Expert Details
Real Estate Transactions, Escrow and Title
ID: 739184
Arizona, USA
He was admitted to the California Bar in 1979. From 1992 until July 2014, Expert was a member of a firm in California specializing in business and real estate-related litigation and business formation. In July 2014, he merged his firm with another, where he was a shareholder until he retired from the full-time practice of law at the end of 2019. He is “A-V” rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected as a Northern California “Super Lawyer” multiple times.
Before entering private practice, Expert held several in-house positions. These positions gave him a unique perspective on the business and economic side of litigation and retention of outside counsel. From 1979 to 1983, Expert was West Coast Counsel for Koppers Company, responsible for labor negotiations, grievances, real estate leasing, construction, contract, and mechanic's lien litigation. From 1983 to 1992, Expert held several positions with Transamerica Title Insurance Company and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company. From 1987- 1992 he held the position of Vice President and Northern California Division Counsel, heading the legal department responsible for agency relations, claims, underwriting, escrow, and foreclosure services in Northern California and Nevada. He also served several years on the CLTA Legislative and Forms and Practices Committees, where he was Vice–Chairperson.
After leaving the corporate world and entering private practice in 1992, Expert’s practice focused on the representation of banks, mortgage brokers, lenders, title insurers, escrow companies, real estate brokers, food brokers/importers, contractors, and a variety of start-ups businesses ranging from the field of sports to the high-tech industry in start-up, transactional, mergers and acquisition work as well as State and Federal Court litigation.
Expert was a Contributing Editor for Matthew Bender's California Real Property Reporter for over twenty years, a Contributing Author for the text Alternative Dispute Resolution for California Attorneys, and a consultant to the CEB text California Title Insurance Practice 2d (1997). He is also a frequent lecturer for local and state bar associations and the American Bar Association.
Since 1990, Expert has provided expert witness testimony in State and Federal courts throughout California on various matters, including escrow practices and procedures, title insurance practices and procedures, underwriting, and claims handling, including bad faith and attorney malpractice.
Expert is an experienced mediator with over 300 hours of advanced mediation training. He has served on several Superior Court ADR panels and is the past Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the ADR Section of the Contra Costa County Bar Association. He has mediated, as an attorney or mediator, 100’s of cases. Expert has also served on the Board of Directors for several companies and non-profit boards, including the Whitehawk Ranch Mutual Water Company and Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church Board of Elders.
Education
Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
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Year: 1979 | Degree: JD | Subject: Law | Institution: Pepperdine University |
Year: 1976 | Degree: BA | Subject: Political Science/Geography | Institution: California State University Long Beach |
Work History
Years | Employer | Title | Department |
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Years: 2020 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Consultant, Expert Witness and Mediator | Department: |
Responsibilities:Services primarily to law firms seeking to consult, concerning real estate related litigation and expert testimony. Alos serves as a mediator for firms seeking alternative dispute resolutions for their clients. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 2014 to 2019 | Employer: Hoge Fenton Jones and Appel | Title: Shareholder | Department: |
Responsibilities:Represented a book of clients in real estate and corporate transactions and litigation. Clients included start-ups, existing companies, title insurers, independents escrow companies, brokers, banks, mortgage lenders, contractors and developers. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1993 to 2014 | Employer: Self Employed | Title: Partner | Department: |
Responsibilities:A founding partner of a 10-lawyer firm. Managing partner from 2005-2014. Represented a book of clients in real estate and corporate transactions and litigation. Clients included start-ups, existing companies, title insurers, independents escrow companies, brokers, banks, mortgage lenders, contractors and developers. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1983 to 1993 | Employer: Transamerica/Commonwealth and Title Insurance Company | Title: Division Counsel | Department: Legal |
Responsibilities:Started as associate Division Counsel in So. California. From 1987 -1993, was the Northern California and Nevada Division Counsel managing a 10-person office as Chief Underwriter, Claims Manager and Agency Representative. Also hired and managed outside litigation counsel. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1979 to 1983 | Employer: The Koppers Company | Title: Counsel | Department: Legal |
Responsibilities:Responsible for claims, lawsuits, hiring and managing outside counsel, leasing and was also involved in collective bargaining committees and local labor issues. |
Career Accomplishments
Associations / Societies |
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California State Bar Association California Land Title Association Various Mediation Societies |
Licenses / Certifications |
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California Bar Association, 1979-present; Certified Mediator |
Professional Appointments |
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Chair, Contra Costa County Bar Association, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section |
Publications and Patents Summary |
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Presentations: 18 Publications: 9 |
Additional Experience
Expert Witness Experience |
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Expert has testified as a witness in dozens of depositions and has been qualified as an expert in the California Superior Courts for Orange, Los Angeles, Fresno, Contra Costa, San Francisco and Sacramento Counites; as well as the US Federal Court Central District for California. - Orange County Superior Court: (1990): Title and Escrow practice and procedures - San Francisco Superior Court: (1990): Title Examination - United Sates District Court (Central District): (1998) Escrow practices and procedures - Fresno County Superior Court: (2002) Escrow practices and procedures - Sacramento Superior Court: (2021) Escrow practices and procedures - Alameda County Superior Court (2022) Title Examination of easements and recordation of concurrent documents. |
Training / Seminars |
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Has participated in dozens of panels and hundreds of hours on seminars and continuing education classes. Also, a published author/co-author. |