Best Lawyers Near You in Rancho Santa Fe, California
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Practice Areas
Robert J. Francavilla is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs. Robert J., who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2008. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Robert J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Damian Dolin is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Damian, who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Damian is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Melanie Gold spent more than three decades as a research attorney for California appellate courts. She primarily worked with the justices of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Diego, but also with those of the Sixth District Court of Appeal in San Jose as well as the California Supreme Court in San Francisco. During that time, Melanie analyzed thousands of briefs, motions, and petitions, advised justices on hundreds of appeals, and developed a deep understanding of how appellate court...
William P. Harris III is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. William P., who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2017. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which William P. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Matthew C. Smith has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, including trials, arbitrations, and mediations. Matt represents individuals and business clients on a wide variety of professional and business litigation matters. He has served as lead counsel or co-counsel in more than a dozen trials and arbitrations. Matt also handled several successful appeals and has argued before the Fourth District Court of Appeal. Matt earned his Juris Doctor from Washington & Lee Univer...
Sarah T. Schaffer, CFLS is a family law attorney and mediator, holding the prestigious Certified Family Law Specialist designation from the State Bar of California. Schaffer Family Law Group, APC is a full-service Mediation, Divorce, and Family Law firm dedicated to delivering practical & effective results to high net-worth clients. Ms. Schaffer builds her practice on a thorough knowledge of the law, excellent research skills, superior presentation to the court, and most of all calm, comp...
Alreen Haeggquist is the Managing Partner at Haeggquist & Eck, LLP. Motivated by the pains of her childhood, Alreen became a lawyer and has been standing up for those who have suffered sexual assault, sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation for 20 years. Alreen is a best-selling author of Fired Up: Fueling Triumph from Trauma. She shares her deeply personal story of childhood abuse and the steps she took to overcome the long-lasting effects. Her lived experience and trauma-info...
Cheryl Dunn Soto's practice has focused on representing commercial policyholders in insurance coverage matters and insurance/bad faith litigation since 2008. Her clients include law firms, accountants, contractors, developers, real estate professionals, medical groups, broker-dealers, HOAs, distributors and manufacturers, and other companies throughout California. Cheryl handles a wide variety of coverage matters and has significant experience with liability policies, including directors and ...
Eric Acker is a partner and trial lawyer in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. Mr. Acker has tried more than 50 trials (including more than 47 jury trials) in courtrooms across the country. Mr. Acker’s recent trials have involved a variety of technologies and significant legal issues. In the high-profile SCO v. Novell case, following a three-week trial, the jury affirmed our client Novell’s ownership of the copyrights to the UNIX software code and rejected SCO’s c...
Deyan P. Spiridonov is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice. He is a member of the California State Bar Association. Deyan practices in the area of mergers and acquisitions and has represented public and private companies in the telecommunications, semiconductor, software, technology-related defense contracting, biotechnology and financial industries. Mr. Spiridonov has experience in structuring and negotiating all aspects of acquisition transactions, including sto...
Caitlin M. Jones is a trial attorney focusing on business litigation, professional liability, and ethics. She has tried more than a dozen jury trials and over thirty bench trials to verdict. For business clients, Caitlin is adept at resolving a wide array of issues through every stage of litigation. Caitlin has represented corporate clients in such diverse matters as trade secrets litigation, breach of contract, fraud, partnership disputes, counterfeit and trademark infringement, injury to bu...
Michael Neil, a trial lawyer and senior partner of the firm, specializes in civil litigation with emphasis in personal injury, professional liability, products liability, as well as business litigation. Mr. Neil has tried over 140 Superior Court cases to jury verdict. He is a past Secretary/Treasurer and the current President of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. Mr. Neil is a past President of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and holds the rank of Diplomat...