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Terry Lynn Bowman
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| Associate |
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| Education |
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University of California at Davis |
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University of San Francisco |
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Terry Lynn Bowman represents public safety
officers in administrative, disciplinary, and criminal defense
matters. Terry has immense trial experience, having tried
over 50 cases during her 7 years as a prosecutor for Santa
Clara County, where she handled a variety of cases including
homicides and sexual assaults. She also spoke to various community
groups about domestic violence prosecution. Her high success
rate and ability to handle complex legal issues led to her
being named Trial Attorney of the Year in 2000.
Terry Bowman graduated cum laude from the University
of California at Davis and earned her law degree at the University
of San Francisco.
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Lilli Hitt |
| Associate |
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| Education |
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University of San Francisco |
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Lilli represents peace officers in legal and administrative matters. Her legal experience includes civil rights and insurance defense. She retired from the San Francisco Police Department as a sergeant after 29 years of employment.
Lilli obtained her law degree from the University of San Francisco in 1999.
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Peter Hoffmann |
| Associate |
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| Education |
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Loyola Marymount |
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University of Santa Clara |
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Peter represents the firm's clients in Fair Labor Standards Act litigation, civil litigation, administrative investigations and disciplinary matters.
Peter graduated magna cum laude from Loyola Marymount and recently earned his law degree at the University of Santa Clara.
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Justin Buffington |
| Associate |
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| Education |
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Humboldt State University |
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Golden Gate University |
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Justin represents peace officers in administrative investigations and disciplinary matters. Prior to joining Rains Lucia Stern, Justin worked as a deputy district attorney in Contra Costa County where he tried nearly a dozen misdemeanor cases and litigated scores of motions.
Justin graduated from Humboldt State and earned his law degree at Golden Gate University.
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Ellen Rosenbluth |
| Associate |
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| Education |
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Saint Mary's College |
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John F. Kennedy University |
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Ellen represents peace officers in administrative, disciplinary, civil, appellate, critical incident, and criminal matters. Her current practice focuses on labor and employment litigation, although she works with partners in all of the firm's practice areas.
Ellen has cultivated a true general legal practice in which she has represented clients in many areas of the law including transactional and litigation family law, real estate, business law, and employment matters.
Ellen received her J.D. from John F. Kennedy University School of Law in 1998. She earned her bachelor's degree with honors in management from Saint Mary's College of California. Ellen has served as a professor of legal research and writing at John F. Kennedy University School of Law and a professor of family law at California State University East Bay.
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Rick Pattison
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| Associate |
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| Education |
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California State University at Sacramento |
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McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific
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Rick Pattison represents clients at all stages
of the disciplinary process and has served as the lead negotiator
in collective bargaining sessions. Rick has successfully litigated
many cases in administrative and arbitration hearings, as
well as in trial and appellate courts. He also has extensive
experience in civil writs.
Ricks appellate experience includes a series of cases
involving the collective bargaining rights of California state
employees, culminating in Department of Personnel Administration
v. Superior Court, 5 Cal.App.4th 155 (1992), which established
that the governor does not have the right unilaterally to
implement a salary cut for state employees.
Rick worked for the Lodi Police Department as a police officer
and sergeant, as well as having served as deputy sheriff and
sheriff's sergeant with the Sacramento Sheriffs Department.
Rick also provides extensive peace officer academy instruction.
Rick is a graduate of California State University at Sacramento,
and earned his law degree at McGeorge School of Law at the
University of the Pacific.
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Leo Tamisiea
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| Associate |
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| Education |
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John F. Kennedy University |
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Leo Tamisiea focuses his practice on collective
bargaining and labor relations, as well as on administrative
disciplinary appeals. Leo co-developed and remains primary
instructor for the PORAC basic and advanced collective bargaining
seminars. Leo is also a former member of the Peace Officers
Research Association of California (PORAC) Board of Directors,
Chair of the PORAC Legal Defense Board of Trustees, and President
of the PORAC Bay Area Chapter.
Leo retired after 27 years as a police officer, having worked
in the City of Berkeley and as a police lieutenant with the
Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
He earned his law degree at John F. Kennedy Law School.
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Janne E. O'Neil |
| Of Counsel |
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| Education |
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California State University at San Jose |
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Empire College School of Law in Santa Rosa |
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Janne O’Neil provides estate planning
services to RL&W clients. Janne advises clients on all
aspects of preparing an estate plan including trusts, wills
and powers of attorney. Janne also counsels RL&W clients
on trust administration, estate taxes, probate, conservatorships
and guardianships.
She has been exclusively practicing in the area of estate
planning since 1994. Prior to attending law school, Janne
was a litigation/probate paralegal in San Francisco for 13
years.
Janne has been a contributing commentator on radio station
KSRO in Santa Rosa on “The Real Estate Hour” since
1997.
Janne graduated from San Jose State with a degree in Political
Science and graduated cum laude from Empire College
School of Law in Santa Rosa.
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Kathy Rains |
| Of Counsel |
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| Education |
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St. Mary's College |
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John F. Kennedy University |
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Kathy Rains serves of counsel to Rains Lucia Stern, PC
from her Dublin office. As of counsel, Kathy
represents police officers in administrative discipline and
criminal cases. In her separate private practice, Kathy also
provides representation in family law matters.
Kathy brings to her practice 10 years of law enforcement
experience with Contra Costa County Sheriff's department and
the Brentwood Police department. After retirement, she began
her legal career first representing police officers as a non-attorney
labor representative and then, after graduating from John
F. Kennedy University School of Law, continues to primarily
devote her practice to representing police officers.
Kathy is a graduate of Saint Mary's College (BA Business Management)
and John F. Kennedy School of Law, JD. She is a member of
the California State Bar, Contra Costa County Bar Association
and RPORAC.
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Alison Berry
Wilkinson |
| Of Counsel |
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| Education |
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University of California at Santa Cruz |
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Hastings College of the Law |
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Alison handles complex disciplinary
matters and civil litigation, as well as being a frequent
lecturer at criminal justice academies and at POST-approved
seminars. As both plaintiff and defense counsel, Alison has
successfully litigated cases involving civil rights claims,
sexual harassment, wrongful termination, employee privacy
rights, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Meyers-Milias-Brown
Act, and the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights
Act. Alison has also prosecuted numerous writs to enforce
collective bargaining agreements.
Alison graduated from the University of California at Santa
Cruz, and earned her law degree from Hastings College of the
Law.
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John Noble |
| Labor Relations
Representative |
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| Education |
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California State University at Long Beach |
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University of California at Davis |
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John Noble has many years of experience negotiating
and administering contracts, as well as representing peace
officers in disciplinary matters.
John received his Bachelor's Degree from California State
University at Long Beach and completed the Labor/Management
Certificate Program at UC Davis. He was a police officer for
twenty-eight years starting in 1969 at Long Beach
PD and retiring from Santa Rosa PD in 1998.
John held a position on the Board of Directors of
the Santa Rosa POA for sixteen years. During this time, he
served his Association as President, Vice-President, and Treasurer.
He also held a position as Vice-President for the Northern
Chapter of PORAC.
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Mark O'Connell
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| Labor Relations
Representative |
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| Education |
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California State University at Hayward |
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University of California at Davis |
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Mark OConnell primarily handles collective
bargaining and labor relations matters, as well as administrative
discipline cases.
Mark retired from the Alameda Police Department as a sergeant
after 28 years. During his tenure, Mark served as the president
of the Alameda Police Officers Association, held several positions
on the executive board, and also served as the Association's
wage and benefit committee chairman for 14 years. He also
served an extensive assignment in the internal affairs bureau
conducting disciplinary investigations.
A graduate of California State University at Hayward, Mark
has also completed the Labor-Management Certificate program
at the University of California at Davis.
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Bud Stone |
| Labor Relations
Representative |
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| Education |
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West Virginia State College |
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St. Mary’s College |
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Bud Stone joins the firm after retiring from
the Berkeley Police Department where he rose through the ranks
to Lieutenant. Bud brings to his work extensive experience
with the Berkeley Police Association as a Board Member, President,
and Vice President. In that capacity, Bud negotiated collective
bargaining agreements, and represented members in misconduct
investigations and hearings. Bud also served as PORAC President,
Vice President and as Treasurer. Bud has taught extensively
in the PORAC Collective Bargaining, Internal Affairs and Leadership
Courses.
Bud has a BA in Criminal Justice from West Virginia State
College and has recently earned an MA in Leadership from St.
Mary’s College.
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Tom Leary |
| Investigator |
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Tom Leary served the citizens of Contra Costa
County for 28 years as a Deputy Sheriff for the Office of
the Sheriff (13 years) and as a Senior Inspector for
the District Attorney’s Office (15 years), where he
specialized in white collar crime and public corruption. He
also investigated over 50 officer involved fatal incidents
while employed by the District Attorney, and served a term
as President of the District Attorney Investigator’s
Association.
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