POOLE SHAFFERY - Key Persons
Brian Walters is a partner in the law firm of Poole Shaffery. He specializes in innovative legal strategy and creative problem solving on behalf of clients. His practice includes civil litigation and appeals, probate litigation, trust litigation, alternative dispute resolution, insurance coverage, employment, transactional, regulatory, healthcare, intellectual property, religious organizations and religious freedom, real estate, environmental and land use, corporate governance, privacy and cybersecurity, entertainment, constitutional law, higher education and general counsel services.
Graduating magna cum laude, Mr. Walters was the first ever graduate of the Bachelor of Arts in political science and Master of Public Administration joint degree at The George Washington University in 2000. He is a 2003 graduate of the UCLA School of Law, where he served as the Chief Articles Editor for the UCLA Journal of Law & Technology and on the Moot Court Honors Program Executive Board.
While in law school, Brian worked in the legal department of a Fortune 200 company. Upon graduating, he was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP representing Fortune 100 companies and other plaintiffs and defendants in commercial and general business litigation, antitrust, and unfair competition, class actions, regulatory and securities actions, higher education and intellectual property disputes. His clients included industry leaders in technology, retail, entertainment, insurance, telecommunications, transportation, accounting, energy and healthcare. He was also part of a legal team representing a pro bono client that helped obtain a rarely granted writ of certiorari from the United States Supreme Court that eventually led to a Supreme Court victory.
Mr. Walters left Gibson Dunn to become the General Counsel and top-3 executive for a publicly traded company. For more than a decade, he served as in-house general counsel advising companies in diverse industries, including real estate, private equity, healthcare, logistics, consumer goods and fintech.
His clients have also included three major world religious organizations, two of the largest healthcare organizations, multiple colleges, and one of the largest private companies in California, as well as startups. He is admitted to practice in the Central District of California and District of Colorado, as well as all California state courts. Mr. Walters is a member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Since 2009, Brian Walters has served on the Governing Board of the Newhall School District, recently identified in a Stanford University research study as the top elementary school district in the state of California. He is a past Director (2008-2013) for CPI Holdings, LLC, manufacturer of Champion and Tomco auto parts. He is the co-founder of the William S. Hart District (WiSH) Education Foundation (leading the legal team that set up the organization's 501(c)(3)), also serving two terms as Board Chairman. He is a founding member of the ESCAPE Theatre Advisory Board and also serves on the Board of Directors of the West Ranch Lacrosse Foundation. In total, he has served on the management team of more than a dozen organizations. He worked on Capitol Hill for both his Congressman and Senator. He also coached youth basketball, baseball, flag football and soccer. Mr. Walters is conversant in Spanish.
He is an Eagle Scout and was recognized in 2010 by the Santa Clarita Valley Business Journal and SCV Jaycees as a 40 Under Forty Honoree for exemplary professional and community contributions. In 2014, the California State Assembly honored Mr. Walters for his professional work and civic and community service.
Mr. Walters has represented plaintiffs and defendants evenly over the course of his career. Because of his lengthy tenure as a general counsel, and the breadth of his practice, he also has substantial transactional experience throughout the entire business life cycle, with deals totaling approximately $100 million, including real estate portfolios, commercial properties, landlord/tenant matters, mergers and acquisitions, buy-sell and partnership and business entity agreements.
He has appeared and argued in local and state administrative proceedings. He has led internal investigations, cybersecurity incident response teams, and government inquiry response teams. Leveraging his diversified and unique business and legal experience, knowledge and background, Mr. Walters is able to identify issues and solutions often overlooked by other legal counsel.
Chris S. Jacobsen is a partner in the corporate transactions and business law department at Poole Shaffery .
Mr. Jacobsen's extensive experience encompasses all legal aspects of the business life cycle, including: entity formation (corporations-for profit and non-profit, limited liability companies and partnerships); buy-sell arrangements and shareholders agreements; debt and equity financings; issuance, transfer and redemption of private company securities; real property purchase and development transactions; retail, commercial and office leases; equipment leasing; licensing (trademarks and software); distribution, supply, joint venture and other business operational agreements; private company purchase, sale and merger transactions; franchise matters; and entity dissolutions. In addition, Mr. Jacobsen has assisted business owners and executives with estate planning.
He has worked with clients in a wide variety of businesses and industries, including: aviation (brokerage, charter and maintenance); machine tools distribution; specialty manufacturing; mutual water companies; real estate (brokerage, management and development); veterinary practice; software development; health supplements; apparel (manufacturing and retail); printing; licensed contractors; food service; private schools; charitable and non-profit organizations; and equipment leasing operations.
Mr. Jacobsen maintains memberships in the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Santa Clarita Valley Bar Association. Mr. Jacobsen is active in the community and has served multiple terms on the Boards of Directors of the Valley Industry Association and the VIA Education Foundation. He served on the Board of Directors for Trinity Classical Academy, a private preparatory school in the Santa Clarita Valley, from 2003 to 2007.
Mr. Jacobsen has also done a wide variety of presentations:
i3 Advanced Technology Incubator Executive Forum Leadership Series: Best Practices for Accessing Capital, February 20, 2008
Small Business Development Center Entrepreneurs Conference, SpeedBIZ, October 2, 2007 and October 7, 2008
City of Santa Clarita Small Business Seminar, April 19, 2007
Prior to joining Poole Shaffery , Mr. Jacobsen was of counsel to a large California corporate transactional law firm, and also served as general counsel to a private investment fund.
David Poole specializes in civil litigation with a focus in the areas of complex business disputes, labor and employment, real property and environmental law. Mr. Poole received his B.A. in 1977 from U.C.L.A. and is a 1980 graduate of the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law. He was a Deputy Attorney General with the State of California, Department of Justice, in-house counsel with a large corporation and partner in a large national law firm before starting Poole Shaffery in 1998.
Mr. Poole has extensive jury trial experience in both state and federal courts. He has taken cases to trial in California in Superior courts in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Alameda, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Joaquin, Tulare, Fresno and San Diego. He has also taken federal cases to trial in the United States District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of California and the United States District Court for Maryland. He has argued appellate matters before the California Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court of the State of California and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
His representations have included defending and prosecuting claims on behalf of both domestic and international business entities and individuals in a variety of business, commercial, environmental, product liability, intellectual property, patent, trade secret, employment and real property matters. He has tried cases involving disputes in various industries including automotive, advertising, computer, entertainment, commercial real estate, industrial manufacturing, public utilities and military contracting.
He has written many articles on law related topics and is a frequent speaker and panelist at legal seminars and symposiums. He has served as a Judge Pro Tem in the Los Angeles Superior Court. He is active in the community and currently serves on boards for several non-profit entities.
Although a litigator and trial attorney, he will, where appropriate and possible, undertake significant efforts to resolve disputes at the outset to minimize the expenditure of attorney's fees. He is often involved in mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. However, when trial is the best option or is necessitated, he is experienced and successful. As one trial judge stated of him on the record following a lengthy trial: "The advocacy in this case was among the best I have ever seen in my career as a judge. . . . It was nothing short of brilliant." Los Angeles Superior Court, Official Transcript of Proceedings Case No. PC024246.
Mr. Poole has an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and has been selected as a "Super Lawyer" by Key Professional Media, Inc. as featured in Los Angeles Magazine from 2007 through 2020. Mr. Poole serves as Of Counsel to the firm.
G. Leanette Flentroy, Of Counsel to the firm, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and grew up in Oakland, California. Ms. Flentroy began her legal career as a prosecutor in the Office of the District Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco where she tried 21 jury trials. She later served the City and County in the Office of the City Attorney, working on the writs and appeals team and, next, in a general litigation group. Ms. Flentroy subsequently entered private practice where she has continued to practice as a civil litigator in the defense of toxic tort, product liability, and personal injury claims.
Ms. Flentroy is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she was invited to join the law journal, the "Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly", for her writing abilities and wrote and published a student note. While at Hastings, she also served as a summer law clerk with the United States Army, Judge Advocate General Corp, in Germany. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University at Long Beach.
Ms. Flentroy is a member of the California State Bar and is admitted to practice before the Northern District of California. She regularly volunteers with the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
Practice Areas
Litigation
Hunt Braly is a partner in the firm and heads the Land Use and Governmental Affairs practice groups. He has a strong record of success in resolving client's issues with various governmental entities and in obtaining land use approvals. Mr. Braly graduated from the University of Southern California in 1977 and Loyola of Los Angeles Law School in 1980.
From July 1983 until December 1992, Mr. Braly served as Chief of Staff to State Senator Ed Davis, the former Los Angeles Police Chief and Vice Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, Mr. Braly was integrally involved with the drafting and successful passage of legislation and initiatives.
When Senator Davis retired in 1992, Mr. Braly established his own law and lobbying practice in Santa Clarita. In May, 1999 Mr. Braly became a founding partner of Hacker, Kanowsky & Braly, LLP, a full-service law firm in Santa Clarita. In 2004, the firm changed its name to HackerBraly, LLP. Mr. Braly specialized in land use, development, and real estate law, along with lobbying matters with the firm until the firm disbanded in July 2011.
Mr. Braly assisted Golden Valley Ranch's commercial and residential development (which was approved in 2002), and Gate/King Partners' 4.5 million square feet commercial development in Newhall (which was approved unanimously on a 5 to 0 vote by the Santa Clarita City Council in 2003).
In 2008 Mr. Braly was retained by Henry Mayo Memorial Hospital to assist in its' effort to obtain approval of a 15 year Hospital Master. After a contentious two year process, the Master Plan was approved in December, 2009 by a 4 to 1 vote.
Mr. Braly's provided counsel to Vista Canyon Ranch, a mixed use project in Canyon Country, which was approved by the City of Santa Clarita in 2011. Mr. Braly is a registered lobbyist for numerous clients in the City of Santa Clarita and County of Los Angeles. In addition, he is a registered lobbyist in Sacramento for the Castaic Lake Water Agency.
In 2005 Mr. Braly received the 2005 Political Advocate of the Year award from the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce and has been consistently named one of the most influential persons in the Signal's annual List of the 51 Most Influential Santa Clarita Residents. He served on the Board of Directors of the Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce from 2006 through 2012, and has served as Co Chair of the Chambers Government Affairs Committee for 13 years. He currently serves as President of the Board of Bridge to Home, which operates the Santa Clarita Emergency Winter Shelter and provides other services to those in need, along the Habitat for Humanity SFV/SCV Board of Directors.
Mr. Braly has been a resident of Santa Clarita since 1989, where he resides with his wife, Pamela, and their daughter Morgan.
Mr. Braly has provided government affairs representation for numerous clients, including the Castaic Lake Water Agency in both Sacramento and Santa Clarita for the past 10 years.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Member of International Association of Defense
- Member of Themis Advocates Group
Jaion is a member of International Association of Defense Counsel, an invitation-only, peer reviewed group of approximately 2,500 members consisting of the world's leading corporate and insurance lawyers and insurance executives.
Jaion is also a member of Themis Advocates Group, a national network of preeminent law firms.
Jason A. Benkner is a Partner in the litigation department of Poole Shaffery . He is experienced in representation in all aspects of civil litigation in both state and federal court, as well as in mediation and arbitration. His litigation practice includes representing entities and individuals in general liability, products liability, business disputes, and toxic tort claims. Mr. Benkner also works to defend developers, general contractors and subcontractors in Construction Defect Litigation, including claims of defective design, materials, construction or subsurface conditions involving multi-unit residential projects.
Jason R. Beaman is an associate attorney in the law firm of Poole Shaffery . Mr. Beaman's practice includes general business and corporate law, probate, trust administration, and trademark law.
Mr. Beaman earned his Juris Doctor at Southwestern Law School in 2011. At Southwestern, Mr. Beaman graduated at the top of his class and received the Dean's Merit Scholarship, awarded to students who exhibit academic excellence. Mr. Beaman was admitted to the California Bar in 2011, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court Central District of California. He is a member of the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valley Bar Associations. Mr. Beaman graduated in 2006 from the University of California, Irvine, where he studied Political Science and was a member of the Dean's honor list for academic achievement.
Job Titles:
- Counsel
- of Counsel
- Member of the California State Bar
John J. Stanton, Of Counsel to the firm, was born in Inglewood, California in 1963. Mr. Stanton's litigation background includes extensive trial experience in a variety of areas including real property litigation; landlord-tenant, medical malpractice; bankruptcy; personal injury; product liability and premises liability matters.
Mr. Stanton is a graduate of Southwestern University School of Law, where he was named to the Who's Who of American Law Students, and was included on the Dean's List. He graduated from California State University, Long Beach in 1987, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Prior to entering the field of law, Mr. Stanton was a consumer loan officer and a real estate lending officer and underwriter with the nation's largest private credit union.
Mr. Stanton is a member of the California State Bar, and is admitted to practice before the Central District of California. He is also a member of the Orange County Bar Association and lectures part-time on consumer credit issues.