BOBBITT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Certified Instructor for California POST
Brad is a certified instructor for California POST training and has served as an instructor for PORAC'S Internal Affairs training seminars. Brad has taught police association contract enforcement classes at PORAC'S annual training symposium. Brad also provides training to administrators, supervisors and officers in matters ranging from critical incident response to the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights.
As our firm's Legal Administrator, Cari is responsible for managing the firm's administrative and financial functions, administering the firm's employee representation programs, as well as overseeing the support staff.
Job Titles:
- Legal Administrative Assistant
Job Titles:
- Partner
- FOUNDING PARTNER - DECEASED
Prior to joining the legal profession, Everett served in the United States Marine Corps, including two years combat experience in Vietnam. After leaving the Marine Corps, Everett served 13 years as an El Cajon Police Officer reaching the rank of Lieutenant. Everett attended and completed law school while he was employed full-time as a law enforcement officer.
In 1984, Everett graduated with honors from Western State University College of Law (now Thomas Jefferson School of Law) and immediately began representing police officers as a staff attorney for the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC). Everett practiced for more than 20 years providing a full range of legal services to law enforcement officers and their families. Everett not only worked in the law enforcement arena, he also married within it. Everett met his wife Maudie while both were detectives assigned to investigate child abuse and sex crimes. Maudie subsequently went on to become the first female Assistant Sheriff in the history of the San Diego Sheriff's Department. She then retired and became the Chief of Police at the University of California San Diego campus.
During the active years of Everett's practice, he represented hundreds of law enforcement officers in Criminal, Civil and administrative proceedings. Under his tutelage, the law firm enjoyed repeated success when defending officers in civil and administrative cases. On several occasions, Superior Court judges have declared clients factually innocent of all criminal charges including one case tried as a capital murder.
Everett litigated numerous civil matters including some that resulted in multi-million dollar judgments. Cases include a more than four million dollar judgment for a murdered California police chief's family. He was particularly successful in litigation involving the Fair Labor Standards Act. Millions of dollars have been awarded in judgments by the United States Court of Federal Claims to federal law enforcement officers involved in overtime claims. Most recently, the United States Government conceded and paid additional millions of dollars in back pay claims involving litigation for hundreds of other federal law enforcement officers.
Everett's legal work spanned more than two decades and was instrumental in protecting privacy and due process rights for hundreds of individual law enforcement officers and preserving those same rights for future generations of officers. In addition to the passionate representation of individual officers, Everett was a major force in labor contract negotiations. He also was a highly popular and sought after speaker, presenter and instructor on topics relating to officers' rights.
Everett officially retired in December 2006, and passed away from pancreatic cancer the following October. In honor of his career and dedication to protecting law enforcement officers, he will live on in the name of the law firm now managed and operated by Rick and Brad.
Rick Pinckard has been a practicing attorney in California since December 1987. His practice areas have included employment and labor law, criminal law and administrative law. Rick currently specializes exclusively in the representation of public safety officers. Rick's connection to public safety dates back to 1979, when he worked as an administrative intern for the United States Bureau of Prisons while completing his Bachelor's degree in Political Science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. After graduating in 1980, Rick further pursued his interests in public safety and law enforcement by joining the San Diego Police Department. As a Police Officer, Rick worked in Patrol, Traffic, In-Service Training, and the centralized FTO Administration. During his last three years on the Police Department, Rick worked full-time while attending law school. While in law school, Rick was selected to write for the Law Review. His submission on Pitchess motions was published and he returned the following year to the editorial board of the Law Review.
Upon graduation from Western State University College of Law in 1987, Rick was appointed as a Deputy City Attorney for the San Diego City Attorney's Office. During Rick's tenure in the City Attorney's office he was initially assigned as a criminal prosecutor. Soon thereafter he was selected to head a committee of prosecutors specializing in the prosecution of cases where law enforcement officers were victims; he was also responsible for training new prosecutors. From prosecution, Rick moved into an advisory position where he was assigned as a legal advisor to the Chief of Police. In this role, Rick was responsible for a broad range of municipal law issues, including labor and employment, public records requests, Pitchess motions, operational issues, interactions between the Police Department and the City Council, drafting local ordinances, and prosecuting discipline matters.
In 1991, Rick left the City Attorney's Office when he was appointed by the Sheriff of San Diego County to be the Chief Legal Advisor for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. At various times in that role, Rick's clients included the Sheriff, his executive staff and the Department's 3,000 employees. As the Sheriff's independent counsel, part of Rick's role was reviewing all serious discipline investigations and administratively prosecuting all disciplinary actions. Rick was also responsible for representing the Sheriff's position during collective bargaining. After Rick's initial 4-year appointment, the Sheriff who appointed him was defeated by a successor. The successor Sheriff reappointed Rick as his Chief Legal Advisor.
After 18 years in government employment, principally relating to law enforcement and management side public safety issues, Rick entered the private sector as an Associate Attorney in the Law Offices of Everett L. Bobbitt. Since 1997, with the exception of workers' compensation and disability issues, Rick has focused exclusively in all aspects of the representation of law enforcement officers, including criminal defense in both State and Federal courts, Cumis counsel, Internal Affairs investigations, Officer-Involved Shooting Incidents, collective bargaining, and defense of disciplinary actions. Rick has represented hundreds of local, state and federal officers in investigations and administrative proceedings before local civil service commissions, the California State Personnel Board and the United States Merit Systems Protection Board. Additionally, Rick has fought to protect peace officers' rights by initiating and pursuing legal actions on behalf of officers in all levels of the State courts and in the Federal courts. Rick's efforts have contributed to or directly resulted in numerous appellate court decisions.
In addition to being licensed in California, Rick is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court (Central and Southern Districts of California), the United States Court of Appeal, Ninth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit, the United States Court of Claims and the United States Supreme Court. Rick has also been a member of the adjunct faculty for the San Diego Community College District since 1986, where he continues to teach courses in Criminal Justice and Constitutional Law. Rick has been an active instructor and presenter for POST, PORAC and NAPO and he has been specially invited by several law enforcement agencies to provide training to sworn supervisors and employees in officer rights and liability issues.
In 2001 Everett elevated Rick to Partner and renamed the firm Bobbitt & Pinckard. In 2005, Rick was named the Managing Partner of the firm, and in 2007 Rick became the Senior Partner and owner with Everett's retirement and subsequent passing. The firm will continue to be known as Bobbitt Pinckard & Fields, APC. Along with Rick and his Partner, Brad Fields, the firm presently serves its clients' needs with five attorneys, a full-time investigator, a legal programs administrator and a paralegal.
Bob was very active in his police association having served as president, treasurer and chief negotiator over a period of many years. In those roles Bob became a lay advocate for the association's membership. Bob, along with some strong board members at the time, pioneered political activism from the association level. From the chair of the presidency of his association he was able to successfully coordinate the first successful job action by the Oceanside Police Officers' Association. This valuable experience carries over to his law practice when faced with the possibility of coordinating such efforts on behalf of his clients. In short, Bob has "been there, done that" and has an intimate understanding of the officers' point of view. It has become necessary to employ those skills for a number of clients over the past 30 years of practicing law on behalf of peace officer clients.