I am an attorney, gerontologist, real estate broker, and professor. I help my clients with real estate investment, from buying or selling property to commercial/retail/residential development, using multi-generational marketing to target the needs of older adults. As an experienced trial lawyer, I focus on the legal aspects of the real estate transaction, both in avoiding liability and negotiating the best terms for my clients. My expertise in elder law also benefits my older adult clients.As a plaintiff’s trial lawyer and federal court litigator, I successfully litigated a number of high profile cases involving complex contract disputes, employment law, business litigation, consumer matters, and animal law. I helped further the area of animal law by being one of the first professors to teach Animal Law at the law school level. I also successfully litigated one of the earliest animal law cases, where I obtained emotional distress damages for the loss of my client’s companion animal.I handled appellate matters, preparing writs and appeals on behalf of either the appellant or respondent. One noteworthy published appellate case is Gelini v. Tishgart, a case that garnered significant national attention from the business and legal community. See Gelini v. Tishgart (1999) 77 Cal. App. 4th 219.I speak before business, community, real estate, and groups. My articles have been published in a variety of national and state periodicals and I have also been featured on local, state, and national media, including CNN, the BBC, Good Morning America, and All Things Considered.I am active politically, and was appointed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to the Commission of Animal Control & Welfare, and was unanimously reappointed for an additional two-year term as Commission Vice-ChairI am involved in the community, and served on the Board of Friends of San Francisco Animal Care & Control, do pro bono work for the Bar Association of San Francisco, and volunteer with Dachshund Rescue, www.scdr.org.
Listed skills include Legal Research, Civil Litigation, Litigation, Mediation, and 46 others.