Best Lawyers in California, United States for Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
With nearly 200,000 licensed attorneys across a state known for its massive industries, progressive laws and regional differences, finding the right legal help in California can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re facing a business dispute in Silicon Valley or a custody battle in San Diego, it’s critical to find a lawyer in California who not only understands the law but understands how it works where you live.
That’s where Best Lawyers comes in. Our platform is more than just a directory. Every lawyer listed has been thoroughly vetted through a rigorous peer-review process, so you can search with confidence no matter what practice area you need.
Using the Best Lawyers Directory in California
The Best Lawyers directory makes it easy to find top-rated legal talent across California’s many regions and industries. You can search by:
- Practice area (e.g., environmental law, immigration, tech and IP, family law)
- Location (city or county)
- Lawyer name (if you’re researching someone specifically)
Each listed attorney has been recognized in the most recent edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, a distinction earned through extensive peer feedback and professional evaluation. That means every name you see has already earned the respect of their colleagues—and likely their adversaries, too.
If you need to find a lawyer in California without wasting time on unverified referrals or endless Google results, start here. Our listings provide clear, up-to-date profiles that help you narrow down your options quickly.
California-Specific Legal Needs and Practice Areas
California law can be tricky. You need someone who knows the ropes. The state is a national leader in tech innovation, environmental regulation and entertainment law—and its legal landscape reflects that. Attorneys here must stay up to date not only with federal law but with fast-evolving state statutes, administrative rulings and court precedents.
Some of the most common practice areas where Californians seek legal help include:
- Real estate law, especially in high-cost markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County
- Family law, including divorce, child custody and support disputes, all governed by California’s unique family code
- Tech and IP law, a major concern for startups and established firms alike in the Bay Area and beyond
- Entertainment and media law, vital for clients in Los Angeles and surrounding creative hubs
- Environmental and land use law, which is especially important in light of California’s extensive regulations on development, conservation and climate compliance
California also has strict state bar licensing rules, making it essential to choose an attorney who is not just experienced in the area of law you need, but also well-versed in local procedures and precedent. That’s why using a trusted directory like Best Lawyers—where every listing has local context and professional vetting—can make the difference.
How to Find a Good Lawyer in California
Finding a good lawyer in California feels daunting. With so many billboards and online ads, don’t feel bad if you don’t know where to turn. The best results come from approaching your search with intention. Here are key things to consider:
- Know your legal issue. Attorneys often specialize. Make sure you’re looking within the right practice area.
- Check credentials. Always confirm that a lawyer is licensed and in good standing with the State Bar of California.
- Evaluate experience. Ask about similar cases the attorney has handled, especially in your city or county.
- Ask the right questions. When interviewing lawyers, consider asking:
- What is your experience with this specific type of case?
- How do you communicate with clients during the process?
- What outcomes have you achieved in similar matters?
- Read peer and client feedback. While reviews can be helpful, peer recognition carries additional weight. Lawyers know the strengths—and weaknesses—of their colleagues better than anyone else.
Choosing the right legal partner isn’t just about skill. It’s about trust, communication and shared expectations. That’s why using a curated directory that highlights attorneys recommended by their peers can help you filter out guesswork.
Why Peer Recognition Matters in Your Search
The Best Lawyers selection process is rooted in peer recognition—a factor that sets us apart from other platforms. Here’s how it works:
- Nominations come from fellow lawyers, clients and others familiar with a nominee’s work.
- Peer review follows, in which top attorneys confidentially assess the legal skill and professionalism of their peers.
- Analysis and vetting ensure lawyers meet strict ethical and professional standards before being listed.
This isn’t pay-to-play. Lawyers cannot buy their way into the directory and inclusion is never guaranteed. That’s why so many legal professionals and clients trust Best Lawyers as a reliable source of information.
In a field where reputation is everything, recognition from fellow attorneys carries exceptional value. It tells you a lawyer is respected not just by clients, but by those who face them in court or collaborate with them on deals.
Start Your Search with Confidence
Whether you’re seeking representation for a business dispute, criminal matter, estate plan or high-asset divorce, California’s legal market offers no shortage of options. But knowing how to find a lawyer in California—one who brings both credibility and local expertise—is the key to moving forward with clarity.
At Best Lawyers, we make it easier to connect with attorneys who have already earned the respect of their peers. You can explore by practice area, browse by city or search for a specific lawyer using our intuitive filters. No matter where you are in the Golden State, trusted legal help is just a click away.
Find a lawyer in California today and move forward with confidence—backed by a directory built on excellence and trust.
Practice Area Overview
In practice, mortgage banking foreclosure attorneys provide legal services to lender and servicing clients on a wide variety of issues encompassing real property law, civil litigation in state and federal courts, bankruptcy and administrative courts. Specific legal tasks include everything from title searches, loan closings, foreclosure processing, bankruptcy processing, litigation, as well as, practice in administrative courts and agencies in both state and federal courts.
Attorneys in this area may have general experience in real property, bankruptcy, and litigation, and can specialize in these fields, but must have the ability to work within all of these areas of practice. Attorneys in this practice area also must be well versed in federal laws and regulations, including but not limited to, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Service-member Civil Relief Act, and the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, as well as, GSE guidelines, CFPB regulations and mandates, and consumer initiated litigation arising out of mortgage loan transactions, and mortgage loan servicing activities. Attorneys also must be familiar with investor and agency regulations and guidelines and the applicable provisions of national settlements involving banks and servicers to both provide clients advice on these matters and to ensure timely compliance with regulations, statute, agency guidelines, and national settlement standards effectively.
Finally, with the advent of mandatory GSE review of the qualifications of law firms providing default legal services on GSE owned loans, it is imperative that a lawyer in this area of practice not only be able to demonstrate his competency as a lawyer, but also be able to prove, among other things, that his firm has adequate staff and attorney to file ratios, possesses suitable technology/software to accommodate legal functions and safeguard confidential information, is able to satisfy reporting requirements, has established internal quality control policies and is financially stable.
Chris Salyer Phil Heller Lauren Thurmond Hutchens Law Firm
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Al represents a diverse group of clients in connection with a broad range of real estate transactions. He advises private equity funds, REITs, institutional capital sources, hospitality companies, developers and retail operators, among others, on their investments across all commercial real estate asset classes. Al advises private equity investors and REIT clients in structuring and negotiating preferred equity, partnership and joint venture agreements for all types of investments in commerci...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.