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Michael A. Fiumara
Born
in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Fiumara graduated from
Rutgers University with a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa.
He received a Master's Degree in City Planning
from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Later, he earned his Law Degree from the Rutgers
University School of Law, Camden, 1989.
Mr. Fiumara has been practicing primarily in the
areas of criminal defense, personal injury and
land use and zoning law for the past fourteen
years in Sonoma County. Hence, Mr. Fiumara is
very familiar with the local Sonoma County Judges,
court procedures and the way to get things done
on your behalf. |
CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Mr.
Fiumara takes a great deal of pride in working
together with the local courts, the prosecution,
probation and program providers to tailor alternatives
to jail and/or prison. Please also see our other
website: www.avoidjailnow.com.
For
those defendants the prosecution can prove guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt, Mr. Fiumara's keen
negotiation skills and his assertive demeanor
have been instrumental in obtaining favorable
sentences. When trial is necessary, Mr. Fiumara
has been known to team up with the best litigators
to make sure that you have all of the resources
that you need to win your case and get an acquittal.
Strategy and winning pre-trial motions from
the very beginning is the first line of defense.
In the very least, Mr. Fiumara has a good track
record of reducing an accused person's fines
and reducing charges from felonies to misdemeanors.
Mr. Fiumara has also worked to set aside and
expunge felonies and misdemeanors so that defendants
can get a new start on life.
The
types of criminal defense cases Mr. Fiumara
has had experience working on include, but is
not limited to:
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All
serious felonies
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All misdemeanor cases
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All juvenile law matters
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Domestic violence
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Drug possession/sale
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Marijuana possession
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Assault/battery
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Theft/embezzlement
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All DUI cases
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Repeat offenders
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Driving with a suspended license
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DMV hearings
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Probation violation hearings
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Fraud/forgery
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Sex crimes/lewd conduct
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Indecent exposure and sex related cases
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Shoplifting/theft
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Trespassing
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Fishing &
game violations
CURRENT CASES:
Michael
A. Fiumara is one of the lead attorneys
representing the seven victims who are
suing fugitive Priest Reverend Xavier
Ochoa, the Santa Rosa Diocese, and Bishop
Daniel Walsh in a lawsuit for damages
related to multiple occurrences of childhood
sexual abuse.
Michael A. Fiumara, who primarily practices
as a criminal defense attorney, has associated
Michael D. Meadows, from the Casper, Meadows,
Schwartz, and Cook Law Firm in Walnut
Creek, to assist him in efforts to bring
the fugitive Priest to justice and hold
the Diocese of Santa Rosa and the Bishop
responsible.
This
story already has been aired on Channels
50 (Santa Rosa), 4, 5, and 7 in the Bay
Area, and on CNN.
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PERSONAL
INJURY
Mr.
Fiumara has been practicing personal injury
law as long as he has criminal defense. However,
prior to moving to Sonoma County, Mr. Fiumara
had the distinction of working with a well respected
San Francisco boutique insurance defense law
firm in the financial district. There he gained
very valuable insight on how the insurance industry
values and defends claims. With this experience,
Mr. Fiumara has been very effective at settling
personal injury claims often without the need
to litigate, thus saving the aggrieved and injured
plaintiff time and expense. But, when litigation
is required to obtain a fair monetary award,
Mr. Fiumara and his team of investigators and
litigators go all out pulling no stops.
The
types of personal injury cases that Mr. Fiumara
and his team of litigators have a great deal
of experience working on include, but is not
limited to the following:
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All
automobile accidents and collisions
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Motorcycle accidents
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Bicycle accidents
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Passenger rights
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Bus/train/public transit accidents
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Pedestrian injuries
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Animal inflicted injuries/dog bites
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Slip, trip, and fall injuries
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Work related injuries
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Wrongful death
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Industrial
accidents
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Explosion/burn injuries
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Electrocution
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Farm
and ranch accidents
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All other accidents involving injury or loss
of life, including fatal automobile accidents
LAND USE
Mr.
Fiumara has the unique distinction in this County
of not only possessing a Law Degree, but he
had earned a separate Master's Degree in City
Planning from one of the best Ivy League Schools
in the Country, the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia. Before practicing law, his
second career, Mr. Fiumara had more than 15
years of land use, zoning and government work
experience. He worked for the infamous New York
City Mayor Edward Koch in the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB). If you can work for Mayor
Koch and survive in New York City at the same
time, you can thrive anywhere else! Later, the
City of Newark, New Jersey hired Mr. Fiumara
as their Senior Comprehensive Planner for the
City. He stayed in that position until he began
law school at Rutgers University in New Jersey
because he wanted to be further challenged.
Mr.
Fiumara also gained insightful and valuable
land use experience when he served as a tremendously
active planning board member in a rapidly growing
Philadelphia suburb, Voorhees, New Jersey. There
he worked with planners, developers, politicians
and individual property owners to develop and
implement a master plan and site design review
plan. In Philadelphia, while a graduate student
at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fiumara
worked in the City's Gift Property Program where
he worked with a wide variety of community groups
and nonprofit organizations to help improve
the City's housing stock. This valuable land
use experience and organizational skill development
has sharpened Mr. Fiumara's ability to successfully
resolve many of the complex land use conflicts
that he is hired to resolve in Santa Rosa and
in Sonoma County.
The
types of land use &
zoning cases Mr. Fiumara has had experience
working on include, but is not limited to:
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Violation
of Sonoma County or Santa Rosa building and/or
zoning codes
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Illegal dwelling unit issues/red tag concerns
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Construction without permits/unlawful construction
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Illegal septic systems
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Structures converted to a second unit illegally
(illegal conversions)
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Nuisance abatement
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Use permits/modifications/variances
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Business licenses
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Alcohol Beverage Commission (ABC) hearings
(all administrative hearings)
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Legalize unlawful construction
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Eminent domain
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Water &
sewer connections/ City utilities
EDUCATION LAW AND STUDENT ADVOCACY
Mr.
Fiumara has had the unique experience of having
been employed by the Santa Rosa City School
District as an outreach leader and liaison for
the students, particularly Latino and minority
students. This experience enables Mr. Fiumara
to understand how School Districts respond to
student discipline and other safety concerns
on campus. Hence, Mr. Fiumara has represented
numerous students against an over zealous zero
tolerant School District for infractions relating
to the Education Code. Mr. Fiumara has represented
dozens of students in disciplinary hearings
before administrative panels and school boards
for students who have been denied their due
process rights by inflexible disciplinary codes
that use catch all categories such as "insubordination
and disrespect" to mandate suspension or
expulsion without regard to the circumstances
or nature of the offense or the student's history.
Mr. Fiumara's strong advocacy on behalf of his
clients has been covered by the PacificSun and
The San Francisco Daily Journal. Copies of these
articles will be furnished upon request.
Mr.
Fiumara has challenged expulsion proceedings
which violate students' rights due to violation
of their due process rights and has worked with
other counsel around the State to expunge school
board policies (see the San Francisco Daily
Journal, Wednesday, November 20, 2002, front
page story "Class Actions -Do Expulsion
Proceedings Violate Students' Due Process Rights?
Lawyers Defending Several Young Men Argue That
They Do").
Mr.
Fiumara has appeared before many local and Bay
Area School Boards representing students in
expulsion hearings. He has been successful at
working out arrangements to avoid the harsh
effects of expulsion. Instead of expulsion,
Mr. Fiumara has negotiated reasonable suspended/expulsion
terms and conditions which allow the students
back into the classroom while at the same time
protects the student's school record. Often
times the student's cumulative school file and
school records are incorrect or include information
that could be potentially harmful. Mr. Fiumara
has successfully used the Education Code to
remove erroneous records, comments and other
harmful information from the student's cumulative
and other school files.
ORGANIZATIONS/AFFILIATIONS
Since
moving to Santa Rosa in 1992, Mr. Fiumara has
been socially and politically active in many
of Sonoma County's civic and nonprofit organizations.
In addition, Mr. Fiumara stays politically active
and has worked on numerous political judicial
races and campaigns. Here are some of Mr. Fiumara's
involvements that help define his interest in
the Community:
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Member,
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
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Member, California Public Defender's Association
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Member, Criminal Defense Section of the Sonoma
County Bar
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Board Member, Friends Outside, an organization
that helps inmates and their families
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Advisory Board Member, The Friends of the
Sonoma County Library
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Member and Volunteer for the Sonoma County
Council on Aging and a Panelist on their Lawyer
Referral Service
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Member, Sonoma County Lawyer Referral Service,
Recipient of Certificate of Appreciation
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Past Vice President and Member of the Consumer
Attorneys of Sonoma County
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Advisory Board Member, Fountaingrove Lodge
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Advisor and Board Member of GLSEN
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Former Board Member, Sonoma County Ombudsman
Program (now referred to as the Senior Advocacy
Services)
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Former
Member, Santa Rosa Downtown Business Association
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Member, former Co-Chair of the Scholarship
Committee of the Sonoma County Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce
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Advisory Board and Member of Sonoma County
Adult Literacy
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Past President, current Board Member of the
Santa Rosa Democratic Club
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Former Volunteer and Employee at the Santa
Rosa Junior High School, hired as Liaison
and Outreach Leader in the Latino Community,
and employed by Santa Rosa City Board of Education
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Jackie Martens
Jackie
L. Martens has been serving clients in Sonoma
and Marin Counties in private practice since 1995,
and has worked exclusively in the legal field
for over 23 years. She graduated from Empire College
School of Law in 1995, and was admitted to the
Bar that year.
During her final year of law school, she clerked
for a family law judge in Sonoma County. Ms. Martens
is a member of the Family Law Sections of the
Sonoma and Marin County Bar Associations.
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She serves as a Judge Pro Tem in small claims
matters and volunteers for Legal Aid to help low-income
individuals. She appeared on the Len Tilleman
radio show on KGO in April 2006 to discuss the
recent changes in the law effecting registered
domestic partners, custody matters, and other
family law issues.
Ms.
Martens has helped hundreds of clients through
emotionally difficult divorces, high-conflict
custody matters, spousal and child support issues,
and property disputes. She also assists unmarried
couples, both same-sex and heterosexual couples,
to establish custody and visitation rights, and
to enforce agreements between couples to pool
income, share assets, and provide support.
Ms.
Martens’ philosophy is to assist her clients
efficiently and effectively through complex family
law issues so they can ultimately move on with
their lives as smoothly as possible. Sensitive
to the stress and difficulties clients experience
in litigation, she seeks to resolve cases efficiently
and economically through negotiation and mediation,
but aggressively litigates cases, including through
trial, when necessary.
In
addition to family law, Ms. Martens assists clients
in estate planning matters, including preparing
Living Trusts, Wills, and Durable Powers of Attorney
for her clients at a reasonable cost, as well
as handling probate matters, and establishing
conservatorships and guardianships. She also represents
clients in construction matters, real estate and
contract disputes, and other partnership and business
disputes. Ms. Martens has handled over 80 construction
defect cases, and numerous other real property
cases involving failure to disclose defects upon
sale, easement issues, and title disputes.
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