March / April 2007 - Sacramento County Bar Association

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24 From Large Law Firms To Legal Aid - John Davis And His Active “Retirement” Hedescribes himself as retired and is strictly a volunteer, but three days a week John Davis can be found in his office at Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC), where he provides pro bono assistance both to the program itself and to its low income clients. “It's just a hoot”, Davis says. “I look forward to coming to the office. It's been an uniquely pleasant place to land after retirement.” A self-described “workaholic”, Davis is the go-to-it man for the variety of transactional work that is needed at LSNC. He is also the most upbeat attorney you will likely ever meet and serves as the cheerleader for all of the staff at LSNC and the Voluntary Legal Services Program. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Davis spent most of his career doing primarily transactional work for several large law firms. He became familiar with Legal Services of Northern California through his work at the law firm of Lillick & Charles and, later, Lewis, D'Amato. While a partner at Lillick, one of his clients, Lighthouse Marina, was sued by then LSNC Staff Attorney (now Assemblyman) David Jones of the Woodland LSNC office. He defended the case until Jones left LSNC and Gary Smith (now the Executive Director of LSNC) took over the case. Jones and Davis were good friends from their days on the Board of Directors of Sacramento Mutual Housing Board. Davis liked Smith right away as well. A complex stipulated judgment was worked out by Davis and Smith in settlement of the case against Lighthouse. Smith started inviting Davis to LSNC events, such as Jones' retirement party, and got him involved in cases and fundraising on behalf of LSNC. Davis tired of work in the large firm environment and he retired in 2000. He SACRAMENTO LAWYER ■ MARCH/APRIL 2007 immediately scheduled a lunch with Gary Smith at LSNC and announced that he wanted to volunteer at LSNC. One month later, he showed up for LSNC's weekly case review and, as a transactional attor- John Davis and his wife, Christine Davis ney, felt like a square peg in a round hole. Still, Bill Kennedy, Managing Attorney for the Sacramento office of LSNC, found plenty of transactional work for Davis. For the past six years, Davis has drafted and reviewed leases for LSNC's offices and for the nonprofit organizations that LSNC assists as part of its community development work. Davis drafted the groundlease for the Cottage Housing development at Mather for low-income Retiring Minds By Vicki Jacobs residents. Davis is currently working on leases to assist the Hmong community in obtaining agricultural leases to support their community. He helped LSNC with the transactional work needed to complete the purchase of its Redding office, as well as the lease for the parking lot that serves the Sacramento office. He drafts and reviews settlement agreements. He has assisted with corporate formation for local nonprofits assisted by LSNC. He works to assure that LSNC is in compliance with the complex regulations the Legal Services Corporation. In short, he is the inhouse business lawyer for LSNC. Fortunately for LSNC, Davis plans to continue to volunteer for a very long time. He says that if you can fit your expertise into the needs of a nonprofit, it can be “very pleasant”. Life at legal aid is quite different from a large firm; Davis has no secretary and he types his own documents. Still, he likes focusing his efforts into one place. He has seen retirees scatter their impact into multiple places. Davis likes being able to use his legal skills, doesn't have to retrain himself, and he can make a positive impact. Davis has been married to his wife, Christine Davis, for 25 years. Christine earned her Ph.D. just about the time of Davis' retirement. She has a very active career as Chief of the Speech Pathology Section in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the UC Davis Medical Center. While firmly committed to his 3 day a week work at LSNC, Davis makes time for his yoga classes and running with his dalmatians. He has been an active member in planning LSNC's annual Valentine's Fun Run. Vicki Jacobs is the Managing Attorney for the Voluntary Legal Services Program and is very grateful to John Davis for his support of VLSP and its staff.
Section & Affiliate Reports Barristers Provide Introduction to the Sacramento Legal Community By Kimberly Norvell, Barristers' Media Chair The Barristers' Club of Sacramento and the Daily Recorder co-sponsored the annual “Bridging the Gap” event on Saturday, January 20th at the Sacramento County Superior Court. Throughout the day, judges, practitioners and other members of the Sacramento legal community addressed those in attendance on a wide variety of topics relevant to practicing law in Sacramento. Judge David W. Abbott of the Criminal Home Court discussed trial practice in the Sacramento County Superior Lunch. Following his presentation, Jake Flesher of Barry Ubaldi McPherson & Flesher LLP moderated a panel discussion on ethical issues. The ethics panel was made up of Judge Abbott, Judge Judy Holzer Hersher of the Civil Trial Department, and Donald H. Heller, private practitioner and Judge Pro Tem to both the Sacramento and El Dorado County Superior Courts. Judge Kimberly J. Mueller, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of California, and staff attorney Khalil Cox then addressed the group on federal court practice, and Tom Johnson, Supervising Deputy District Attorney for the County of Sacramento, spoke about practicing in the District Attorney's office. After lunch, attendees were given an orientation on the Sacramento law library by Coral Henning, the Director of the Sacramento County Public Law Library. Judge James M. Mize of Department 128 in the Family Law Court and Mary Martinelli, a partner with Downey Brand LLP, provided an overview of what to know about family law practice. As the final presentation of the day, Nicole De Santis, Exchange Counsel for First American Exchange Company, Jennifer McQuarrie of Charter Schools Development Center and Maggy Krell, Deputy Attorney General, gave an informative presentation on alternative legal careers and careers with the State of California. The Barristers wish to thank all those in attendance and to extend to each of the presenters our sincerest gratitude for their time and continued support of the Barristers' Club. Barristers' Club of Sacramento Upcoming Events March 21, 2007, 12:00p-1:00p: Arbitration seminar. A local expert on arbitration will speak on the ins and outs of conducting arbitrations, including insightful and practical tips to assist in your arbitration practice. Participants will receive approximately one unit of MCLE credit. To RSVP or for information on cost and location, please contact Bruce Timm at BTimm@littler.com. March 22, 2007, 7:30p-9:30p.: Networking Social. Please join the Barristers' Club for an evening of socializing, networking and complimentary drinks. No RSVP is necessary. For more information, please contact Kim Norvell at KimANorvell@yahoo.com. April 18, 2007, 11:30a-1:00p: The Barristers' Club presents “Marketing from the Client's Perspective.” Mr. Jeff Starsky, General Counsel for the Beutler Corporation, Northern California's largest heating and air conditioning contractors. Mr. Starsky will provide valuable tips to attorneys of all levels regarding what clients expect from their counsel. Participants will receive approximately 1.5 units of MCLE credit. To RSVP or for more information, please contact Stacy Melville at melville@lbbslaw.com. Any person who is a member of the Sacramento County Bar Association is automatically a Barrister if he or she is under 36 years of age or has been in practice five years or less, whichever is later. In addition to sponsoring network and social events, the Sacramento Barristers' Club offers seminars for MCLE credit addressing areas of interest to attorneys in their first several years of practice. To be added to the Sacramento Barristers' Club email list for information on upcoming events, please contact our Membership Chair, Jeannie Lee, by sending an email to sacbarristers@gmail.com. We look forward to meeting you. ■ MARCH/APRIL 2007 SACRAMENTO LAWYER 25
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March / April 2007 - Sacramento County Bar Association

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