Real Estate

With respect to real estate litigation, we primarily represent individuals who have been the victims of discrimination or harassment by their landlords. We work for the rights of those who have been wrongfully evicted from their homes and defend against landlords who unlawfully infringe on their rights and attempt to improperly displace them from their homes. It is important to us that we help those who have been treated unfairly by their landlords. We also negotiate with landlords on behalf of tenants in some circumstances. We primarily practice in San Francisco, but we have taken cases in the other Bay Area counties. In addition, we also do employment, general appellate cases, insurance bad faith, personal injury, and child custody work.

• Condominiums & Cooperatives
• Construction Defects
• Homeowners' Associations
• Insurance
• Mechanics' Liens
• Mold Claims
• Renting & Leasing

• Broker & Transaction Litigation
• Condominiums & Cooperatives
• Construction Contracts
• Construction Defects
• Homeowners' Associations
• Insurance
• Mechanics' Liens
• Mold Claims
• Real Estate Loans
• Renting & Leasing
• Tenant
• Tenants' Rights

Employment & Labor Relations

With respect to employment litigation, we primarily represent individuals who have been the victims of discrimination (disability, race, gender, sexual orientation), other wrongful employment actions in violation of public policy, and wage and hour claims. It is important to us that we help those who have been treated unfairly by their employers. We also do housing discrimination cases, general appellate cases, insurance bad faith, personal injury, and child custody work.

• Workers' Compensation

• Affirmative Action
• Age Discrimination
• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Disability Discrimination
• Emotional Distress
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
• Employee Rights
• Employment Contracts
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA)
• Jones Act
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
• Race Discrimination
• Severance Packages
• Sex Discrimination
• Termination
• Wage & Hour Laws
• Whistleblower
• Wrongful Termination

CA, Jan 1998
Bar Number: 194177

California State Courts, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

San Francisco Bar Association.

I attend continuing education programs on topics of employment, insurance, family and housing law.

1. In one case, a landlord attempted to evict an elderly, disabled client based on nuisance without offering reasonable accommodation to the tenant as required by law. I defended and won the eviction action and pursued the landlord in an affirmative case in Federal Court based upon violation of applicable disability laws. The case resulted in a generous settlement for a thankful client who, without our help, would have been evicted from his home of 35+ years.
2. In another case, a disabled employee was put on leave after the employer took away his prior reasonable accommodation, resulting in constructive termination. We filed a suit against the employer which resulted in a high six-figure recovery for the client.

3

California

Joel Liberson and I founded Liberson & Wolford LLP in 2005. Both of us worked for large firms representing institutional clients for several years. We left that world to make a living helping people, which from a personal standpoint is more fun and makes us feel better about coming to work everyday.

Our focus is to assist those individuals who are taken advantage of by those who have power over them, such as employers, landlords, insurance companies, etc.

Prior to forming Liberson & Wolford LLP, I worked for five years at Gordon & Rees LLP. Before that, I practiced maritime law at Emard, Danoff, Port & Tamulski, LLP and Kaye, Rose & Partners. I worked as a fisherman before becoming a lawyer.

In the past three years, I have received the following awards for pro bono work:

1. 2006 President's Pro Bono Service Award (Small Firm Category) from the California State Bar
2. 2005 Housing Justice Award from The Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco
3. 2006 Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service Award from The Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco
4. AIDS Legal Referral Program honors in 2007 and Superhero Award for 2008

I also am a volunteer counselor for the San Francisco Tenants Union.

(415) 358-8154

Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Call (415) 265-2897 for emergency after hours

Yes

We generally do contingency and hourly rate work. We also will do a blended rate for some work. We are open to some fixed-price arrangements in the right circumstances.

Our rate generally ranges from $250 to $350 per hour depending on the complexity of the work required. Generally, landlord-tenant work, such as defending unlawful detainer cases, is done at $250 per hour. Our appellate work and federal court work is generally done at the higher rate range. We do have a sliding scale for AIDS Legal Referral Panel clients and some low-income clients referred by other entities.

Yes, we do offer a free initial consultation, which usually ranges from 30 minutes to an hour and can be in person or by telephone.

Our typical retainer is $2,000 to $3,000. We do accept payments by PayPal.