Members of the Firm

LEE P. BARDELLINI: Born Oakland, California, 1947; admitted to the California Bar in 1972. Education: University of California at Berkeley (B.A. with honors, 1969); Hastings College of Law, University of California (J.D., 1972).

Counsel to Western Title Insurance Company for litigation matters from 1972 to 1980. His emphasis is in handling litigation defense and claims matters for major title insurance clients. He has successfully tried over a dozen major cases to jury verdict. He has provided expert testimony, throughout California, on many facets of the title insurance industry, including policy construction, interpretation, claims handling and bad faith. Panel member for The Real Estate Neutrals, providing ADR services to the real estate industry. He is a former member of both the Legislative and Forms and Practices Committees of the California Land Title Association.

JAMES T. STRAW: Born Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1951; admitted to California Bar 1977.
Education: University of California at Los Angeles (B.A. 1973); Southwestern University (J.D. 1977).

1977 to 1985: counsel to Chicago Title Insurance Company in its regional legal departments in Los Angeles and San Francisco. From 1985 to 1988 Mr. Straw was Associate Regional Counsel for The Travelers Real Estate Investment Department in its regional legal department in the East Bay. His work experience has concentrated on title insurance defense, title insurance claims, real estate lending and development transactions throughout the western United States. Jim has been a professor of real property law at JFK University School of Law in Pleasant Hill, CA since 1981. He has authored articles for the J.F.K. University Law Record -- "Revocation of Escrow Instructions: The Escrow Agents' Liability", and also contributed an articles to the Contra Costa Lawyer on "Earthquake Preparedness in the Escrow Closing", "Neighbor Boundary Disputes: A Primer" and on the "New Real Estate Contract As Escrow Instructions" (September 2000). Jim is a contributing author to California Title Insurance Practice, 2nd Edition 1997, California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB).

JOHN F. CAVIN: Born Miami, Oklahoma, 1954, admitted to the California Bar 1979. Education: California State University, Long Beach (B.A. 1976); Pepperdine University School of Law (J.D. 1979).

Mr. Cavin specializes in real estate and business litigation and transactions. He also serves as counsel to a number of businesses in the agricultural, food brokerage, lending and software development industries. Prior to going into private practice in 1992 he held a number of in-house positions including  West Coast Counsel for Koppers Company and its subsidiary, Sully-Miller Contracting Company, where his responsibilities included labor negotiations, grievances, real estate leasing, construction, contract and mechanic's lien litigation.

From 1983 through 1992 Mr. Cavin held several legal positions with Transamerica Title Insurance Company and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company From 1987 to 1992 he held the position of Vice President and Northern California Division Counsel, heading the legal department responsible for claims, underwriting, escrow, agency and foreclosure services in Northern California and Nevada for those companies’ direct and agency operations.

Mr. Cavin is a contributing editor for Matthew Bender's California Real Property Reporter and reviewer for CEB's Title Insurance Practice 2nd, a contributing author for the ADR Practice Guide For California Attorneys and a frequent lecturer on real estate matters to local and state bar and realtor associations, as well as the American Bar Association.

Mr. Cavin has provided expert witness testimony in State and Federal courts throughout California on a number of matters, including escrow practices and procedures, title insurance practices and procedures, underwriting and claims handling, including bad faith. His testimony has been provided on behalf of insurers, underwritten companies, escrow providers, lenders and individuals.

Over the past decade Mr. Cavin has developed an increasing interest in Alternative Dispute Resolution. He has participated in well over one hundred mediations as representative counsel and as a highly effective mediator. He has completed over 90 hours of advanced mediation training and is regularly retained as a mediator by counsel throughout Northern California.

C. RANDALL BUPP: Born San Bernardino, California, 1950, admitted to the California Bar 1975. Education: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (B.A. 1971), Hastings College of Law, University of California at San Francisco (J.D. 1975). 

Mr. Bupp is an Adjunct Professor at J.F.K. University School of Law in Pleasant Hill, CA teaching Business Law and Bankruptcy.  He is the Section Leader of the Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section of the Contra Costa County Bar Association and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum.

Mr. Bupp joined Bardellini, Straw, Cavin & Bupp, LLP in 2002, after having been a partner in his own firm for 25 years.  Mr. Bupp practice emphasis is on Bankruptcy law, in which he represents debtors and creditors, as well as financial and real property litigation in State and Federal Courts.  Mr. Bupp has represented both large and small businesses, banking institutions, and private individuals for over thirty years.

For More information on Bankruptcy matters call Randy Bupp at 925-277-3580.

Please note, Federal Law requires that because Bardellini, Straw & Cavin LLP assists parties filing for bankruptcy relief, Bardellini, Straw & Cavin LLP is considered, in this capacity, a debt relief agency.

Associate Attorneys

HELEN V. POWERS: Born San Diego, California 1967, admitted to the California Bar in 1994. Education: Santa Clara University (B.A. 1988), Southwestern University School of Law (J.D. 1994).

Ms. Powers joined the firm in 2001 with a background in general civil litigation. Since then she has focused her practice on litigating real estate and business matters. She has had several successful jury verdicts and has extensive experience resolving cases in mediation and arbitration. Ms. Powers also has experience handling probate and estate planning matters. She applies her experience in the areas of real estate, business, probate and estate planning to successfully handle cases with overlapping issues in these areas of law.

 

SUZETTE Z. TORRES: Born Chicago, Illinois 1972, admitted to the California Bar 2002. Education: University of California at Berkeley, (B.A 1995), Golden Gate University School of Law (J.D. 2000). 

Ms. Torres has always enjoyed the art of litigation, and she has found her niche in real estate litigation.  After law school, Ms. Torres joined Wiegel & Fried, LLP, where she became immersed in landlord-tenant issues, contract disputes, and construction disputes.  Her experience at Wiegel & Fried, LLP allowed her to appear and argue before several courts and administrative agencies, including the San Francisco Board of Appeals, the San Francisco Rent Board, the Oakland Rent Board, and the California Labor Commission.  In December of 2004, Ms. Torres joined Bardellini, Straw & Cavin, LLP, to further develop her litigation skills and take on new challenges involving title insurance, escrow closings, and boundary disputes.

Ms. Torres is an active member of the Asian American Bar Association and the Contra Costa County Bar Association.  In her spare time, she volunteers at the Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach Legal Clinic.

JOHN“J.R.” RICHARDS: Born Columbus, OH 1970, admitted to the CA Bar in 2007. Education: Denison University (B.A., 1992), Golden Gate University School of Law (J.D. with Honors, 2006).

Mr. Richards graduated in the top 8% of his law school class, served as Student Bar Association President, and was an active member of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity and APALSA (Asian Pacific American Law Student Association). J.R. received a Certificate of Specialization in Real Estate Law from Golden Gate University and worked as a teaching assistant for Property (Professor Roger Bernhardt), Evidence (The Honorable Magistrate Maria-Elena James), Contracts (Professor Jon Sylvester), Criminal Law (Professor Helen Chang), Research and Writing (Professor Michael Zamperini). Prior to attending law school, J.R. owned his own computer contracting business serving several businesses and non-profits in the East Bay.

At Bardellini, Straw, Cavin & Bupp, Mr. Richards works in all phases of litigation with an emphasis on Real Estate, Title, and Business disputes. He views “providing value” to his clients as his primary responsibility and focuses on effective representation at all times.

In his spare time, J.R. enjoys aikido, golf, tennis, snowboarding and just about anything active. He loves Ohio State University Football. J.R. also enjoys traveling, most notably to Eastern Europe, Mayan Mexico and Japan.

STEVEN J. KAHN: Born Tiburon, California 1979, admitted to the California Bar in 2004. Education: Claremont McKenna College (B.A. 2001), Santa Clara University School of Law (J.D. 2004).

Mr. Kahn joined Bardellini, Straw, Cavin & Bupp in May of 2008. Mr. Kahn’s practice focuses on real estate and title insurance litigation. Mr. Kahn also counsels and represents title companies on title insurance coverage and escrow matters.

Mr. Kahn served for over two and half years as associate claims counsel for First American Title Insurance Company’s regional legal department in Oakland, California. While at First American, Mr. Kahn provided coverage determinations under title insurance policies, managed claims litigation, and advised management, escrow officers, title staff, customers, lenders and attorneys on residential and commercial real property transactions. Mr. Kahn’s work at First American provided him with broad experience in title insurance claims handling procedures, real property law, insurance coverage, escrows, residential and commercial real property transactions.

Prior to joining Bardellini, Straw, Cavin & Bupp, Mr. Kahn worked with the law firm of Burnham Brown in Oakland, California, where he represented insurance carriers in coverage disputes, coverage analyses, bad faith actions and litigation. Mr. Kahn also counseled insurance carriers on coverage issues and provided coverage opinions under first party and third party commercial general liability policies.

Mr. Kahn received his J.D. from Santa Clara University in 2004, and received his B.A. in government, with honors, from Claremont McKenna College in 2001. While in law school, Mr. Kahn participated extensively in the Consumer Protection Clinic of the Alexander Community Law Center.

Mr. Kahn was born and raised in Marin County. He lives in Oakland with his wife and their dog.

Paralegals

MELISSA G. CLACK: Born Couer d'Alene, Idaho, July 7, 1963; Education: Chabot Community College (1992-1994), California State University (Paralegal Certificate, 1996). Member: San Francisco Association of Legal Assistants. Practice Areas: Civil Litigation; Real Estate; Corporate Law; Bankruptcy; Probate; Estate Planning; Family Law.

JOHANNA ALBORNOZ: Born Maracay, Venezuela; Education: Hayward State University: Paralegal Certificate (ABA Approved) Hayward, CA Diablo Valley College Associate of Arts Degree Pleasant Hill, CA. Johanna's practice areas include Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, and Corporate Law & Civil Litigation, Johanna is a Certified Notary Public and fluent in Spanish.