Certified Specialist, Legal Malpractice Law
State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

• Senior Counsel, Mastagni | Holstedt, A Professional Corporation, March 2013 to the present.
• Principal of Lewis & Bacon, A Professional Corporation, January 1993 to February 2013.
• Associate at Law Office of Steven A. Lewis, October 1988 through December 1992.
• Attorney, Handelman & Bacon, Palo Alto, California, May 1983 through October 1988.
• Admitted to practice before all courts of the State of California (December 1982), and the United States
  District Courts for the Northern (February 1983) and Eastern (December 1988) Districts of California;
  Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (October 1998).

MAJOR EMPHASIS IN PRACTICE

General civil and trial practice with an emphasis on attorney professional liability, professional responsibility and risk management pertaining to attorneys, attorney-client fee arbitrations and fee disputes; State Bar discipline defense, professional liability of insurance brokers, real estate brokers, and construction professionals, insurance law including insurance coverage and general civil litigation.

Expert Witness and Consultant concerning attorney’s fees, legal malpractice, legal ethics

SEMINARS

• Speaker: Mandatory Fee Arbitration: Try It You’ll Like It; Sacramento County Bar Association; January 23, 2024
• Moderator: Chatbots, Robots and AI, Oh My: Ethics and Use of New Technologies in the Practice of Law;
  26th Annual Statewide Ethics Symposium California State Bar Committee of Professional Responsibility
  and Conduct; April 21, 2023
• Speaker: Ethical Fee Agreements and Billing Practices, Northern California’s 22nd Annual Bankruptcy
  Conference; March 31, 2023
• Moderator and Panelist: Ethical Issues – Attorney Fee and Billing; 25th Annual Statewide Ethics
  Symposium California State Bar Committee of Professional Responsibility and Conduct; April 15, 2022
• Speaker: Ethically Handling Advance Deposits and Credit Card Payments, Sacramento County Bar
  Association Solo & Small Firm Division, March 3, 2021
• Speaker: What You Need to Know About Fee Agreements, Sacramento County Bar Association Solo &
  Small Firm Division, June 16, 2019
• Speaker: California’s Revamped Rules of Professional Conduct, MCLE program March 1, 2019
• Panelist: Tips & Training: Attorney Fee Dispute Arbitration & Mediation; National Association of Legal
  Fee Analysis Attorney Fees, April 26, 2018
• Speaker: Nipping Fee Disputes in the Bud, Sacramento County Bar Association Solo & Small Firm
  Division, February 7, 2017.
• Speaker: Updates on Enforceable and Ethical Fee Agreements, California State Bar Association Annual
  Meeting, September 30, 2016.
• Speaker: Mandatory Fee Arbitration – The Good, The Bad, and There Is No Ugly, California State Bar
  Association Annual Meeting, September 30, 2016.
• Speaker: Ins and Outs of Mandatory Fee Arbitration: Placer County Bar Association 2016 Annual MCLE
  Retreat, April 23, 2016.
• Panelist: Tricky Law Firm Billing Issues, California State Bar Association Annual Meeting, October 9,
  2015
• Speaker: Attorney’s Fees – Making Green Ethically & Practically; 2014 Sacramento County Bar
  Association Annual Meeting MCLE Program; December 14, 2014
• Panelist: Top Ten Things that Place Lawyers in Hot Water; California State Bar Association Annual
  Meeting, September 13, 2014
• Panelist: The National Association of Legal Fee Analysis Attorney Fees Conference; October 25, 2013
• Panelist: Tricky Law Firm Billing Issues: It’s Not Easy Making Green; California State Bar Association
  Annual Meeting, October 11, 2013
• Panelist: Getting Paid, Fee Agreements That Work, California State Bar Association Annual Meeting,
  October 12, 2013
• Speaker: Basic Fee Arbitrator Training Program (Nevada County Bar Association) State Bar of California’s
  Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, December 11, 2012
• Speaker: Basic Fee Arbitrator Training Program (/Napa/Solano County Bar Association) State Bar of
  California’s Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, November 8, 2012
• Speaker: Basic Fee Arbitrator Training Program (Yuba/Sutter County Bar Association) State Bar of
  California’s Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, October 24, 2012
• Panelist: Attorney’s Fees: Practically, Ethically, California State Bar Association Annual Meeting, October
  12, 2012
• Panelist: Mandatory Fee Arbitration – The Good, The Bad, and There is No Ugly, 2012 California State
  Bar Solo & Small Firm Summit, Long Beach, CA, June 21, 2012.
• Speaker: Avoiding Ethics Issues and Fee Disputes in Family Law, Sacramento County Bar Association,
  Family Law Chapter, June 5, 2012.
• Speaker: Advanced Fee Arbitration Training Program, San Diego Bar Association, State Bar of California’s
  Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration. March 15, 2012
• Speaker: Basic Fee Arbitrator Training Program (Alameda County Bar Association) State Bar of
  California’s Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, January 26, 2012
• Panelist: Lighten Your Load: Mandatory Fee Arbitration in California, San Diego County Judiciary,
  December 6, 2011
• Panelist: Getting Paid: Fee Agreements That Work, California State Bar Annual Meeting September 16,
  2011;
• Panelist: Your Fair Share: Fee Sharing and Liens, California State Bar Annual Meeting September 16,
  2011;
• Speaker: Basic Fee Arbitrator Training Program (Sacramento County Bar Association) State Bar of
  California’s Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, August 25, 2011
• Speaker: Basic Fee Arbitrator Training Program (Redding, CA) State Bar of California’s Committee on
  Mandatory Fee Arbitration, August 18, 2011
• Panelist: Working Collaboratively: How Attorneys and Paralegals Can Prevent Legal Malpractice
  and Avoid Ethical Pitfalls, Sacramento Valley Paralegal Association and California Alliance of
  Paralegal Associations, November 13, 2010;
• Panelist: Attorney’s Fees: Practically, Ethically, California State Bar Association Annual Meeting,
  September 24, 2010;
• Panelist: Attorney’s Fees: Practically, Ethically, California State Bar Association Annual Meeting,
  September 11, 2009
• Panelist: Advanced Fee Arbitration Training Program, San Diego Bar Association, State Bar of California’s
  Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration. September 10, 2009
• Panelist: Advanced Fee Arbitration Training Program (Sacramento), State Bar of California’s Committee
  on Mandatory Fee Arbitration. May 20, 2009
• Panelist: National Association of Legal Fee Analysis – The San Francisco Attorney Fee Dispute
  Program: “Attorney Fee Disputes in a Volatile and Uncertain Economy.” March 19, 2009
• Panelist: Fee Arbitration Training Program (Santa Monica), State Bar of California’s Committee on
  Mandatory Fee Arbitration. November 6, 2008
• Panelist: Fee Arbitration Training Program (Sacramento), State Bar of California’s Committee on
  Mandatory Fee Arbitration. May 22, 2008
• Speaker: Ethical Duties of Counsel for Organization, Sacramento County Bar Professional Liability
  Committee November 1999.
• Panelist: Recent Developments in Insurance Law. Lorman Education Service. March 8, 1994.
• Panelist: Recent Developments in Insurance Law. Lorman Education Service. March 11, 1993.

PUBLICATIONS/ARTICLES

• Mandatory Fee Arbitration: How It Works And Why It Can Be A Valuable Risk-Management Tool For Attorneys; Advocate Magazine, November 2020
• Drafter of Conference of California Bar Associations Resolution No. 08-08-2018, to amend Business &
  Professions Code §340.6 to toll the statute of limitations for legal malpractice claims while a mandatory
  fee arbitration case is pending. The Resolution was approved and later enacted into law effective January
  1, 2020, as Assembly Bill No. 692 sponsored by California Assembly Member Brian Maienschein.
• Mandatory Fee Arbitration: A Primer; The Daily Journal, December 9, 2016.
• Your Fee Agreement Can Be a Valuable Risk Management Tool; State Bar of California, September 2016.
• Sacramento Lawyer, Mandatory Fee Arbitration: Try It, You’ll Like It, March 2015.
• The Sacramento County Bar Association’s Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program, Sacramento Lawyer, July/August 2014 Issue.
• The Ethical Lawyer, The Rules of Professional Conduct, Ethical Issues about Advertising and Solicitation through Social Media; Sacramento Lawyer, March/April 2014 Issue.
• Nip Fee Disputes in the Bid; The Daily Journal, November 8, 2013.
• Fee Agreements That Work, California State Bar Association Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration.
• Avoiding Ethics Issues and Fee Disputes in Family Law, Part II, August 2012, The Family Law Counselor, Sacramento County Bar Association, Family Law Chapter.
• Avoiding Ethics Issues and Fee Disputes in Family Law, Part I July 2012, The Family Law Counselor, Sacramento County Bar Association, Family Law Chapter.
• Co-Author/Editor:  Statute of Limitations for Fee Arbitrations, Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, Arbitration Advisory 2011-02.
• Author:  Your Fair Share: Fee Sharing and Liens, Program Materials, State Bar of California Annual Meeting, September 2011.
• Author:  Getting Paid: Fee Agreements That Work, State Bar of California Annual Meeting, September 2011.
• Co-Author: Arbitration of Loan Modification Fee Disputes, Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, Arbitration Advisory 2010-01.
• Co-Author/Editor:  Fee Arbitration Handbook, Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration.
• Co-Author/Editor: 2010-2011, Case Summaries, Cases Relevant to Mandatory Fee Arbitration, Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration.
• Author: Analysis of Recent Cases from the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal Regarding Insurance Coverage Litigation. Lorman Education Services, March 1994.
• Author: Alternate Dispute Resolution: The Benefits to Insureds and Insurers of Resolving Claims Out of Court. December 1993, Claims People.
• Author: The Latent Defect Exclusion: Recent Developments in the Application to Construction Defect Claims. November 1993, Claims People.
• Author: Recent Developments in the Duty to Defend: How Far Does the Potential For Coverage Extend? October 1993, Claims People.
• Author: Recent Developments in Insurance Coverage Litigation. Lorman Education Services, March 1993.
• Author: Insurance Coverage News: California Supreme Court Rejects Advertising Injury Coverage for Statutory Unfair Business Practice Claim. September 1992, Claims People.
• Author: Update on the Trigger of Coverage Applicable to Continuous or Progressive Damage Liability Claims. August 1992, Claims People.
• Author: First Party Environmental Property Policy Claims. Sacramento County Bar Association, Docket, September 1991.

REPORTED APPELLATE CASES

• J.C. Penney Casualty Insurance Co. v. M.K. (1991) 52 Cal.3d 1009 [Significant California Supreme Court decision regarding insurance coverage pertaining to the willful act of insured (no coverage for sexual molestation)].
• Hensley v Caietti (1993) 13 Cal.App.4th 1165 [Significant Appellate decision relating to the legal malpractice statute of limitations and tolling during continuing representation].