RAGGHIANTI FREITAS - Key Persons

Alison has extensive experience advising on complex regulatory, business, and intellectual property issues for clients in highly regulated industries, including cannabis, hemp, and health and wellness, and has served as general outside counsel to many of these companies. She provides guidance on licensing, regulatory compliance, packaging and labeling, and marketing and advertising. Alison teaches Cannabis Law and Policy at Santa Clara University School of Law, and regularly teaches CLE courses and speaks at industry events related to cannabis, hemp, cosmetics, and nutritional supplements. She has been interviewed and quoted by major media outlets including the BBC, KQED, LA Times, International Business Times, Huffington Post, ABC News, and Rolling Stone, and received the National Law Journal Trailblazer Award for her work on celebrity IP licensing deals in the cannabis space. When not busy representing her clients or teaching, Alison enjoys mountain biking, trail running, skiing, and hiking throughout Northern California.

Ashling represents clients in land use and litigation matters. She is proficient with the application of the Subdivision Map Act and the California Environmental Quality Act. Her practice also includes assisting clients with planning, zoning, and permitting issues and advising municipal and public agencies. Ashling practiced general civil litigation in Marin County previous to joining Ragghianti Freitas. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ashling was an environmental educator. She taught outdoor education at Walker Creek Ranch, Marin County's outdoor school. She was also a supervisor of the environmental education team at then Marin Conservation Corps. Ashling graduated cum laude with a degree in General Studies from Harvard University. She earned her Juris Doctorate with Honors from Golden Gate University School of Law, where she focused on environmental law. Ashling is a transplanted New Yorker who still believes that if the weather is nice she must be outdoors with her husband and 2 children.

Job Titles:

• President of the Board of Directors for Alternate Defenders Incorporated

Charlie currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for Alternate Defenders Incorporated which is the governing body for the local conflict indigent defense panel. He was formerly the President of the Marin County Bar Association and remains on the Board of Directors of multiple regional non-profits. He has volunteered as a football coach at Redwood High School. Charlie is a lifelong Marin County resident, leaving to attend Pitzer College and the McGeorge School of Law. While at Pitzer college, Charlie was a four-year letterman for the football team and a four-year starter on the rugby team, finishing as rugby team captain his senior year.

Christopher Hayes represents clients in civil litigation and appeals. He focuses on business disputes, complex commercial litigation, and securities litigation. Christopher also represents clients in litigation over governance and control of business entities such as corporations and limited liability companies. He helps clients obtain insurance coverage to defend against pending litigation and indemnify for settlements and judgments. Christopher's insurance coverage practice includes litigating against insurance carriers for bad-faith denial of coverage. Christopher has extensive experience in securities litigation. He won a published decision of first impression in Madden v. Cowen & Company (9th Cir. 2009) 576 F.3d 957, interpreting the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998. He has also litigated disputes over investment advisory services both in court and in FINRA arbitration. Christopher also counsels churches and other religious organizations in litigation, corporate governance, charitable trust law, tax exemption compliance, employment law, ecclesiastical law, and clergy discipline. Christopher serves as Chancellor to The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of California, which exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction over more than 75 Bay Area congregations. As Chancellor, Christopher serves as general counsel, advising on external civil legal matters as well as internal issues of canon law and corporate governance. Christopher regularly teaches continuing legal education to other church lawyers, focusing on First Amendment issues, attorney ethics, clergy discipline, and employment laws affecting churches. Christopher has been a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2017. He is an avid runner.

Job Titles:

• School Scholarship Foundation, Board Member and Former President

Job Titles:

• Partner

Eric Sternberger is a partner of Ragghianti Freitas LLP. Mr. Sternberger acts as outside general counsel to corporations, LLC's and partnerships, with an emphasis on corporate transactions, succession planning, joint ventures, contracts, mergers and acquisitions, secured financing, and real estate matters. His representative clients include start-up and seasoned enterprises in technology, manufacturing, marine service providers, and the real estate and healthcare industries. Mr. Sternberger's business counseling also includes advising directors, officers, and managers regarding business strategies, consensus building and corporate governance. Additionally, he advises shareholders and LLC interest holders regarding their rights and fiduciary protections. Mr. Sternberger additionally provides risk analysis and negotiation services on behalf of Angel Investment, as they relate to bridge loan financing, convertible securities, and direct stock acquisition. Along with his transactional practice, Mr. Sternberger maintains a complex business litigation practice dealing primarily with business disputes and shareholder disagreements and provides mediation services (www.sternberger-adr.com) emphasizing business disputes. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Sternberger has made a point to volunteer and provide pro bono legal services. He served as a Marin County Commissioner, acting as Chair of the Adult Criminal Justice Commission advising the Marin County Board of Supervisors on all aspects of criminal justice prosecution and prevention. Mr. Sternberger is the former Chair of the California State Bar Committee on Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies (2007-2008); served for many years on the Board of Directors of the Marin County Bar Association; serves on the Advisory Board of Presidio Bank, now Heritage Bank of Commerce (2016-present); and was the President of the Richard M. Sangster American Inn of Court (2008-2009). Eric Sternberger is a native of Marin County, where he continues to reside.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Marin County Bar Association

Habib is a corporate attorney representing clients in complex commercial transactions. Habib advises his clients with choosing the appropriate entity structure for their business, structuring ownership, raising capital, drafting and negotiating contracts, joint ventures, private offerings, strategic alliances and licensing agreements, due diligence, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory compliance. Habib's practice also includes representing and advising businesses in the cannabis industry. Habib regularly speaks at industry conferences and bar associations on the legal issues facing California's cannabis industry. Habib received his J.D. and a certificate in International and Comparative Law from DePaul University in Chicago, where he was also named a Sullivan Fellow with the Human Rights Institute to study the legal regimes of Middle Eastern and North African countries. Habib is a member of the Board of Directors of the Marin County Bar Association and the junior varsity assistant basketball coach at San Marin High School. In his free time, you can find Habib coaching his son's little league team, playing basketball in a recreational league (B league, no longer in A as his wife likes to regularly point out), and exploring beautiful Northern California with his family.

Job Titles:

• Emeritus
• Member of the Firm

John Ralph Thomas, an emeritus member of the firm, was born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County. He has lived his entire life in Marin except for service in the U. S. Navy. Ralph has had extensive experience in the Marin legal community, first for five years as a Senior Trial Attorney for the Marin County District Attorney's Office, then16 years as a partner in Kuhn, Thomas & Levy, finally joining this firm in 1987 where he focused his practice on criminal defense. He served in the U. S. Naval Reserve on active duty for five years and retired from the Reserve program after 30 years of service with the rank of Captain. He has served as Director, Secretary, and President of the Marin County Bar Association. He is a member of the California State Bar Association. Ralph has also served as Judge Pro Tempore. As an acting judge appointed by the courts, he presided over jury and court trials in Marin County. He has also been appointed by the Marin County Superior Court as a "Special Master," to assist the court in managing litigation matters.

Jose joined Ragghianti Freitas LLP as a law clerk in 2012 before becoming an attorney. Jose's practice focuses on employment-related litigation matters, including wage and hour violations, wrongful termination, unlawful harassment and discrimination, defamation, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Before joining the firm, Jose served as an extern for the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, and as a judicial extern at the California Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, and the United States District Court, Northern District of California. Through his externships, Jose gained significant appellate and trial court experience in a wide array of civil matters, ranging from shareholder derivative suits to false claims actions, and from habeas corpus proceedings to commercial litigation.

Job Titles:

• Investment Adviser

Jack has over twenty years' experience in general business and securities transactions while focusing on representing investment advisers, fund managers and others in the investment management industry. He acts as outside general counsel to a variety of clients providing corporate and business advice on a broad spectrum of business, operational, mergers and acquisitions, and other matters. Jack counsels investment advisers, wealth managers, and fund managers ranging from start-ups to those with billions in assets under management on all manner of advisory operations, federal and state regulatory compliance, registration and exemptions from registration under federal and state securities and investment adviser laws. Jack is the author of the Investment Adviser Law Blog, providing information and discussion of interest to investment advisers, private fund managers and others in the investment management industry. Jack enjoys trail running in Marin and skiing, hiking and backpacking in the Sierra Nevada with his wife and three sons. He has served as a youth sports coach and member of a variety of local boards and commissions.

Dave Feingold has been handling real estate and construction matters, and related litigation, since 1986. He is also a recognized expert in common interest development law, and represents community associations, both as general and litigation counsel, throughout the Bay Area. He also publishes and speaks extensively at legal seminars state wide on the subject of common interest developments and standard of care issues. He has significant transactional and litigation experience with construction projects, and complex multi-party construction defect litigation. He has worked with owners and Associations on hundreds of residential projects, ranging from ground up construction to complex, high value renovation projects. Although he is an experienced trial attorney, he uses modern dispute resolution techniques to avoid costly litigation whenever possible. He is also an active and sought-after mediator, who is known for his attention to detail and tenacity in working with counsel and their clients to resolve conflict. He finds that his experience as a Reserve Police Officer with the City of San Rafael has been most useful in his mediation practice. Dave has an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale Hubble, is a former President of Marin County Bar Association, a former reserve police officer, and has consistently been named as a Northern California "Super Lawyer," which is a designation awarded to the top 5% of attorneys in Northern California. When not busy serving his community or representing his clients, Mr. Feingold enjoys road biking, paddle boarding and spending time with his family.

Job Titles:

• Civil Litigation Partner
• Co - Chair of the Marin County Bar Association Construction Law Section

Matt Haulk is a civil litigation partner and trial attorney with Ragghianti Freitas, LLP. Matt specializes in real estate and construction disputes and has extensive experience as general counsel to common interest developments and homeowners associations. Matt also represents employees in claims for wage and hour violations, wrongful termination, and discrimination. Matt's real estate and construction experience includes contract disputes, defect and delay claims, mechanics lien and stop notice claims, commercial lease disputes, landslide and inverse condemnation claims, and partition actions. As outside general counsel for common interest developments, Matt provides general governance services (interpreting, drafting, amending, and enforcing CC&Rs) and counseling and litigation services related to Board obligations under the Davis Stirling Act, common law fiduciary duties, and compliance with state and federal anti-discrimination laws. Matt is the co-chair of the Marin County Bar Association Construction Law Section. While in law school, he clerked for Judge A. James Robertson II of the San Francisco Superior Court. Before becoming an attorney, Matthew taught high school English in Brescia, Italy and Milan, Italy.

Job Titles:

• General Counsel
• Chancellor and Chief Legal Officer of the Diocese of San Joaquin

Michael has been representing individuals, businesses, and other organizations in business and corporate transactional and litigation matters. He counsels clients in entity formation, and governance issues, including initial capitalizations, acquisitions, and asset purchases. Additionally, Michael has served as outside general counsel to businesses and non-profits in a broad spectrum of industries and service sectors. Michael practices and manages litigation, including investor disputes, contract disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair business practices, and other disputes, including complex litigation matters. Michael also represents clients in complex real estate financing and commercial real estate transactions. He has successfully handled related litigation involving financing disputes, loan workouts, and lender liability issues. Michael serves as the Chancellor and chief legal officer of the Diocese of San Joaquin in The Episcopal Church advising the Bishop and various Diocesan governing bodies and institutions on secular legal issues, Church canons and ecclesiastical proceedings.

Job Titles:

• Civil Litigation Partner

Paul Gruwell is a civil litigation partner of Ragghianti Freitas LLP. He specializes in Trust and Estate Litigation and represents individuals, families, and fiduciaries in all phases of disputes, including through contested evidentiary hearings and trials. His practice in this area spans trust and will contests, fiduciary breach of duty, removal of trustees and executors, accounting disputes, probate disputes, surcharge actions, fee disputes, and appeals. Paul also handles financial elder abuse matters, which often arise in conjunction with Trust and Estate Litigation. In addition, Paul has substantial experience with Business Litigation and Real Estate Litigation. His Business Litigation experience includes disputes between business owners, breach of contract, fraud, business torts, unfair business practices, and lost profits. His real estate work involves representing commercial and residential property owners in matters involving neighbor disputes and landslide litigation. Earlier in his career, Paul spent several years at a regional, full-service law firm in San Francisco and a few years at a boutique litigation firm in Dallas, Texas. He feels fortunate to call Marin home and is proud to have established his reputation in the San Francisco Bay Area legal community. Paul enjoys sailing and exploring the outdoors with his wife and two children.

Peter Spoerl has 17 years of experience as an attorney advising on land use, planning, CEQA, redevelopment and other areas of municipal law. He has served as transactional counsel for numerous institutional, civil infrastructure and economic development projects for public agencies, private developments and public-private partnerships throughout California. Peter has extensive experience and expertise with land use matters. He has advised both public and private clients with respect to nearly every aspect of California land use regulation, including procedural and noticing requirements for quasi-judicial and legislative hearings, the Permit Streamlining Act, issues related to General and Specific plans, zoning, use permits, variances, legal non-conforming uses, vested rights, the Subdivision Map Act, housing and affordable housing, real estate, exactions, fees and nexus limitations on fees and dedications, and regional planning issues. In his capacity as lead counsel to several local Planning Commissions, Peter has also developed expertise and wide-ranging experience with CEQA in the land use context. He has reviewed and drafted CEQA documents for numerous lead agencies, including Negative Declarations, Mitigated Negative Declarations, Environmental Impact Reports ("EIRs"), Subsequent and Supplemental EIRs and Addenda to EIRs, Statements of Overriding Considerations and findings, as well as accompanying legislation. In addition to his experience with land use practice, Peter also has extensive experience negotiating and drafting legal instruments related to both acquisition and disposition of real property for California public agencies, as well as managing outside counsel handling real estate transactions on behalf of his clients. He has had primary responsibility for transactions ranging from utility easements and single parcels to complex developments that involve multi-party, multi-parcel and multi-phased developments. Peter has negotiated, reviewed and drafted real estate acquisition, development, disposition, financing and leasing documents (including Purchase and Sale Agreements, Option and Purchase Agreements, Development Agreements and Disposition and Development Agreements) for redevelopment agencies, municipalities and other public entities. He also drafts numerous lease agreements, rights of entry, encroachment permits and licenses. As a former in-house City Attorney, Peter also has years of experience in Public Administration and as a general municipal practitioner. He has an extensive background in administrative procedure (the Ralph M. Brown Act, Public Records Act), ethics laws (the Political Reform Act, Government Code 1090), issues of municipal structure, statutory and constitutional limitations on municipal authority, and First Amendment issues. Peter has provided counsel and substantial advisory memoranda on elections law, ballots, initiatives and referenda, election contests, recall, and campaign regulations. Prior to joining Ragghianti Freitas, Peter worked as a City Attorney to several California municipalities, serving as Senior Deputy City Attorney in Land Use to the City of Oakland from 2017-2018, and as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Napa from 2008-2017, providing daily procedural and transactional advice on a wide array of matters including land use, contracting, public records, conflicts of interest and elections. Peter previously worked as an associate at Meyers Nave in Oakland, where he advised cities, redevelopment agencies, special districts and other public agencies on a range of issues.

Job Titles:

• Inn of Court ( past President )

Riley is Marin County's go-to land use attorney. For nearly two decades he has successfully represented high profile clients in one of the most challenging development regions in the Country. As a Marin native, he is intimately familiar with the physical and political landscapes that define local land use policies. Riley has appeared multiple times in front of every Planning Commission and City Council in Marin, and has previously served as the Deputy City Attorney for various local cities. He has been a part of some of the County's most sophisticated and noteworthy development projects, ranging from the largest multifamily residential development to the region's most expensive home. His clients include celebrities of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, as well as some of the Country's biggest developers. He has been at the tip of the spear implementing the State's newest housing laws in a rapidly changing regulatory environment. Riley has significant experience in: Multifamily residential developments State Density Bonus projects The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Entitling new and remodeled estate residences Conditional use permits Easement law Boundary disputes and encroachment matters Title claims and issues Coastal and BCDC permits Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) Tree and view claims Special District law Education: After attending St. Ignatius High School, Riley obtained a degree in Environmental Policy and Analysis Planning from the University of California at Davis. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, with an emphasis on environmental and municipal law.

Tim was admitted to practice in California in 2004. His early career was spent litigating complex civil matters, many of which involved potential verdicts in the millions of dollars. Tim went on to specialize in estate planning and trust and estate administration and litigation, an area in which he now focuses his practice. Tim is comfortable handling all stages of litigation, including discovery, mediation, law and motion and trials. Moreover, Tim has extensive estate planning, drafting and administration experience, which he is able to bring to bear to provide his clients with comprehensive and effective representation.