Vandenberg Village Lawyers

My practice has been focused on criminal defense since 2003. I have experience at every stage of proceedings from the first court appearance through trial.

In addition to the years of practice and dozens of jury trials, I served as a Deputy Public Defender and still regularly accept court-appointments to represent those clients who are unable to afford private representation.

Before practicing law, I worked in the telecommunications sector in the mobile phone industry and later for one of Washington State's first internet service businesses.

Broad experience across the country in complex civil matters of significance, worked in Maine, New York, Delaware, Tennessee, Wisconsin and all courts in California. Experienced mediator, skilled listener. Served as a Superior Court Temporary Judge in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, and Siskiyou Counties. Former Adjunct Law Professor.

Attorney Paula Drake attended UCLA; she graduated cum laude with a BA in Political Science and a Teaching Credential from the Graduate School of Education. Ms. Drake taught school in Orange County for five years and received a Bilingual Cross-cultural Specialist Credential from California State University, Fullerton. She attended law school at Western State University, Fullerton. After receiving numerous honors and awards (including Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, three American Jurisprudence awards, Executive Editor of the Law Review), Ms. Drake graduated with honors and with two published law review articles. She was a certified law clerk for the...

Brandon is a business and startup attorney, focusing on assisting new and emerging businesses in all of their transactional matters. He has represented clients from a wide array of industries, including tech and app developers, filmmakers, breweries, wineries and restaurants, real estate companies, and even chocolate makers. He has counseled clients on corporate formation, late stage preferred financing rounds, mergers & acquisitions, and everything in between. He also serves as outside-inside counsel, providing general counseling on all day-to-day matters, including licensing, brand management, and employee stock incentive plans. Brandon was formerly a computer programmer in the U.S. Air Force, and...

Vaughan has been serving clients internationally for over 35 years. He began his practice in California in 1981 with a clear vision of ensuring that his clients have the critical information they need to make the best decisions for themselves and their families.

As the son of an immigrant, Vaughan understands firsthand the importance of the decisions his clients are making when they choose to pursue EB-5 for themselves and their families. He knows that it is much more than an investment decision – it shapes the future for his clients' families, including generations to come.

Vaughan is a 1981 Cum Laude...

Michael Semanchik is the Managing Attorney at Semanchik Law Group. He comes to the team with nearly a decade of experience working for the California Innocence Project (CIP). Michael began as a student at CIP while in law school and found himself as a staff attorney several years later. In 2013, California Lawyer Magazine named him Attorney of the Year for his work on the Brian Banks case. Several months after receiving the award, he embarked on a 712 mile walk to deliver clemency petitions to Governor Brown for 12 innocent clients.

In the fall of 2013,...

Aaron M. Olsen is a partner in the employment law and complex consumer litigation departments of Haeggquist & Eck. Aaron has resolved hundreds of individual labor and employment law cases on behalf of employees. He has recovered millions of dollars in damages. Notably, Aaron was on the trial team in a unique associational disability discrimination matter against Kaiser Permanente that resulted in one of the top 50 largest labor and employment verdicts in California in 2017 on TopVerdict.com. Aaron has served as co-lead counsel prosecuting class action suits, including consumer fraud actions, product defect cases, wage and hour actions, and unfair...

I provide Tax and Bankruptcy Law representation for individuals and businesses throughout California. For 45 years, I have been dedicated to bringing peace of mind to clients with financial issues. I help clients identify all of their options to make an informed decision based on their specific situation. Rest assured, there are legal and effective options to assist you with your tax and debt problems. I have previously served as an arbitrator and Judge Pro Tem in San Diego.

I began practicing law in 1990. Prior to beginning my career, I attended UCLA from 1983-1987 with a B.A. in History. I then attended the University of California College of the Law San Francisco from 1987 to 1990. I have also been a licensed California Real Estate Broker since 1996. My main practice areas include Probate and Trust Administration, and full-service Real Estate attorney and broker services. I have brokered hundreds of real estate transactions throughout the Bay Area since 1996. Call me for a free consultation at 510.292.0193. If you prefer...

As Managing Partner of Mission Personal Injury Lawyers in San Diego, Chula Vista, and Carlsbad, it is an honor to have been named a San Diego Super Lawyers Rising Star for the past several years. This designation is awarded to no more than 2.5% of attorneys in San Diego. However, that recognition is secondary to the privilege that I have, to advocate on behalf of San Diegans who have been injured in an accident. I love that my job is to fight for those who need help the most, while they recover from serious injuries. As an experienced and top-reviewed San...

Practice of immigration law is my passion. As an immigrant myself I understand the challenges foreign nationals go through when immigrating to the U.S., and I am committed to helping you make this process as easy as possible. My experience shows that success of each case is dependent on the careful preparation and individualized approach to each immigration matter. I make it my priority to take cases only if I can dedicate enough time to provide the best quality service and personal attention to each client. Having practiced immigration law for over the past 8 years, I have...

Ruth Ryan-Cruz is an attorney in San Diego, California with Ryan-Cruz Law, APC. Attorney Ruth Ryan-Cruz practices in the areas of business and corporate law, intellectual property, estate planning, wills, trusts, copyrights, trademarks and more. Contact San Diego Attorney Ruth Ryan-Cruz for a consultation. Ruth is a fluent Spanish-speaking attorney providing counseling and transactional services in Spanish in the areas listed above. Ruth earned her Juris Doctor Degree from California Western School of Law and received a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in High Tech Management from California State...

Stefano is proud to be a San Diego criminal defense lawyer. He is a partner at the Law Offices of David P. Shapiro, where he brings experience representing diverse clients facing a variety of charges. Stefano has helped waiters, lawyers, construction workers, doctors, CEOs, teachers, and others who have been accused of crimes ranging from theft, fraud, DUIs and drug possession, all the way to vehicular manslaughter, robbery, aggravated mayhem, sex crimes and murder. Regardless of the client or charge, each case is handled with the same thoroughness and passion. Stefano enjoys every aspect of being a criminal defense lawyer...

Attorney Elliot Silver is a seasoned and experienced veteran criminal defense attorney. Since the age of five, Elliot always knew he wanted to be in court fighting for justice. Elliot is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. Elliot has a reputation for getting his clients the results they want, whether it’s case dismissed, a fair and reasonable plea deal, or hearing a jury say “Not Guilty". Elliot has represented thousands of clients in various criminal matters and continues to provide inimitable dedication and unparalleled tenacity for his clients.

Jesse Young is a Senior Shareholder at Sommers Schwartz who represents clients in serious employment disputes, including but not limited to issues of severance negotiations, discrimination, retaliation, whistleblowing activity, employment contracts, terminations, and compliance. His clients include individuals and businesses. As a founding member of the firm's national wage-and-hour practice, Jesse has appeared in hundreds of wage-and-hour lawsuits and hundreds more arbitrations arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar state laws. In this regard, he represents clients nationwide dealing with the payment of minimum wages and/or overtime, classification of employees, “off the clock” work, meal breaks, donning and...

Dwight Ritter is a trial attorney at Ritter & Associates in San Diego, California. He holds degrees from Indiana University Law School and the London School of Economics. He is also licensed in California, Arizona, Indiana, and the Island of Guam, as an expert on maritime law. Having built his reputation on personal attention to detail, Dwight strives to create a personal relationship with his clients. With a specialization in personal injury, Dwight is prepared to handle cases that involve wrongful death, sexual harassment, auto accidents, and civil rights claims. In addition, he has earned the title of Master Trial...

Jenna M. Rangel is a partner with Haeggquist & Eck and represents employees in claims involving wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour violations at work. To Jenna, every detail matters — and she prides herself on developing and nurturing open, trusting relationships with her clients. Jenna approaches every day as an opportunity to stand up for employees, to help right the wrongs perpetrated by employers, and to provide closure to her clients so they can move forward with their lives. She has represented clients against such employers as the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, Herbalife, and Wyndham, and...

Ian Pike is an associate at Haeggquist & Eck, LLP and focuses his practice on representing employees in a wide range of matters throughout California for claims including wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wage theft. A former columnist whose career included a lengthy stint at the San Diego Reader covering food, theatre, and the arts, Ian graduated summa cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law. While at USD, he received CALI Awards for the highest grades in contracts, legal writing and research, evidence, remedies, civil rights theories, administrative law, and discrimination law. Ian was the...

Alreen Haeggquist is on a mission to stand up with individuals to enrich their lives and inspire change by dismantling fear and shame and empowering those who have faced discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, and sexual assault to stand up and demand accountability. Today, the overwhelming majority of Alreen’s clients are women who have suffered egregious wrongs at the hands of their employers. No defendant is too large or powerful for her to tackle: she has recently represented plaintiffs in employment claims against such major corporations as Trader Joe’s, Sharp Healthcare, Wyndham, Kaiser Permanente, and the Grand Del Mar. ...

Feras Mousilli is a founding partner of Lloyd & Mousilli and regularly advises business clients on a range of technology law issues. He specializes in counseling technology companies from start-ups in their early formation and development, through support of multi-billion dollar business operations of the largest companies in the world.

Mr. Mousilli has served as Senior Corporate Counsel for both Apple Inc. and Dell Inc., where he counseled clients on product development and intellectual property matters, including advertising & marketing, copyright, and trademark strategies and risks. Prior to serving as corporate counsel, Mr. Mousilli practiced with DLA Piper in the intellectual...

Jesse Lloyd is a certified specialist in immigration and nationality law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, and has helped certify new specialists as a member California State Bar Immigration and Nationality Law Advisory Council. He is a past chair of the Alameda County Bar Association Immigration Section, American Immigration Lawyers Association national ICE liaison committee, and Northern California Chapter. He has appeared on numerous television, web, and radio stories regarding immigration matters.
Jesse focuses on family-based immigration, removal defense, naturalization, asylum, and the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.

Over his 18 years of practice in the Bay Area, Kevin Martin has developed a reputation as a fair- minded but tough negotiator representing client’s interests in intellectual property, business, real estate and personal injury actions. Kevin’s practice includes trademark, copyright and patent litigation, prosecution, licensing, business disputes, commercial litigation, personal injury claims, employer/employee disputes, trade secret and unfair competition claims, real estate litigation, contract disputes, and general advice and counsel. Mr. Martin maintains a regular blog on legal and other issues at www.landshark5000.wordpress.com. Mr. Martin regularly appears in both State and Federal Courts throughout California, before the Trademark...

Vincent Tong is an award winning, community oriented lawyer. He is the founder of TONG LAW, an employment business law firm located in beautiful downtown Oakland, California. Vincent exclusively represents employees in employment litigation and businesses in business-to-business disputes. In his business transactions practice, Vincent counsels individuals on forming and growing their social ventures. Connect with Vincent online at www.tong-law.com.

Shay Aaron Gilmore provides superior corporate, commercial, and outside general counsel services to cannabis and hemp operators and investors throughout the legal California supply chains. Focusing on mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, and other transactional matters, Shay has counseled and guided some of the most successful operators and investors in the U.S. cannabis and hemp markets. Shay is the Chair of the California Lawyers Association Cannabis Practitioners Group and has been recognized by The Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal as one of the Top 20 Cannabis Lawyers in California. Super Lawyers Magazine has listed Shay as a Northern California Super...

I am an accomplished and resourceful attorney with over thirty years of successful experience in legal and business. Having started my career as an engineer, I know firsthand the challenges of having big ideas and the struggle to bring them to fruition. I am well-equipped to guide you through the essentials of starting up and growing your business, explaining complex concepts in a language that is easy to understand.

Attorney licensed in California but traveling the world. Business law, contracts, and emerging technology nerd. I'm a specialist in startups and technology, so we're a perfect match if you: - need a contract or agreement written or reviewed, even if it's not tech-related - are a DAO, startup, or established business looking for legal help (even funding related!) - are a software developer or working with software devs and programmers - are interested in or planning on issuing a crypto token - have a legal question unique to technology Currently, I run my own law firm, teach Transactional Drafting at UC Boulder Law as an...

As a partner at Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP (SSEK Law Firm), Kirk G. Smith focuses his practice on securities law. Representing individual and institutional investors against banks, brokerage firms and trust companies, Mr. Smith generally handles cases involving issues such as retirement losses, broker and brokerage firm misconduct, investment derivatives, fraud and financial product failures. He serves clients throughout the U.S.

Before earning a Juris Doctor from the South Texas College of Law Houston, Mr. Smith attended Loyola University New Orleans. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

Previously working as an investment advisor for a large brokerage firm and...

Hanlen J. Chang provides legal services in Business Law, Real Estate, Estate Planning, and International Tax matters. He was recognized as a Super Lawyers rising star in 2015. Prior to establishing his own practice Hanlen was a research attorney at the San Mateo County Superior Court Probate Department. He has also worked for several Southern California and Bay Area law firms as a litigation attorney representing business owners and professionals . Hanlen grew up in Bubendorf, Switzerland and attended...

If you are trying to obtain disability benefits because you are unable to do your job as a result of an illness or injury, my law firm can assist you. We can also help with any type of insurance claim that has been wrongfully denied whether it be medical insurance, homeowner’s claims, property damage or personal injury claims. Mr. Kalkin has practiced in the areas of Long Term Disability, ERISA Litigation, Personal Injury, Civil Appeals and Insurance Bad Faith for over thirty-five years. In 1989 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association and...

Catherine D. Holmes is an accomplished Business and Securities Law attorney, concentrating on Finance and Investment Law matters. With clients all over the world, she advises on raising, investing and managing capital from both U.S. and non-U.S. investors.

Cathy has practiced law for over 40 years. With a wealth of knowledge and skill, she is dedicated to providing exceptional legal representation. Cathy has been recognized for her extensive experience and success, having been named a Southern California Super Lawyer for 10 years. In addition, Cathy was honored by EB5 Investors Magazine as among the Top 15 Corporate Attorneys in 2017 and...

Lynn Sherrell is in solo-practice in Berkeley California, following a dozen years in San Francisco law firms practicing personal injury, products' liability and worker's compensation law. Lynn has achieved a Specialization in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law of the State Bar of California Department of Legal Specialization. Lynn is client oriented and serves individuals, families, small businesses and small owner investors in many aspects of civil law and litigation. When you need an advocate on your side, get a woman on your case. Lynn is a graduate of Golden Gate University Law School with an emphasis in public interest...

With decades of immigration and business immigration experience, Angela Warren has helped hundreds of individuals, families and businesses navigate US immigration issues and procure legal US visas.

Ms. Charbonneau is a highly regarded Orange County family law practitioner and was a founding partner in one of Orange County’s premier law firms. Ms. Charbonneau is well known for her uncanny ability to get to the heart of a case and get it resolved. While compassionate and understanding, she is tenacious in her resolve to get divorcing couples to focus on common ground to reach a fair and responsible resolution. She is very skilled in dealing with the range of emotions that go with a divorce and is able to relate to the parties like few...

United States Immigration Attorney. Voted Elite Lawyer (2022) and Lawyers of Distinction (2022). Born in Whittier, California, Jerry took over the family business (a small construction company) at a young age and successfully ran it for years before relocating to the Gulf Coast. During that same period, he sold real estate in the Los Angeles market by day and went to law school at night, graduating with Moot Court honors (JD). After graduating from the University of Alabama with a Master’s degree in business administration (MBA), 2013, he launched a successful local boutique luxury real estate company to offer his expertise...

Houman Fakhimi, the founding partner of the Criminal Defense Team, has amassed deep expertise in the area of criminal defense law thanks to years of experience. He oversees all litigation carried out by the firm, and he has demonstrated mastery in a variety of relevant legal domains. He's an alumnus of the University of California, Irvine and Whittier Law School. In addition to being an active member of the State Bar of Californias Criminal Section, Mr. Fakhimi also boasts accreditations from he Association of Federal Defense Attorneys, the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and the California Public Defenders Association.

Bryan is one of a small number of attorneys in the state of California to be certified as a Specialist in Franchise and Distribution Law, by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He currently serves as a commissioner and Chair of the California State Bar's Franchise and Distribution Law Advisory Commission (FDLAC), which oversees franchise specialist certification for the State of California and is a past Chair of the State Bar's Standing Committee on Franchise Law. Much of his practice involves business law litigation, but he also represents clients in transactional matters such as entity formation, contract...

Daniel F. Freedman is a Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, LLP. He handles a broad array of complex matters involving real estate development, zoning, land use entitlements, and compliance with local, state and federal regulations such as CEQA, NEPA, Coastal Act, federal and state housing laws, and historic designation regulations. Daniel is committed to providing skilled and knowledgeable advocacy focused on the best possible outcomes for his clients, who he has more than a decade of experience advising on residential, industrial, commercial and mixed-use developments, as well as projects involving renewable energy,...

I am an experienced Business, Global Hospitality, and Cybersecurity & Privacy Law attorney. Based in California, I provide aggressive and passionate advocacy with an emphasis on hospitality and technology.

With nearly 40 years of experience, I bring extensive knowledge, skill and insight to my cases. I am dedicated to getting results for my clients. Recognized by my peers, I have received an AV Preeminent Rating, and numerous honors including Top Rated Technology Transactions Attorney.

Visit my website to see representative experience and arrange a consultation.

I am an experienced California attorney focused on Land Use, Zoning, Environmental, Litigation and Construction Law matters.

First a licensed architect, I attended law school to further my interest in construction and development. With over 25 years of experience, I bring a depth of knowledge and unique insight to help clients achieve their goals and objectives.

Outside of work, I enjoy international travel and a new passion for 50's modernist architecture. I can often be found taking architectural tours, running by Richard Neutra houses in Silverlake, and biking along beachfront structures.