Partner with Collins + Collins, LLP, a mid-sized (80+ attorneys), Pasadena, CA-based firm with five other offices in CA and NV. Primarily defense counsel for contractors, owner-developers, design professionals, brokers, business owners, government entities and others. Also, a 38G, 4D Army Reserve officer with the 351 Civil Affair Command at Moffett Field, CA. Deployed to Iraq 2007-08 as part of the Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC-I). Father of four.
Defending my clients provides a great deal of meaning to me because it gives me the ability to advise, mentor and otherwise assist people who find themselves in difficult and unfamiliar situations. Many are wrongly sued, but even if the claims against some of my clients are valid, that liability is generally inadvertent, and my clients have a true desire to resolve the matter and correct the circumstances that led to the litigation. Helping them do that, and providing them with the knowledge I have developed over the years, provides me a great deal of satisfaction.
I really enjoy stepping into disputes and helping bring the temperature down so we can try to resolve the dispute. Too often, parties just rip into each other, rather than treating each other with respect and assuming everyone generally wants to fix problems and resolve disputes.
Lewis & Clark provided me with exposure to a broad range of opinions and view points and taught me to step back and appreciate those different perspectives, which helps a great deal in trying to get my clients to the best place possible in a given dispute.