PATRICK W. EMERY

Education:
Harvard University
(B.A., 1969, Cum Laude)
University of California - Davis
(J.D., 1974)

Admitted:
California (1974)
United States District Court, Northern District of California (1974)
United States District Court, Central District of California (2002)
United States District Court, Eastern District of California (1997)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Affiliations:
American Board of Trial Advocates
Sonoma County Bar Association (President, 1986)
Sonoma County Fairs and Expositions (President, 1992-1993)
Sonoma County Civil Service Commission (Chairman, 1999)
Volunteer Center of Sonoma County (President, 2004-2006)
Professor of Law - Trial Practice, Empire School of Law
Instructor - Trial Advocacy, Stanford Law School
The State Bar of California
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Consumer Attorneys of California

Publications
Articles Editor, University of California, Davis, Law Review

Specialties
Personal Injury
Products Liability
Business Tort Litigation
Consumer Class Actions

Practice Emphasis:
Pat has been practicing law in Sonoma County for 30 years. Since 1974, he has been an active litigator, trying every kind of case. Early in his career, Pat acted as trial counsel in easement disputes, divorces, felony prosecutions, medical malpractice trials, custody disputes, and many other types of contested litigation. For many years he served as litigation counsel for major insurance carriers and major regional banks, in addition to many individuals and prominent Sonoma County businesses.

For the last 15 years, Pat’s focus has been on large case litigation, principally from the plaintiff’s perspective. That activity has yielded multiple million dollar plus settlements and judgments, including many in the areas of personal injury, product liability, consumer class action and medical negligence. A number of those settlements and judgments have been achieved against major national corporations.

Throughout the period, Pat has also continued to represent individuals and businesses in selected litigation from the defense side. Much of the latter representation involves issues relating to agricultural production and financing.

Pat has been an active member of the legal community, serving as President of the Sonoma County Bar Association and currently as a member of the Sangster Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He has presided over cases as a judge pro-tem of the Sonoma County Superior Court and as an agreed arbitrator and mediator in many matters. He is a frequent continuing education lecturer on civil litigation subjects for a variety of organizations, including CEB. He is an elected member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Pat’s community involvements include the Presidency of the Boards of Directors of Sonoma County Fairs and Expositions and the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. He has also served as the Chair of the Sonoma County Civil Service Commission.