For nearly 30 years, I have been a lawyer, law instructor and continuing legal education provider in Alameda County. Since graduating from Hastings College of the Law, at University of California in San Francisco in 1980, I have worked in the courts of Alameda County. While still in law school, I started my career as clerk in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office in 1979. The Office honored me by hiring me as Deputy District Attorney in 1981. Since 1987, for more than twenty years, I have also enjoyed success in private practice, representing individuals, and protecting their Constitutional rights. I have handled thousands of cases on every level and tried over fifty jury trials to verdict. As a practicing attorney, I am also a businessperson. I know what it means to meet a payroll, sign the front of the checks, and pay taxes. My ties to Oakland and Alameda County run deep, and I have spent much of my life trying to improve our community. In college I participated in the University's student discipline court. In law school I was active in moot court competition and in the Hastings College of Advocacy, a continuing legal education program for practicing litigators. As an attorney, I have judged moot court competitions at UC Hastings College of Law, and coached moot court teams at Logan High School in Union City. My experience as a prosecutor and as a private practitioner enables me to understand both sides of an issue and to use that understanding for the benefit of my clients. I understand the importance of fair and effective law enforcement; I also know that constitutional rights are critical, and believe these rights must be protected for the community to remain strong. I have lived and worked in Alameda County for nearly thirty years. I am a citizen, and a business owner. My wife is a physician at Kaiser Hospital, in Oakland. My sister and her husband live in Piedmont and are both attorneys, each practicing in Alameda County. My uncle, a retired college professor and my aunt live in Berkeley. My uncle served on the Alameda County Grand Jury.