Attorney and U.S. District Judge. Appointed at age 35 by President Reagan, he presided over 140+ trials in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, and sat by designation on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Earlier, Judge Phillips served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, and at age 31, was nominated as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma. After leaving the bench, he spent 23 years at Irell & Manella, focusing on complex civil litigation, internal investigations, and alternative dispute resolution. He later founded PADRE, specializing...

Clay joined Judge Phillips’ ADR practice in 2011. He graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University (B.A., History, 2006) and earned his J.D. from Fordham Law School (2011). He is admitted to the New York and California State Bars. Clay began mediating small claims in Bronx County Civil Court during law school. With over a decade at Phillips ADR, he now mediates complex disputes involving major companies in areas like antitrust, class actions, intellectual property, environmental, mass tort, insurance, securities, and contract disputes. He has worked on over 500 mediations, assisting Judge Phillips before, during, and after sessions, and directly engaging parties...

Andra Greene, a Phillips ADR neutral, has mediated OR COMEDIATED disputes from seven to 11 figures in NUMEROUS AREAS INCLUDING mass torts, class actions, EMPLOYMENT, securities, sexual misconduct, insurance, and intellectual property. She spent 35 years at Irell & Manella LLP, leading the Class Action Defense practice and serving as managing partner of the Newport Beach office and on the Executive Committee. A seasoned trial lawyer, Andra handled complex litigation in class actions, professional liability, employment, business torts, securities, and intellectual property in state and federal courts. She often represented lawyers and law firms. Recognized as a “Top Woman Lawyer in...

Gregory P. Lindstrom, a Phillips ADR neutral since 2014, brings extensive litigation and business experience from his roles as a Latham & Watkins litigation partner and General Counsel of The Irvine Company. A full-time mediator and arbitrator since 2012, he specializes in complex disputes, including antitrust, securities, intellectual property, and commercial matters. Born in California, Greg graduated summa cum laude from UCLA (Economics, 1975) and earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School (1978), working with Professor Richard Posner. At Latham & Watkins (1978–2008), he became a partner in 1986, managed the San Francisco office, and served on the...

Niki, a Phillips ADR neutral for six years, brings 25 years of experience in complex litigation, claims administration, mediation, arbitration, and special master roles. A protégé of Judge Layn Phillips, she has co-mediated hundreds of cases, applying his innovative practices in mediations she leads and in court-appointed special master roles nationwide. Before Phillips ADR, Niki was Vice President of Client Strategy & Development at a national class action claims administrator. For nearly 15 years, she litigated securities fraud and complex commercial cases at a national class action law firm, securing court-approved settlements in high-profile matters. She also represented defendants in insurance...

Bill Ohlemeyer brings 40 years of experience to Phillips ADR, representing plaintiffs, defendants, and working at Altria Group. He has litigated, arbitrated, mediated, and tried cases in state and federal courts, advising on legal and regulatory challenges. A Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Bill graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri Law School and clerked for Chief Judge Scott O. Wright. He joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon, becoming partner in 1991, then served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Altria (1999–2008), managing litigation for Philip Morris...

Barry R. Ostrager, a retired New York State Supreme Court Justice (Commercial Division, 2015–2023), presided over numerous trials and resolved hundreds of commercial cases. Before his judicial role, he was a litigation partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, leading its 300+ attorney Litigation Department and serving on the management committee. As lead trial counsel, Ostrager handled high-profile securities, antitrust, and insurance cases, including Swiss Re’s World Trade Center dispute and Travelers’ environmental coverage case against Shell Oil, both resulting in jury verdicts. He tried five cases involving $1 billion+ disputes and led major arbitrations, such as Andersen Consulting’s $14 billion...

Michael G. Rhodes, a leading trial lawyer, served as Global Chair of Cooley LLP’s Litigation Department and cyber/data/privacy practice, and was on its Management Committee. He represented clients like Google, Meta, Open AI, the Kardashian-Jenner family, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Zoom, Coinbase, and the Golden State Warriors. For Meta, he won three IP jury trials and settled another during trial. He also secured a victory in a high-profile defamation trial for the Kardashian-Jenner family against Angela White (Blac Chyna). Retiring from Cooley in 2024 after 40 years, Rhodes earned accolades including American Lawyer "Litigator of the Year," Chambers USA top lawyer...

Elliot Brown, a Phillips ADR neutral, is the former managing partner of Irell & Manella LLP. He spent nearly 30 years in IP litigation, counseling, and licensing at a top IP practice. Elliot graduated cum laude from Harvard College (1985), earning Phi Beta Kappa and a John Harvard Scholar award. He studied philosophy of science at Princeton, receiving an MA (1987) and a Mellon Fellowship, where game theory and Daniel Kahneman’s work on bargaining and cognitive bias shaped his approach to dispute resolution. He earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School (1990), serving as a Harvard Law Review...

Gregory W. Cabo practices in the areas of: FAMILY LAW Family Law, including divorce, legal separation, nullity, dissolution of a domestic partnership, paternity, child custody and child visitation, guardianships, child support and spousal support, property division, prenuptial agreements, pre-divorce planning, enforcement of court orders, modification of court orders and modification of judgments, Department of Child Support Services cases, and restraining orders related to harassment and abuse under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act. PROBATE Probate, including estate and trust administration, probate litigation, trust litigation, wills and trusts challenges and related property law, corporations law and contract law issues. ESTATE PLANNING Estate Planning, including wills, trusts, special needs...

Tim is a Southern California attorney who boasts over 35 years of legal experience in asset protection, estate planning, zero tax planning and business succession law. He is a true leader in his field, and is a regular speaker at industry events. Tim has helped a large spectrum of clients, from successful small business owners to companies worth over $200 million dollars create a custom wealth protection plan. He is also the developer of a financial planning software called vBlueprint.com that helps other financial professionals and estate planning professionals create a customized solution to move their assets in line with their...

Rabia is a seasoned real estate attorney at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, a full-service law firm with a global reach and a reputation for excellence. She has over 10 years of experience in advising clients on a full range of real estate transactions. Investors, property owners, developers and landlords rely on her counsel when buying, selling and leasing real property across the United States. She is experienced at handling all asset classes, including retail, office, industrial, storage and multifamily properties. She is adept at leasing, sale-leasebacks, purchases and sales, management agreements, CC&Rs and other real estate matters. She...

Before my association with Corporate Securities Legal LLP, I served as an associate in the Banking and Finance and Capital Markets group at Cariola Diez Perez-Cotapos. Prior to that, I was also an associate at Carey & Allende Abogados in Chile from 2010 to 2014.