Clayton Civil Rights Lawyers

Ehud Appel joined the California State Bar in 2018 after graduating with honors from U.C. Hastings College of the Law. He completed his undergraduate studies at U.C. Berkeley, majoring in Middle East Studies. Before pursuing a law career, he worked in education, healthcare, and the nonprofit world. He was a union representative, union organizer, and research analyst for United Healthcare Workers – West and the National Union of Healthcare Workers, where he represented nursing home and hospital workers throughout the Bay Area in grievances and collective bargaining.

During law school, he externed for the honorable judges Mary E. Wiss and...

Since 1997, I have been representing plaintiffs in serious personal injury cases. My background is strong in litigation and appeals. In 2005, I successfully argued a significant premises liability case, Delgado v. Trax Bar & Grill (2005) 36 Cal.4th 224, before the California Supreme Court. This case established that California merchants have a duty of care to protect their customers from the wrongful acts of other customers due to a special relationship-based duty. I also won an appeal in another premises liability case, Mata v. Mata (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 1121, which involved an innocent bystander who was shot by an...

David L. Axelrod began work as a teenager, selling scorecards in Dodger Stadium. After attending college, David L. Axelrod entered a career as Park Ranger and Fire Fighter, at the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) of Northern California. In 1988, David L. Axelrod graduated law school at the University of California, Berkeley, California, passed the bar, and commenced the practice of law. David L. Axelrod worked as Deputy Attorney for CALTRANS Legal Division in Los Angeles, California, and then as Deputy Tuolumne County Counsel in Sonora, California. Mr. Axelrod established the Sierra...

David E. Mastagni is a partner with the law firm of Mastagni Holstedt, APC, who specializes in labor and employment law representation of public safety employees, including trial and appellate litigation in California and federal courts. In particular, he handles complex civil, class action and collective action litigation, claims arising out of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the U.S. and California Constitutions, the California Public Records Act (CPRA), the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights (POBR), the California Labor Code, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, and other statutes protecting the rights of employees.
Among his other legal activities, David is an...

Ms. Jaffee’s main area of practice is civil litigation. She represents clients in a wide range of matters, including personal injury, medical and dental malpractice, real estate, premises liability, employment and general business litigation.

She joined Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz in September 2016. Prior to joining the firm, she worked as a civil litigation attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, including as a litigation associate in the San Francisco office of a multi-national law firm.

During law school, Ms. Jaffee interned with the State Bar of California and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ms. Jaffee obtained her...

The Applegate Law Office focuses on efficient, effective representation. I provide my clients with exactly the help that they need. I founded the Applegate Law Office in June 2009. I have been practicing law in California since 2003, and I have spent most of those years practicing law in the North Bay. As an attorney for years in Santa Rosa and a former prosecutor in Ukiah and Willits, I am familiar with Sonoma and Mendocino County courts. My office, centrally located in Santa Rosa, serves all of the North Bay – Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake, Napa, and Marin counties.

A personal injury...

My clients receive an aggressive defense that only years of courtroom experience can deliver. No matter how challenging a client's case is, they can rest assured they have a powerful ally on their side. Increasingly individuals and businesses find themselves in contact with government agencies like the FBI or IRS. The consequences can be devastating, personally, professionally and financially. The government can and does form the wrong impression of targets and subjects. Correcting the government's impression requires an attorney’s involvement. Successful , self-made people have accomplished much on their own. Unfortunately, many of these useful business...

Mr. Tade is an experienced civil litigator specializing in personal injury, workers' compensation, labor and employment law.

Mr. Lewis’ main area of practice is civil litigation. He has litigated diverse subject areas such as First Amendment Rights, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Employment and Housing Act, wage laws, trade secrets, contracts, securities laws and real property laws, as well as many others. Mr. Lewis’s central area of practice involves business and employment related issues and real estate matters. Mr. Lewis also represents clients regarding homeowner's association disputes.

Mr. Lewis is also a trainer in areas of employment law for organizations with an emphasis on prevention. He has taught hundreds of courses in subject areas that include sexual harassment...

Mike only represents plaintiffs and has achieved some of the highest recoveries on record on behalf of his clients in the North Bay area counties and in the State of California in certain practice areas. In 2024, Mike was lead counsel in a medical malpractice case that resulted in a jury verdict of $26.2 million for his client. Some of Mike’s other results include obtaining $37.7 million in a blended personal injury and wrongful death case; $25 million in a wrongful death case; $10.4 million in a trucking accident case, and $6.2 million in a civil rights case. Mike has...

Brian is an experienced trial attorney that has obtained numerous 7 and 8 figure verdicts and settlements. Brian recently won a record-setting medical malpractice verdict of $26.2 million, the largest medical malpractice verdict in the history of Sonoma County Brian has received numerous accolades by nationally respected legal peer review organizations. Brian has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as a Top 40 Under 40 Attorney in the Civil Plaintiff Division since 2017, a limited invitation extended exclusively to lawyers under the age of 40 that embody the highest standard of trial advocacy and leadership. Brian has been recognized...

Charles “Chuck” Piccuta is a founding partner of the Piccuta Law Group, LLP and has practiced law for more than forty years. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois on a full-ride athletic scholarship for football and graduated with highest honors with a major in Political Science. He then attended Northwestern University, School of Law in Chicago on an academic scholarship. He was a member of the prestigious Northwestern University Law Review and earned his law degree in 1972 graduating with honors.

After graduating from law school, Chuck made the decision to serve his country and proudly joined the U.S. Navy...

Izaak Schwaiger is an advocate and champion for the rights of regular people. A decorated veteran of the United States Marine Corps, a former Sonoma County prosecutor, and a respected presence in the courtroom, Mr. Schwaiger has devoted his practice to defending the criminally accused and upholding the civil rights of those who have been wronged by the police. Following ten years of service to his country in the Marine Corps, Izaak enrolled in law school at the University of Wyoming, where he did not graduate with honors, but was named "most likely to become a rockstar." Called the...

Aaron J. Lodge received his BA degree and first graduate work in math. He taught math at both the high school and college level for nearly 10 years, before changing careers and going to law school. Mr. Lodge now has a general practice law firm, where he focuses on family law, mediation, civil rights, and is now affiliated with other larger firms for personal injury and other areas of law. Mr. Lodge is highly dedicated to his clients, is very personable, and excellent in both litigation (in court), and in mediation.

Christopher C. Phillips was born in Sacramento and raised in Glen Ellen, CA (the heart of Sonoma Valley). Growing up, Chris was always a good student, but was consumed with Baseball. Following his dream, Chris attended Santa Rosa Junior College and then Texas Tech University to play Baseball. After graduating with an Exercise and Sports Science degree from Texas Tech, Chris decided he had just about reached the end of the line as far as baseball was concerned, so he refocused his goals and decided on Law School. After Graduating from University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Chris clerked for,...

Ms. Truong's practice focuses on all aspects of civil litigation and general business litigation.

Ms. Truong joined Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz in October 2018. Prior to joining the firm, she worked as a litigation attorney at two Am Law 100 firms in New York, New York, where she practiced in the areas of complex and multidistrict commercial litigation, contract disputes, data/records management, E-Discovery, cross-border litigation (including the U.K, France, Israel), securities litigation, corporate internal investigations, governmental investigations (including Securities Exchange Commission investigations and antitrust investigations from the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission), bankruptcy litigation (as a member...

Mr. Miller is first and foremost a civil trial attorney, having tried over 60 cases to a jury verdict in a host of subjects ranging from real estate, business, dental malpractice, attorney malpractice, civil rights/excessive force and personal injury. Mr. Miller also represents clients regarding employment/labor matters, and homeowner's association disputes.

Mr. Miller worked as a police officer for nearly ten years on the San Francisco Peninsula. While attending Empire College School of Law at night, he started a successful legal research business, providing legal research to over 30 attorneys. He has practiced law in Sonoma County since 1988. He is...