I graduated from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1983 and was admitted as an attorney that year. For the first ten years of my practice, I worked for law firms representing clients in various forms of civil litigation. While that was very good experience and training, it was not very fulfilling. In 1993, I established my own firm in Sonoma County and have been on my own since.
Since 1993, I have focused on bankruptcy, collection and general civil litigation in Santa Rosa CA. Bankruptcy has gone through many changes since then and has become increasingly time-consuming and complex. When I started, it was possible (although risky) for someone with consumer debt and few assets to successfully file their own bankruptcy. I would never want anyone to try that now.
The typical case now requires the filing of nearly twice the number of pages compared to when I started and has many requirements and traps that did not use to exist.