Speakers

Jeffrey A. Beaumont, a senior partner with Beaumont Gitlin Tashjian, has focused his entire legal career on representing common interest developments. His extensive experience and devotion to the community association industry have set Mr. Beaumont apart as a distinguished attorney. Mr. Beaumont has successfully defended hundreds of community associations and their volunteer board members from multi-million dollar claims by securing defense verdicts from juries and obtaining settlements favorable to the firm’s clients. His extensive experience in litigation and insurance coverage allows Mr. Beaumont to guide the firm’s clients during the most challenging times.

Mr. Beaumont has also obtained millions of dollars in recoveries for clients in complex litigation, ranging from construction and insurance bad faith to governing document enforcement actions. In addition to his litigation successes, Mr. Beaumont has extensive experience in providing the firm’s clients and their boards of directors and managers with practical and concise advice on all issues impacting community associations, such as enforcement of governing documents, dispute resolution, contract negotiation, governance, interpretation and amending of governing documents, and risk assessment and avoidance.

Among his many accomplishments for his clients, Mr. Beaumont successfully defended a community association client and its board of directors and manager against personal injury claims from mold exposure by owners who alleged that the association and others failed to repair water leaks in a timely manner. The case was tried twice, based on claims of juror misconduct; Mr. Beaumont obtained a defense verdict for his client both times, with the owners taking nothing.

Mr. Beaumont is an active member of the California Association of Community Managers (CACM), the Community Associations Institute (CAI), and serves as the 2012 President of Greater Los Angeles Chapter of CAI. He also serves on the faculty for CACM and CAI (National), is a member of the Legal Steering Committee for CACM, and a delegate for the California Legislative Action Committee for CAI.

Mr. Beaumont is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating given to those attorneys who demonstrate very high ethical standards and legal ability. Mr. Beaumont graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from California Lutheran University. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from the University of La Verne College of Law, graduating magna cum laude. In law school, he served as editor-in-chief of the College of Law’s prestigious law review and participated in the school’s national moot court team. After graduation, Mr. Beaumont worked with the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, where he conducted misdemeanor and felony preliminary hearing trials.

Clover Ericson began her HOA career in 2013 as an Administrative Associate, quickly becoming a successful portfolio manager of more than 1000 units in the metropolitan San Diego area. Her particular skill-set includes coordination of large projects, organizational skills, and attention to detail. In 2015 she became the onsite General Manager for a large, older association. To more effectively serve the needs of associations boards to maintain, protect, and enhance their properties, in March 2020 she launched her own management company, C&C Management and Consulting.

Justin Schouten, CCAM – Chief Executive Officer Justin is a co-owner and became a part of the LLW Properties team in 2008. In addition to managing Associations, he is charged with oversight of the office staff and maintenance division of the company. Justin previously owned his own construction business, so he brings this knowledge and experience to LLW and provides expertise in physical plant management for our Associations. This provides a benefit to our clients in dealing with maintenance issues, vendor relationships, and contract negotiations. Justin has achieved the Certified Community Association Manager (CCAM) designation from the California Association of Community Managers.

My name is Aaron Ramos, I been a Concord resident for last 24 years and I’m originally from Mexico City.

I joined the restoration industry 21 years ago, and have been working for White Magic Cleaning and Restoration, for the last 16 years as Project Manager and recently as their RME (Responsible Managing Employee). I also hold a IICRC water damage restoration certification, as well as lead abatement certification.

White Magic Cleaning and Restoration has been in business for over 44 years servicing HOA’s throughout the Bay Area

Adrian Adams
Principal & Managing Partner

Founder. With an extensive background in the community association industry, Adrian Adams is one of the leading attorneys in California specializing in common interest developments. Adrian founded “Adams Stirling PLC” and quickly grew his firm into a preeminent boutique firm specializing in highrise condominiums, stock cooperatives, business parks, lake associations, golfing communities, equestrian associations, and ocean-front communities.

Davis-Stirling.com. Seeing the need to educate board members and homeowners, Adrian created a free online resource called Davis-Stirling.com that quickly became the number one resource for everything related to the Davis-Stirling Act. He also publishes a weekly newsletter that has become the largest circulating newsletter in the state.

Expert Witness. Adrian serves as an expert witness on standards of care issues involving association boards and managers and has testified extensively on issues involving maintenance, mold, rules enforcement, budgets, reserves, governing documents, management, and operations.

PROFESSIONAL

• Created curriculum for and taught Association Management and Law for ten year for UCLA Extension
• Legal adviser on condominium law and smoke-free housing issues to the Technical Assistance Legal Center, a project of the Public Health Institute
• Member of the Board of Directors of the CIDLAW Organization
• Current member of the Board of Directors, Los Angeles chapter of the Community Association Institute; Past Member of the Board of Directors, Orange County chapter
• Current Think Tank member of the National Community Association Institute
• Delegate to California Legislative Action Committee
• Founder and President of the Foundation for California Community Association Education
• Recipient of an AV Preeminent Peer Review designation from Martindale-Hubbell

EDUCATION

Juris Doctorate. Southwestern School of Law, Los Angeles, CA Masters in Business Administration. Anderson School, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with minors in Chemistry and Biology from San Jose State.

MILITARY

US Marine Corps, specializing in aviation electronics in F-4 Phantom fighter jets

Christina M. Baine DeJardin attended the University of California, San Diego, where she received her undergraduate degree in English Literature. After working for several years as an editor, Christina attended law school at the University of San Diego where her strong research and writing skills led to receipt of Excellence for the Future Awards in Professional Responsibility and International Environmental Law.

Christina has been working in the area of homeowners association law since 2003. Christina leads the Firm’s Coachella Valley office and believes that personal attention is critical to the attorney/client relationship.
An active member with the Community Associations Institute (CAI), Christina served on the Board of Directors for the Coachella Valley Chapter for over seven years. Christina sat on the Executive Committee for several years while on the CAI CV Board and led the Chapter as Board President. She expertly guided the Chapter in its search for a new executive director and was the leading force in making legislative support through the California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) a priority for the Chapter. Her hard work and volunteerism for CAI-CLAC earned her the prestigious title of CLAC Volunteer of the Year Award in 2014, as determined by members from the eight CAI chapters in California.
Christina continues to serve on the Programs Committee and the California Legislative Action Committee for CAI Coachella Valley. Christina is also a CLAC delegate for CAI CV.

Making education a priority, Christina has taught many courses for both CAI and the California Association of Community Managers (CACM), and has presented at numerous management company and common interest development industry events and conferences. She has been published in many homeowners association publications and law journals.

Partner John Hansen assists community associations and their boards of directors in the management of their common interest development subdivisions. He provides assistance in day-to-day operational and general corporate matters, including the interpretation and enforcement of the restrictive covenants which apply to these communities. Mr. Hansen also assists community associations in litigation. His litigation background includes representing homeowner and condominium associations in all facets of litigation including covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) enforcement, obtaining and enforcing judgments, advising in bankruptcy matters, contract disputes, Department of Fair Employment and Housing complaints, and defending associations against homeowner-filed lawsuits.

Mr. Hansen is actively involved in the community association industry, including authoring numerous articles published in industry periodicals and law journals.  Mr. Hansen currently serves on the Board of Directors for the California North Chapter of the Community Association Institute. Mr. Hansen regularly speaks at seminars throughout California regarding various topics concerning community associations.  He received his Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law graduating with distinction, and Bachelors in Political Science from University of California, Santa Barbara. While in law school, Mr. Hansen clerked for District Judge Morrison C. England in the Eastern District of California. Before coming to Baydaline & Jacobsen, Mr. Hansen was a Deputy District Attorney for the County of Sacramento.  He is admitted to the California State Bar, as well as the Eastern, Central and Northern District Courts.

Mark T. Guithues received his Bachelors of History from University of California, Los Angeles in 1989. Mark began his career in community associations by accepting a position as a portfolio manager at N.N. Jaeschke, where he protected, maintained and enhanced the value of more than a dozen residential and commercial associations.  Mark has attended hundreds of board and membership meetings and understands the demands of managing associations.

While at N.N. Jaeschke Mark pursued the study law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he served as an Associate Editor for the prestigious San Diego Law Review. At USD, he also received training as a mediator and settled numerous legal conflicts at the San Diego Municipal Court. Mark was admitted into the practice of law in 1989.  For more than 20 years, Mark has provided general counsel and civil litigation services to the firm’s community association clients.

Mark was one of the first community managers to register with the fledgling California Association of Community Managers (CACM) in 1992, and has energetically dedicated his time to educate its membership. He is an instructor for the Certified Community Association Managers (CCAM) licensing program, has authored numerous articles for and served on the publications committee of Vision Magazine. He presently serves on both CACM’s and CAI’s Legislative Action Committee. 

Prior to founding Community Legal Advisors, Mark worked for many years as a subdivision attorney at Jackson|DeMarco|Tidus|Peckenpaugh, where he was responsible for creating the corporate governance structures for commercial and residential communities. He is recognized as an Update Author to Chapter 4 (instructing on the creation and operation of condominium conversion projects) and Chapter 9 (instructing on the creation and operation of commercial and mixed-use projects) of CEB’s Forming California Common Interest Developments, published by the State Bar of California.

Community Legal Advisors Inc. represents in excess of 500 communities providing assessment collection and general counsel services.

Partner Melissa Ward joined Hughes Gill Cochrane Tinetti in 2016. She has been representing homeowners associations since 2010 in all aspects of their corporate operations, including governing document analysis, interpretation, revision and enforcement, elections, real property and title issues, special assessments, analyzing and drafting agreements with vendors, and resolution of member disputes. Prior to 2010, Ms. Ward practiced as a corporate and real estate attorney handling transactional business and real estate matters, as well as real estate litigation involving mortgage lending and foreclosures, ADA/disability access, partition claims, environmental and land use matters, construction defects, title insurance, and lease disputes.

EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

Ms. Ward received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she served as Editor in Chief of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. Ms. Ward received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Ms. Ward is a member of the Diablo Symphony Association’s Board of Directors and is the Symphony’s immediate past President and current Secretary and Social Media Director. She has been a member of the DSO cello section since 2004 and currently serves as the cello section’s Assistant Principal. Ms. Ward is also a member of the Transportation Commission for the City of Walnut Creek.

BAR MEMBERSHIPS

Ms. Ward has been a member of the California State Bar since 1992. She is also a member of the Contra Costa County Bar Association and its Real Property Section.

Rachel Miller is the Senior Partner of The Miller Law Firm, proudly representing Homeowners Associations state-wide for 25 years. Rachel has held many distinct positions in the Community Association Industry, including Board Member of several CAI Chapters, is a recognized Super Lawyer in construction litigation and Lawyer of Distinction, as well as a recognized Top Attorney by The American Registry.

JOHN RIVERA, CMCA®
Regional Director, East Bay
Email: [email protected]

As Vice President of Community Management, John helps oversee and provide leadership to the Bay Area division of FirstService Residential. He has been with FirstService Residential since 2003 and has held multiple positions within the organization. During his time at FirstService Residential, John has collaborated and participated in every aspect of the business, starting his career as an Association Disclosure Associate and becoming Financial Transaction Coordinator of SAMLARC, a 13,645 homeowner association in Orange County. Next,  John was the Assistant General Manager of the Trilogy at Glen Ivy; an active adult community in the inland empire.

Prior to his current role, John was Manager of Training and Development at FirstService Residential’s corporate office in Irvine, providing support to associates in Orange County, Los Angeles and Santa Clarita

Derek Eckert is the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California, and Central Valley President of Association Reserves. A certified Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA), Derek has the distinction of being RS #114 under CAI’s Reserve Specialist designation

President at GB Group Contractors, Consultants

Melissa Hajostek has maintained a strong reputation in the Community Management industry for over a decade. Following fifteen years of restaurant and hospitality management, Community Association Management was a natural transition. She started as a portfolio manager and quickly earned her certification with the California Association of Community Managers. Within two years in the business, Melissa was awarded the title of Senior Community Association Manager and within three, promoted to Branch Manager of a large management company. Melissa joined Bay Area Property Services in 2013 and currently serves as Chief Operating Officer focusing on what she likes doing most….managing Associations and supporting and training her staff and clients. Melissa has excelled in managing many types of Common Interest Developments including Condominiums, Single Family Homes, Townhomes and Planned Unit Developments. Specializing in budgets and funding plans, large scale capital improvement projects, and positive community building events, Melissa brings a creative approach to problem solving and customer service. Other applicable experience Melissa brings to the table includes organized meeting facilitation and follow through, CC&R enforcement, governing document re-write/revisions, construction defect litigation, ADR/IDR, aggressive approach to collections, contract management, vendor supervision and management, insurance claims administration, staff motivation, risk analysis, and informative membership communication. Melissa has been acknowledged by her colleagues and clients and has been recognized for the following: Out of the Box Award, Ambassadors Circle, Loyalty Award, CACM Vision Award for Creative Solutions, CACM Vision Award for Leadership 2016, and CACM Vision Award for Path to Professionalism 2018.

David Graf has practiced community association law exclusively since 2001. In this time, he has represented a wide range of communities throughout the State of Colorado. Much of his practice involves interpreting and amending governing documents, advising associations on the corporate aspects of running a common interest community, and enforcing the terms of governing documents through court action. He has attended countless difficult and contentious board and member meetings on behalf of associations.

David is one of the most sought-after community association industry trainers and speakers in the United States. He is a national faculty member of the Community Associations Institute’s Professional Management Development Program (“PMDP”) and travels throughout the United States to facilitate multi-day corporate trainings for professional community managers. David is a member of the PMDP national faculty review panel, which reviews faculty conduct and training standards for all PMDP national faculty. In 2015, he was named CAI’s National Educator of the Year. David has also lectured on various aspects of community association corporate law throughout the country and, on several occasions, has been the program chair of a continuing legal education class on community association law presented by the educational division of the Colorado Bar Association. In 2019, this class was listed among the "best of the best” by the bar association based on attendee feedback.

David has been admitted to the College of Community Association Lawyers (“CCAL” or the “College”). Of the thousands of lawyers practicing community association law throughout the United States, fewer than 200 have been admitted to the College. David, together with Steven Weil, Esq. of Berding & Weil, LLP of Walnut Creek, California, was awarded the first ever Best Manuscript Award from the College for the materials accompanying their presentation on national community association voting trends at the 2014 CAI National Law Seminar. David served on the Colorado Legislative Action Committee of CAI for many years, including as the co-chair of the committee. David served on the Executive Board of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of CAI for four years, with one year as President. In 2018, David was elected by his CCAL peers to the College’s Board of Governors.

David is a Connecticut native. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University and a Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Coming to Colorado in 1995, David began work at a collection company and then moved to a law firm specializing in collections. After that, he was a commercial litigator for two years and spent over one hundred days per year in courts during this period. He then became associated with a corporate law firm, where his practice focused on the representation of developers, owners of commercial properties, and corporations of all types. He left that practice in 2001 as a partner in the firm to practice community association law.

David is a stroke survivor. In 2013, he suffered a stroke after tearing his vertebral artery in a freak accident. David had always been an outdoor enthusiast and endurance athlete. After re-learning to walk, dress, and feed himself, he commuted to work and to client meetings on a folding bicycle until he was able to drive again, nearly a year after his stroke. David speaks on mental toughness during long-term rehabilitation, living with chronic pain, and human resilience. David is also a life and mindset coach who works with attorneys and with stroke survivors and their families to help them live their best lives during difficult circumstances.

Areas of Practice

Steven Weil is one of the founding principals of the firm and serves on its Executive Committee. He has practiced community association law since 1984 and has helped clients address virtually all types of challenges arising out of the operation of community associations. Early in his career his practice included construction defect claims. More recently he has been the “architect” of numerous votes helping Boards obtain membership approval to initiate arbitration and litigation (and loans, amendments and special assessments). Other areas of practice include advising clients on compliance with association, board and member duties under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act and other state and federal laws; analyzing fiduciary duty, free speech, discrimination, parking and insurance issues; assisting communities address construction needs; and handling CC&R and architectural enforcement matters. Steve is especially effective in helping communities facing political challenges and financing large capital improvements or other projects requiring membership or judicial approval.

Professional Credentials

Mr. Weil has received numerous accolades from peers. He has the highest rating (AV) available from Martindale-Hubbell, was elected by community association attorneys around the country to the Board of Governors of the College of Community Association Lawyers (and elected President by the Board for 2017) and with a co-author from Colorado earned the first ever award for best CCAL Manuscript (for Voting Trends throughout the United States). He has been selected as a Super Lawyer for many years and has received educational awards from the California Association of Community Managers. He has been a faculty member for that organization over two decades teaching law and ethics (with a text he co-authored) to hundreds of portfolio and other managers throughout the state. Mr. Weil is among the most well-known and sought after educators and lecturers on matters relating to community associations in the country. He has given state wide and national presentations before attorneys, accountants, owners, directors and managers of many reputable trade organizations, including the Community Association Institute and the Educational Community for Homeowners (ECHO).

Educational History

Mr. Weil received his Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco in 1980 and his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1976.

Allison Andersen

Partner

Ms. Andersen represents community associations in corporate governance, operational, transactional, and civil litigation matters. Ms. Andersen’s association governance practice includes the evaluation of compliance with the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, the analysis and interpretation of governing documents, the recommendation for rewrites and amendments when necessary, the implementation of election and secret ballot processes, and the negotiation and drafting of other recorded agreements affecting real property.

Ms. Andersen approaches each of her client’s needs from a risk management perspective. Enforcement disputes are promptly, efficiently, and creatively addressed to avoid costly and time consuming legal proceedings. The association’s self-help, discipline, dispute resolution, and enforcement procedures are strictly followed in order to provide members with a transparent process and the best opportunities to quickly and economically resolve violations. When a member chooses to delay compliance, Ms. Andersen is committed to the recovery of related expenses.

Ms. Andersen negotiates and drafts all manner of vendor contracts including maintenance, reserve study, accounting, parking and towing, security, and communications agreements. Ms. Andersen additionally possesses extensive expertise writing construction and repair contracts. Her comprehensive understanding of the design and construction process, construction scheduling, payment terms and issues, liability for construction delays and defects, defense and indemnity obligations, and first and third-party insurance claims has proved invaluable to her clients.

Ms. Andersen has over fifteen years’ experience in litigating issues related to insurance coverage, real estate fraud and disclosure, operating and reserve funding, contract interpretation and compliance, complex construction defect, condominium conversion, free speech, and the enforcement of covenants, conditions and restrictions. Ms. Andersen has also defended associations, their directors and officers against claims for violation of the fair housing and disability laws, personal injury, harassment, failure to maintain association property, failure to comply with the Open Meeting Act, failure to comply with the member election statutes, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. When an association faces the uncertainty of litigation, Ms. Andersen has the experience-based wisdom and insight to competently guide the association through the legal process and achieve excellent results.

Ms. Andersen received her undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and her law degree from U.C. Davis. Ms. Andersen is licensed to practice before all state and federal courts in California. She currently serves as a delegate to the Community Association Institute’s California Legislative Action Committee.

Areas of Practice

Michael T. Kennedy, Jr. is a Partner of Berding | Weil in the litigation department. Michael has been involved in residential and commercial construction litigation for over 20 years, dating to his time working full time during law school for a firm representing homeowners in construction defect matters.

Michael's experience and insight into the construction industry helps quickly identify building defects and the necessary investigation methods. This knowledge leads to concise investigations, which ultimately saves the experts' time and this savings is then passed onto our clients.

Every construction defect claims needs to be pushed through the legal system quickly. Most cases settle, but some proceed to trial. In every case, the builder and its insurance carriers assess the property owner's counsel, and their willingness and ability to proceed to trial. Therefore, the property owner needs attorneys who are known trial lawyers, who can and will prevail at trial if necessary.

Professional History

Michael has represented building owners, homeowner associations, homeowners, developers, general contractors, subcontractors, and insurance carriers throughout California in a wide variety of construction and real estate transaction disputes for all types of properties including luxury high rise, mid-rise, urban work/live buildings, single family homes, and commercial properties.

After several years of representing builders and their insurance companies, he now exclusively represents property owners in claims against builders. Michael's extensive experience gives him unique insight into their strategies and approaches to defending and resolving construction defect claims.

He has tried over 20 construction defect cases as well as numerous binding arbitrations and represents HOAs and property owners in matters dealing with construction defects and building performance issues from the pre-litigation SB800 process through discovery, mediation, trial, and appeal. He has also represented HOAs, LLCs, and corporations as General Counsel. Michael has also represented owners and investors through real estate transactions and formation of property owning partnerships and other entities.

Sarah Burke, Esq., Burke
Mediator/Special Master

Sarah Burke is a mediator, discovery referee, special master and arbitrator practicing in Northern California. She brings firm and fair leadership as a Special Master and Discovery Referee and has also mediated personal injury and wrongful death cases, insurance coverage disagreements, employment, landlord/tenant, subrogation, copyright, contract and myriad other disputes. Sarah is a member of the Approved ADR Panels of all Northern California counties. Sarah is the current President of the board of directors of the Mediation Society and is past Chair of the Marin County Bar Association ADR Section and the Alameda County Bar Association ADR Section Executive Committee. Sarah has been a regular panelist for education providers, such as the Association of Defense Counsel and West Coast Casualty since 2000, and has lectured throughout the country on various topics including dispute resolution, construction and insurance litigation, civil litigation and California law. Before becoming a mediator and special master, Sarah represented developers, contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers and homeowners in all types of construction litigation. In addition to her wide-ranging experience in both residential and commercial construction litigation, Sarah has litigated personal injury and wrongful death cases and has tried construction and personal injury cases to juries in both Northern and Southern California. Sarah also has an extensive background in insurance coverage issues.

Ritchie H. Lipson, Esq.* 

Director of Client Relations

Kasdan LippSmith Turner LLP

Ritchie Lipson is the Director of Client Relations for Kasdan LippSmith Turner LLP.  For over 20 years Lipson has worked with Commercial investors, Municipalities, School Districts, Homeowner Associations and Residential Property Owners, to assist in the fair resolution of their claims for defective construction. During that period, he has been involved in over 70 cases, including several class action lawsuits, recovering over $123 million for clients.  For those cases venued in Arizona, Ritchie acted as counsel along with others in his firm. 

 *Admitted in Arizona and District of Columbia Only

CEO & Senior Principal

Mr. Karim P. Allana is CEO and Senior Principal of Allana Buick & Bers, Inc. (ABBAE), one of the leading Architectural Engineering firms specializing in the Building Envelope and Sustainable Construction for new and rehabilitation projects. Mr. Allana earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University and is a licensed professional engineer in California, Hawaii, Nevada, North Carolina and Washington. He is a Registered Roof Consultant (RRC) and Registered Waterproofing Consultant (RWC) through the Roof Consultants Institute (RCI).

Mr. Allana has been in the AE and construction fields for 30+ years, specializing in forensic analysis and sustainable construction of roofing, waterproofing and the building envelope. At ABBAE, Mr. Allana has for 32 years provided technical leadership and design review, while directing the company. Mr. Allana has acted as a consultant and expert witness in 450+ construction defect projects, as lead plaintiff or defense expert, or in defense of sub-contractors and manufacturers. He is a frequent speaker and presenter at professional forums.

Robin Romo has been in the community association management industry for over a decade. She has extensive experience managing high rise, luxury condominium projects and mixed use properties, including some of the largest high rise condominium projects in San Francisco. These include buildings such as The Infinity, The Metropolitan, and The Beacon. In her role as General Manager of these buildings, Robin successfully managed the physical and fiscal attributes of the building, while maintaining a strong sense of community and customer service. Her knowledge of construction standards greatly assisted design professionals and construction experts through SB 800 proceedings. In her previous role of Director of Management Services, Robin oversaw the day-to-day efforts of a team of community association managers and their respective staffs.

Robin holds the distinctive titles of CAMEx, “Professional Community Association Manager” (PCAM) and “Association Management Specialist” (AMS) through Community Associations Institute (CAI) and the Master of Community Association Management with a specialty certificate in high rise management (MCAM-HR) through the California Association of Community Managers (CACM). The CAMEx is an acknowledgement of Robin’s contributions to the industry and reflects her willingness to work on shaping the industry for the good of all. It is about “giving back” to the community. Only a few of the top members of our industry are eligible for the CAMEx designation. Robin is also a Certified High Rise Fire Safety Director and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley as well as a B.S. and an M.B.A from Golden Gate University.

In addition to her responsibilities at CitiScape, Robin has been a faculty member of the CACM since 2010. Her class instructions include: “Basics of Association Management”, “High Rise Management”, and “Human Resources Management”. Prior to joining the community management industry, Robin worked for 11 years in hotel operations, hospitality and sales for one of the largest luxury chains in the world.

As if that wasn’t enough, Robin speaks multiple languages: Full fluency in English, Tagalog, and Spanish; working in Cantonese and Japanese.

David Swedelson is one of California's leading community association attorneys and a founding partner of SwedelsonGottlieb. David is also the firm partner in charge of content for its widely-viewed HOA law blog, the best resource for the latest news and information affecting California common interest developments.
 

David started practicing law in 1978, representing clients in complex business litigation matters. David began representing and providing legal counsel to community associations after serving on the board of directors of his first condominium association in the early 1980s. David has served on the board of directors of four different community associations that he has lived in, and has utilized this experience as a board member to develop his unique ability to better understand how to work with the volunteer board members who lead his association clients.

His broad experience in representing California community associations allows him to not only provide legal representation, but also counsel his association clients' Boards on many different matters and issues that impact California condominium and homeowners associations. His many years of experience representing thousands of California community associations have given David the ability to be a real problem solver and have truly earned him the title of counselor at law. David has been called in on many occasions to resolve problems that the board or even other legal counsel have not been able to resolve, including matters relating to nuisances, common area damage, and abusive owners or renters, to name a few of the types of problems he has successfully resolved for his condominium, planned development and stock cooperative clients.

In addition to providing corporate and general legal counsel to his Association Boards and their managing agents, David also oversees the litigation team at SwedelsonGottlieb. David has litigated hundreds of lawsuits ranging from architectural violations, pet issues, hard surface flooring disputes, discrimination and fair housing complaints, assessment collection, contractor and vendor contract disputes, and construction defects, all providing an example of the numerous areas of his litigation experience. David is also the firm's lead trial attorney and has had many successful jury and non-jury trial results for his community association clients.

David has been extensively involved in the community association industry, having served on the board of directors of the Los Angeles and Channel Islands chapters of Community Associations Institute (CAI). He served on the Board and was former President of the Los Angeles Chapter, and for many years served as a delegate for the Channel Islands Chapter on the California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC). David served on the Executive Committee of CLAC and on the attorneys committee for the national chapter of CAI.

David has been a frequent speaker at education programs for the Los Angeles, Channel Islands, Orange County, San Diego, Bay Area and Inland Empire chapters of CAI, as well as for the Executive Council of Homeowners (ECHO) and the California Association of Community Managers (CACM), where he serves as a member of its prestigious legislative action committee, realtors' groups and other trade organizations. He has also contributed or authored numerous articles for various chapters of CAI, CACM and ECHO.

David has been designated numerous times by friend and foe alike as an expert witness where he has testified at trial on matters relating to community association law.

David was born and raised in Southern California, received his bachelor of science degree from UCLA and his Juris Doctorate from Whittier College school of Law. He and his wife have three children and five dogs. In what little free time he has, David enjoys being with his family, restoring classic cars and world travel.

Senior Community Manager

Homeowners Management Company

Susanne became involved in HOA management in 2001 after graduating from University of California- Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Communications. She has a substantial array of property management including the managing and maintaining of apartments, single family homes, commercial and mixed-use properties. Susanne’s unique maintenance background is one of the most useful tools in her “managers’ tool belt” and has given her a unique perspective which she uses to save  money and prevent stress is the communities she manages. Susanne lives in Pleasant Hill with her dog and 10 year old twins, enjoys camping and acting in community theater.

Jasmine Hale is a veteran community association attorney with over 17 years of experience and is a Partner at Angius & Terry LLP, out of their Roseville (Sacramento) office.

Ms. Hale serves as general counsel to community associations and provides wide ranging services including governing document analysis, legal opinions, contract negotiations, Board governance, and pre-litigation counsel, including attending mediations. Jasmine also specializes in employment law for the Firm’s clients and prepares employee handbooks, conducts employment investigations, and drafts employment and severance agreements. Ms. Hale is a Fellow of the prestigious College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL) and is active the CAI North Chapter. Previously, Ms. Hale has served as an instructor for CACM and CAI and was a Chapter Liaison for the California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) for 5 years. Jasmine Hale is a veteran community association attorney with over 17 years of experience. Jasmine serves as general counsel for the Firm’s clients throughout Northern and Southern California and oversees the Firm’s Los Angeles and Orange County offices managing a team of 7 attorneys. She provides wide ranging services including governing document analysis, legal opinions, contract negotiations, Board governance, and pre-litigation counsel, including attending mediations. Jasmine also specializes in employment law for the Firm’s clients and prepares employee handbooks, conducts employment investigations, and drafts employment and severance agreements. She’s Head of Training for the Firm, and has helped to train all the talented attorneys at Adams Stirling PLC. In addition, Jasmine is a Fellow of the prestigious College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), an instructor for CACM and CAI, and served as a Chapter Liaison for the California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) for 5 years.

Sean D. Allen is a partner with the law firm of Roseman Law, APC, and is the head of the firm’s HOA department.

Mr. Allen is a skilled attorney with litigation, appellate, and transactional experience in areas such as real property, contracts, business and corporate governance, interpretation and enforcement of governing documents, business entity formation, and bankruptcy.

Having exclusively represented homeowners associations and other common interest developments for several years, Mr. Allen has broad experience with issues and disputes that impact community associations. Sean is an active member of Community Associations Institute (CAI) in several Southern California chapters and has authored a number of articles pertaining to common interest development law and its application to community associations in California. Additionally, he has been a featured speaker at various CAI events, including the 2016 and 2018 CAI National Law Seminars. Mr. Allen is a current and long-standing member of the California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC) for the Channel Islands and Los Angeles Chapters of CAI, and serves on the Education Committee for the Orange County Chapter of CAI.

Jennifer Fontana has been a Portfolio Manager for over fifteen (15) years and has been a Senior Portfolio Manager for Association Management Concepts (AMC) for over five (5) years. 

Jennifer started her Property Management career in Orange County, California in 2005, and for ten (10) years, learned and grew in the profession.  However, in 2015, she and her family made the decision to “move back home” to Northern California to pursue a better way of life and be closer to family and friends. 

Jennifer’s career has centered in customer service and business management.  She takes pride in disputing conflicts in amicable ways so that all parties walk away from the table feeling satisfied.  She enjoys supporting her staff and has the pleasure of training new employee Manager’s.  She is also part of the AMC Team that attends new Association sales pitches.  She has been a certified and active member of CAI since 2013, and previously held the CACM designation for six (6) years.   

Attorney at Law/Partner

Admitted: California, Nevada, Wisconsin, Alaska

Experience/Expertise: Jennifer Jacobsen provides general corporate counsel services to Baydaline & Jacobsen's community association clients.  Her services include advising clients on the day-to-day operational aspects of community association law, including complying with the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act and the California Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation Law.  Ms. Jacobsen's experience includes providing orientation and training to boards of directors as well as reviewing, drafting and revising governing documents.  She also aids associations in the process of transitioning from developer control to member control.  Ms. Jacobsen offers advice on corporate formalities, statutory disclosure requirements, assessment collections as well as contract oversight, negotiation and administration.  She assists boards of directors in understanding and enforcing their governing documents, including drafting enforcement letters, notices for disciplinary hearings and effective rules and policies.

Her particular expertise includes advising age-restricted communities in understanding and maintaining their active-adult status in compliance with both the federal Housing for Older Persons Act and its California counterpart.  Ms. Jacobsen assists community associations in understanding their maintenance obligations and advising them and their insurers in matching the maintenance and insurance obligations to those items over which they have actual care, custody and control.  Her expertise includes reviewing requests for reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as defending community associations on discrimination claims before the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

The California judicial system has qualified Ms. Jacobsen as an expert witness on community association matters.  She represents community association clients in alternative dispute resolution and provides professional services to third parties as a mediator and arbitrator in common interest development disputes.  She also regularly guest lectures at California State University, Sacramento and has volunteered as a moot court judge for both University of California Davis Law School and McGeorge School of Law.

Ms. Jacobsen received her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Marquette University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin Law School.  During her undergraduate years, Ms. Jacobsen worked as a Crime Victim-Witness Aide and Advocate for Battered Women in the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.  In law school, Ms. Jacobsen was a legal writing instructor, editor of the Wisconsin Law Review, and judicial extern to Justice William Callow of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  After law school, Ms. Jacobsen was awarded a fellowship with Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a national nonprofit, public interest law firm where she served as counsel on five cases published by the California Courts of Appeal: Environmental Protection Information Center v. Department of Forestry & Fire Protection, 43 Cal.App.4th 1011 (1996); Big Creek Lumber Company v. County of San Mateo, 31 Cal.App.4th 418 (1995); California Licensed Foresters Association v. State Board of Forestry, 30 Cal.App.4th 562 (1994); Albion River Watershed Protection Association v. Mendocino County Superior Court, (Georgia-Pacific Corp.), 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 475 (1993); and Moerman v. State of California, 17 Cal.App.4th 452 (1993).  During her fellowship, Ms. Jacobsen co-authored How Sweet It Is! Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Greater Oregon v. Babbitt, 26 UWLA Law Review (1995) with Senator Phil Wyman.

Currently, Ms. Jacobsen serves on the Board of Directors for the California North Chapter of the Community Association Institute (“CAI”).  As an industry leader, she is an invited member of CAI’s prestigious National Amicus Review Committee which recently received CAI's 2014 Award of Excellence in Government Affairs. She is a member of the Legal Steering Committee for the California Association of Community Managers (“CACM”) and is a certified instructor for the Nevada Department of Real Estate. Additionally, Ms. Jacobsen has served as a judge pro tem for El Dorado County Superior Court for over twenty (20) years.

CEO, The G.B. Group, Inc.

Experienced Executive and Board Member with a demonstrated history of working in the Construction industry. Strong business development professional skilled in Operations Management, Home Owner Association, Apartments, Facility Management (FM), Management, and Company Management. 

Julia Souza, PCAM®, is a seasoned community management professional of 32 years and the owner and President of Alliance Community Resources, LLC, a boutique community management firm in the Sacramento Region. In addition to being a business owner,  Julia serves as the Treasurer on the CLAC Executive Committee and is Past President of the California North Chapter. Julia is a frequent author and speaker for Community Association forums throughout California on subjects such as Board Training and Development, Best Practices, Neighbor to Neighbor Disputes, and Legislation.

Julia currently holds her PCAM®,  AMS® and CMCA® designations.

ROBERT M. DENICHILO is a Partner at Richardson|Ober|DeNichilo. He has over twenty-five years of legal experience and focuses his practice exclusively on the representation of community associations as corporate counsel. Robert began his career representing insurance carriers, providing them with insurance coverage advice and defending them in multi-million-dollar bad faith lawsuits, taking several of them to trial or resolving them by winning dispositive motions. After spending a decade as a litigator and insurance coverage lawyer, Robert transitioned his practice to representing small and medium sized businesses, providing general counsel advice, negotiating complex issues to get the parties to a “win-win,” and guiding boards in matters of corporate formation and governance. This led Robert to representing community associations, and he has devoted his practice exclusively to the representation of community associations for over a decade. His wide-ranging litigation and business experience benefits his clients as Robert is able to quickly identify the key issues and focus on what matters to leverage positive outcomes for his clients. Robert is an active member of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and has been awarded Author of the Year by multiple CAI chapters for his articles on community association issues. He serves as the CAI Orange County Regional Chapter’s delegate to CLAC and regularly meets with state and federal legislators to discuss issues related to community associations. In 2016, Robert was elected to the Orange County CAI Chapter’s Board of Directors. Additionally, Robert is one of fewer than 175 attorneys nationwide to be admitted as a Fellow of CAI’s College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL). CCAL Fellows are recognized for committing themselves to high standards of professional and ethical conduct. As a strong advocate for education for community association managers and boards, Robert regularly speaks at educational and training events for industry organizations, property management companies, and board members throughout California. Robert is the founder of HOABrief.com where he frequently provides expert insight on community association topics. He has contributed to industry and national publications including CAI Connect, CAI’s OC View, USA Today, Common Ground and Habitat Magazine.

Areas of Practice

Andrea O'Toole is a principal with the firm's corporate and business law department. Ms. O'Toole advises community associations in all aspects of their operations and transactions including real property issues and statutory compliance with Davis-Stirling and other statutes applicable to common interest developments. Her work includes advising association clients on financial matters including assessment collection and funding of repair and reconstruction projects of all sizes; governing document interpretation, enforcement and amendment, including operating policies; contract negotiation, drafting, and enforcement; corporate compliance; dispute resolution; title and land use issues; director elections and recalls; and helping boards deal with fair housing issues, parking and towing matters, and implementation of new regulations such as “no smoking” laws.

Ms. O'Toole lectures on matters relating to California community associations and has authored articles on various issues concerning common interest developments and property owners. She is a regular contributor to the firm's newsletter, the Community Association ALERT. She is on the faculty for California Association of Community Managers as well as on their Legal Advisory Steering Committee.

Professional History

Prior to joining Berding | Weil, Ms. O'Toole practiced in Lafayette and San Francisco, where she represented property owners, business owners, and individuals at federal, state, and local levels in matters involving toxics cleanups, civil penalty proceedings, and water, groundwater, and air pollution as well as counseling clients on the environmental aspects of real estate transactions.

Educational History

Ms. O'Toole received her Juris Doctor in 2004 from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she was the recipient of American Jurisprudence Awards for Legal Research and Writing and Legal Ethics. While in law school, she studied at the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the California State University at Hayward, where she majored in Criminal Justice and completed a minor in Political Science.

Alex is based in San Francisco, and provides legal services to residential, mixed-use, and commercial/industrial common interest developments throughout California. His practice includes counseling associations on corporate governance, fiduciary duties, and compliance with statutory requirements; negotiating and drafting contracts; amending and restating governing documents; preparing opinions on corporate business and legal issues; and representing associations in mediation and other dispute resolution proceedings.

From 2014 to 2019, Alex served on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area and Central California Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), and was that Chapter’s President in 2018. On a national level, he is a fellow of CAI’s College of Community Association Lawyers, a select honor conferred in recognition of his long history of commitment as an educator and advocate for community associations. Alex regularly speaks at educational programs hosted by and authors articles for publications of CAI, the California Association of Community Managers (CACM), and the Educational Community for HOA Homeowners (ECHO).

Amy Tinetti joined Hughes Gill Cochrane in 2007, and became a Principal in 2012. She has been representing homeowners associations since 2004 in all aspects of their corporate operations, including governing document analysis, interpretation, revision and enforcement, elections, real property and title issues, planning and collection of large special assessments, analyzing and drafting agreements with vendors, and member disputes and litigation.

Prior to 2004, Ms. Tinetti practiced for more than five years as a litigation attorney handling medical malpractice defense, insurance defense, business and commercial real estate matters. Ms. Tinetti's practice also included insurance coverage matters.

EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

Ms. Tinetti received her Juris Doctor in 1998 from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as a Notes and Comments Editor of the Emory Law Journal. Ms. Tinetti received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of California at San Diego.

BAR MEMBERSHIPS

Ms. Tinetti became a member of the State Bar of California in 1998 and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

INDUSTRY ORGANIZATIONS

Ms. Tinetti is the Past President of the Bay Area and Central California Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and is on the faculty of the California Association of Community Managers (CACM). Ms. Tinetti is a frequent speaker, writer and contributor for trade organizations and community associations on a variety of topics pertinent to Board members, community managers, and members of common interest developments.

Becky Jolly began in the community association industry in 2001 working part time directly for a homeowners association, and was quickly promoted to a Community Manager. She was in charge of complex architectural design reviews for the associations she managed.  By 2008 Becky joined the OMNI Community Management family and transitioned from management to running the sister company, CARS Collections.  In 2016 she was called upon to transition once more to Community Manager where she currently manages 12 communities.  Becky received her Certified Community Association Manager (CCAM) designation in 2007.  In her spare time, Becky writes novels and bakes.

Stefan has a proven track record in sales leadership, compliance, project management, team development, and education. A natural at motivating small teams and large organizations, Stefan has helped organizations identify internal and external roadblocks, build plans to overcome them, and motivate the workforce to execute the plan with commitment, dedication, and an understanding of the process and its goals.

At Allied Trustee Services, Stefan works with executives, board members, and accounting and management teams to deliver cost-effective and successful assessment collection solutions to Residential and Commercial Common Interest Developments. A member of CAI chapters throughout California, with an Educated Business Partner designation, and as a Preferred Business Partner with CACM.

Stefan’s professional background before coming to Allied Trustee Services has deep roots in the financial services industry, with over 20 years as a FINRA Registered Principal and Advisory Supervisor, including as Vice President and Regional Manager of one of the nations’ largest independent brokerage firms. He also was instrumental in launching the internet-based brokerage firm Motif Investing, named by CNBC as one of the top 50 Most Disruptive firms in the US two years in a row.

Stefan also lends his skills to various community and business organizations, and takes great pride in having served on the board of directors of a Sacramento-area foundation awarding scholarships to disadvantaged area youth and re-entry students.

General Counsel. Nate has extensive experience providing general counsel services for common interest developments, regularly assisting residential and commercial associations in the interpretation and enforcement of governing documents, amending and restating these governing documents, and counseling boards in keeping compliance with applicable laws.

Real Estate. Nathan has broad experience in real estate subdivision development, purchase and sale agreements, escrow issues, restrictive covenants, easements, deeds, and other issues affecting real property. He is an active member of the Building Industry Association.

Louie A. Brown Jr. is a partner with KSC. He manages the firm’s Government Relations Team representing clients before the California State Legislature and various state administrative agencies.

Louie specializes in providing clients with expert advice in maneuvering through California’s complex legislative and administrative process. He testifies regularly in the Capitol before many legislative committees on behalf of clients and has written numerous laws and played key roles in many of the Legislature’s major accomplishments and budget negotiations over the last decade.

Louie earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California and his Juris Doctor from the McGeorge School of Law. In 1991, the National Future Farmers of America elected Louie to serve its 400,000-student membership as the Western Region Vice President.

In addition to his work with the firm, Louie is deeply committed to agriculture education and youth sports. He chairs the Cal Poly AgriBusiness Department’s Advisory Committee and serves as member of the California Future Farmers of America Foundation Board of Directors. Louie also serves as President of the Elk Grove Youth Baseball League, Board Member of the Marauders Baseball Club and has volunteered as a youth soccer coach.

Louie and his wife, Kymberlee, reside in Elk Grove with their three children.

Dawn Bauman is Senior Vice President, Government & Public Affairs of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and has been a non-profit executive for more than 20 years. Dawn has served as chief executive officer of the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA) and executive director of National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM).

Dawn has dedicated her entire career to the practice of non-profit management and has extensive experience with non-profit organizations and associations. She began her career with the American Cancer Society and later built a successful association management company where she served non-profit associations including; The ALS Association (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) Arizona Chapter, Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations, National Society of Fund Raising Executives - Arizona Chapter, Arizona Association of Defense Counsel and Volunteers of America. Dawn has learned through experience that the key to success is surrounding yourself with excellent people. She now shares her wealth of experience with associations and non-profits throughout the country finding them outstanding professional staff.

Dawn holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has earned the prestigious Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation. She holds a membership with the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership.

Specialties: Dawn is a speaker and trainer for professionals seeking to earn their CAE certification and has extensive experience in strategic planning, non-profit management, leveraging resources, human resource management, and organizational development.