Don came to Santa Barbara as a student at UCSB. After graduation he left the area to attend law school at the University of California (Boalt Hall) in Berkeley. After serving as a Deputy Attorney General in the California Attorney General’s Office in San Francisco, in 1968 he returned to Santa Barbara and joined Griffith & Thornburgh. Except for a three year stint as a Judge of the Santa Barbara Superior Court, he has been with the firm since he returned to Santa Barbara. Don has served as President of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association and on the boards of several non-profit community organizations. Don is an avid and enthusiastic tennis player.
Professional
- Partner, Griffith & Thornburgh, LLP: 1982 – Present
- Partner, Griffith & Thornburgh: 1968-1980
- Highest “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell, Inc. for over 20 years
- Judge, Santa Barbara County Superior Court: 1980-1982 (Presiding Judge – 1981-82)
- Office of the Attorney General of the State of California, San Francisco: 1966-1968
Practice Areas
- Civil Trial Practice:
- General Business
- Real Property and related matters
- Estates and Trusts
- Hospital and Health Care; Medical Staff matters
- Real Estate Law and Financing
- Estate planning and probate
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (Arbitrator/Mediator)
Memberships
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- California State Bar Association, admitted 1966
- Santa Barbara County Bar Association (Past-President 1988)
- California Supreme Court
- U.S. District Courts, Central, Northern and Eastern Districts
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
Education
- University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) LLB 1966
- Member, California Law Review, 1964-65
- Order of the Coif
- John Woodman Ayer Fellowship
- Beneficial Foundation Scholarship, 2 years
- University of California at Santa Barbara, AB 1963
- Pi Sigma Alpha (National Political Science Honorary)
- American River Junior College, Sacramento, AA 1961