I am a principal in the law firm of Graves & Allen, with a practice that since 1973 has emphasized negotiation, structuring and documentation of real estate, loan and other business transactions, receiverships, civil litigation and bankruptcy.
Representative clients include: banking institutions, title companies, institutionaland private lenders, borrowers, developers, contractors, real estate brokers, buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, receivers, hotel operators and other general business interests. I have handled numerous major real estate transactions and many large loan transactions.I have extensive litigation experience and have enjoyed a Martindale-Hubbel Av Rating for many years. I also do extensive work as a neutral, providing services as an arbitrator and as a mediator.
Admitted to practice before: the California Supreme Court and all state courts in the State of California; the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States; and all United States District Courts located in California. I have been specially admitted to practice before the United States District Courts located in New York, New York (S.D.N.Y.), Reno, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona.
Membership in: American Bar Association; California State Bar Association; and Alameda County Bar Association. Past Member: Lawyers Club, American Trial Lawyer's Association; and California Trial Lawyer's Association.
I have been very active in the American Bar Association General Practice Section. I have served terms as: Vice Chair and Chair of its Real Property Practice Committee; Chair of the Subcommittee on the Use of Computers in Real Estate Transactions; Vice Chair, Bankruptcy Committee; Advocacy Coordinator; Advocacy Committee Chair and Vice Chair; Program Board Member; Marketing Board Member; Senior Vice Chairman of the GP Link Committee, Deputy Chair of the Litigation Committee, Chairman of the Technology Committee and a Member of the Section Council. I currently serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Technology and Practice Guide and of the Technology eReport and as a member of the Editorial Board of GP Solo Magazine (formerly Complete Lawyer). I also serve as a committee Vice Chair for the Senior Lawyers' Division of the ABA and participate in the activities of the Law Practice Management, ADR, Litigation and Real Property and Probate Sections of the American Bar Association.
I have served as a Special Master for the California State Bar Association for many years. I also served on the California State Bar Association's Standing Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
I have been active in the Alameda County Bar Association, serving as a member and Vice Chair of its Continuing Education Committee, a member and officer (Secretary) of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and on the ADR Program Executive Committee. .
I have also been a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution and served four years as a member of the Commercial Section Board of Leaders and two years as Co-Chair of the Commercial Section of that organization.
Arbitrator: Service with: Alameda County Superior Court Panel of Civil Arbitrators; American Arbitration Association Panel of Arbitrators; Alameda County Bar Association Panel of Arbitrators, NASD Public Arbitration Panel. Member,FINRA Public Arbitration Panel Member, California State Bar Special Masters Panel, Alameda County. I have actively served as an arbitrator for over 30 years and have arbitrated cases in areas including: personal injury, business disputes, contract disputes, real property matters; landlord-tenant matters, construction disputes; securities transactions andemployment disputes. I have taken numerous training courses respecting arbitration including those offered by the NASD, FINRa and the American Arbitration Association. I have presented at programs on arbitration. I have have served on the American Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Arbitration Committee and as a member of the California State Bar Standing Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution." .
Mediator: Alameda County Bar Association Panel of Mediators; member, American Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section (Mediation Committee) member, Association for Conflict Resolution (Board of Leaders and as co-chair of the Commercial Section). I have actively served as a mediator for over 18 years. I have also presented at programs on mediation and as an instructor in training programs for mediators. I have mediated numerous cases in various areas of practice including: business disputes, real property matters, construction disputes, contractmatters and personal injury cases. I enjoy a very high settlement rate. I have taken numerous courses on mediation presented by the American Bar Association, California State Bar, Alameda County Bar Association, San Francisco County Bar Association and Contra Costa County Bar Association.
Receiver: I have accepted appointments by courts throughout Northern California as a state court receiver. As a result, I have had the responsibility of operating properties and businesses of extremely varied natures and collectively valued at in excess of $100,000,000. I have also served as a Bankruptcy Trustee for the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California.
Real Estate: Licensed real estate broker (California). Broker-related activities have focused on property management (largely in conjunction with receivership work) and consulting.
Business: In addition to operating my own law firm, I have served as an officer, director and/or manager of businesses engaged in providing legal services, real estate related services, consulting, computer services and retail sales. As a state courtappointed receiver, I have assumed responsibility for the operation of many businesses including apartment complexes, office buildings, stores, a public cold storage warehouse, a golf course and nursing homes. As an attorney, I have represented and served as a consultant to numerous and varied businesses. I have also served as the chief executive officer of large not-for-profit organizations, including Family Services of the East Bay and the California Youth Soccer Association.
Teaching: Lecturer, St. Mary's College (faculty of St. Mary's College Paralegal Program) Teaching Assistant, University of California, Berkeley, Political Science Department (1970-73) Adult Education Instructor, Acalanes High School (1975-1978); Lecturer, Oakland College of Law (1996-1997); Faculty, University of Phoenix (2004-2008); Faculty, California State University of the East Bay (2007-present); California Life Teaching Credentials: Junior College and Adult Education; United States Soccer Federation licensed Referee Instructor; California Youth Soccer Association Coaching Instructor Frequent speaker in continuing legal education programs on using technology in the practice of law and trial technique as well as on substantive topics relating to evidence and real property. I have also presented at mediator training programs and continuing legal education programs in ADR.
Computers: I have actively worked with computers since 1980. After developing an interest in computers as a hobbyist, I began to use computers in my professional and business life in the early 1980s. I ultimately become a principal in two closely held computer companies involved in software development, sales and consulting work. My activities in the industry also include: (1) the design of a litigation management system for attorneys; (2) work as a beta-tester for various hardware and software concerns; (3) authoring and publication of numerous articles respecting computerization and the practice of law; and (4) frequent lecturer on computerization and the practice of law.
The December 1983 issue of Personal Computing included an article on innovative uses of personal computers that focused on my use of computers in the practice of law. I have worked with various manufacturers and publishers respecting the development of programs for the legal community.
Other: Listed in numerous Who's Who publications.
PUBLICATIONS
Law School:Comment, Pretrial Release Under California Penal Code Section 853.6: An Examination of Citation Release, 60 California Law Review 1339 (1972).
Professional: Computers and the Litigator, 7 The American Journal of Trial Advocacy 493 (1984); reprinted at 34 Defense Law Journal 183 (1985). I authored several columns and articles for the Compleat Lawyer, a publication of the General Practice Section of the American Bar Association (now known as the GP Solo Magazine) and currently write a column entitled "Road Warrior" for the magazine. I served as a member of the editorial board of GP Solo and currently serve as its Editor-In-Chief. I wrote a column entitled "MacNotes" for the Technology eReport, and continue to write that column for the GPSolo eReport. I served as the Editor-In-Chief for the Technology eReport until it merged into the GPSolo eReport, at which time I became Editor-In-Chief of the GPSolo eReport. I also write on technology for Experience Magazine (Senior Lawyers' Division of the ABA) and serve on its Board of Editors. In addition I regularly write for the American Journal of Family Law and for Technolawyer (on line). I also write product reviews for those publications and contribute articles to a variety of other publications. I also serve on the Board of Editors of the ABA Journal. I have contributed to several books and am currently in the process of co-authoring two books on technology for attorneys.
Other: From 1992-1996 I edited and wrote for a newsletter for soccer referees called RefNEWS and from 1996 through 1999 I authored a column for Soccer California.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Oakland Rotary Club; Member, Board of Directors; chair, Camp Enterprise Committee; chair, Policy and Planning Committee; chair, Youth Service Committee; chair, Long Range Committee; and chair Rotary District 509, District Youth Services Committee. Commonwealth Club, Hillcrest Elementary School PTA (President and Treasurer [two terms each]). Family Service of the East Bay (Board of Directors [Finance Committee, Executive Committee, President [three terms], 1st Vice President [one term]); St. Mary?s College Paralegal Program Advisory Committee [three terms]; Member various advisory committees for the Oakland Unified School District, including Gifted and Talented Education Advisory Committee, Instructional Strategy Counsel, District Budget Advisory Committee, and Strategic Planning Committee (finance and budget); member, University of California-Oakland Metropolitan Forum (Youth and Education Committee) and Coordinator of the Oakland Metropolitan Youth Forum; member, Oakland Chamber of Commerce; former member, Oakland Strategic Planning Committee; Board of Directors, Montera Youth Sports Complex; Board of Directors, Jack London Youth Soccer League (Commissioner, Bay Oaks [competition teams]); Board of Directors, California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA) District IV Assistant Commissioner, [three terms]; President, CYSA District IV, Competitive League [three terms]; Referee Coordinator (1992-1996); California, North Referee Association, District IV Referee Administrator (1992-1996); California Youth Soccer Association Board of Directors, (1993 - 2001) [Secretary, (1993-1996); Chairman of the Board of Directors (1996-2000); Past Chairman (2000-2001)], Board of Directors, California Soccer Association, North (1996-2000); Board of Directors, California North Referee Association (1996-2000 ) Member, US. Youth Soccer Association Region IV Regional Council (1996-2000); Member, U.S. Youth Soccer Super League Committee (1997-1998); Member, U.S. Soccer Federation Database Market Committee (1997- 99); Member, U.S. Soccer Constitutional Commission (1997-1998); Member, U.S. Soccer Federation National Council (1996-99); Chairman, U.S. Youth Soccer Database Market Committee (1998-1999), Member, U.S. Youth Soccer Constitutional Commission (1998-1999); Chair, U.S. Youth Soccer Mediation and Dispute Resolution Committee (1999-2000); Member, US Soccer Mediation and Dispute Resolution Task Force (1999-2000); Member Board of Directors, US Futsal Federation (1999-present [Coaches' Representative 1999-2004 and CFO 2004-]).
ACADEMIC
Law School:1973 J.D., Boalt Hall Law School, University of California, Berkeley, California
Academic Honors: American Jurisprudence Award for studies in Creditors Remedies; various scholarship awards.
Law Review: During my second year of law school, I became a member of the California Law Review and helped found the Ecology Law Quarterly. In my third year, I became Special Projects Editor of the California Law Review, and was the first member of my class published in the California Law Review.
Moot Court: After completing the first year moor court assignment (and still as a first year student), I entered the second year Moot Court Competition. The only first year student to enter the competition, I placed third in oral argument and fifth in brief writing, placing me on the Moot Court State Competition Team for the next year. During my second year, I became the first second year student to represent the school as a member of its State Moot Court Team. I also became the first second year student to serve on the Moot Court Board, and the first student to serve two terms on the Board (selection on the basis of work in the Law School Moot Court Program).
Other Activities: I was employed throughout my law school career, working between 20 and 35 hours a week as a law clerk, a faculty research assistant, a Program Director for the Oakland Lawyers Committee and as a Teaching Assistant in the Political Science Department of the University of California, Berkeley.
College:1970 B.A., Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, California
Academic Honors:Member, Phi Beta Kappa; B.A. awarded with Great Distinction and with Distinction in Honors; Dean's List each semester; Alumni Scholar as an entering freshman; awarded Continuing Alumni Scholarships for sophomore, junior, and senior years; received other scholarships for academic merit; honors program in senior year; qualified for Independent Study Program in junior and senior years. I received Ford Grant funds through the Center for the Study of Law and Society 1965-66 (research project on police reform). Graduation speaker.
Other Activities: Alumni Scholar's Club (terms as Vice President and as President); Student Speaker's Bureau (terms as Vice Chairman and as Chairman); employed part time to earn money to pay for college; Intramural sports.
High School:1966 Graduate, Fresno High School, Fresno, California
Academic Honors: Life Member, California Scholarship Federation;
California State Scholarship Award
Forensic Activities: Member Varsity Forensics Team; Qualified for State Speech Championship Tournament during each year of high school (events: debate, original oratory, impromptu and extemporaneous speaking); Qualified for National Speech Tournament as a senior (events: debate, original oratory and impromptu speaking). Won numerous tournaments in debate, extemporaneous speaking, original oratory and impromptu speaking,
Student Senate in 1966.
Other Activities:Member, Purple and Gold, and Service F (honorary service societies); Member of Student Court for three years, serving as Associate Defense Attorney, Associate Prosecuting Attorney, Chief Prosecuting Attorney, and Chief Justice of the Student Court.
PERSONAL
I am married to Anne Marie Allen, a retired teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. We have two children: a son, Jason, and a daughter, Sara. My son is an attorney with Kirkland & Ellis in San Francisco, California and my daughter has a Masters degree in education, teaches in the San Francisco Unified School District and is currently seeking an Administrative credential. I live with my wife in Oakland, California.
My personal life has focused around my family. I participated with my children in a number of activities including Y Indian Guides, Y Indian Princesses, Cub Scouts and soccer. For 23 years, I coached youth soccer teams; I have California Youth Soccer Associationcertification as a youth soccer coach ("F", "E", and State "D" level certificates, National "D", National "C" and National Youth coaching licenses, and National Soccer Coaches Association of America Regional Academy Diploma). My teams competed successfully in the United States and in Europe.
I spent many years coaching, administering and refereeing youth soccer, but have retired from those activities. I still administer Futsal (indoor soccer) and hold a National referee's license from US Futsal. My hobbies include reading, computers, photography, sports, teaching, community service, travel, music, and collecting, coins, fountain pens, and electronic gadgets of an assorted and sundry nature.