Oliver W. Wanger is a shareholder of Wanger Jones Helsley PC in Fresno, California. He is a former United States District Judge (1991-2011); sat by designation as United States Court of Appeal (9th Circuit) Judge; and former Pro Tem Trial and Settlement Judge, Superior Court of California, Fresno County. He is a co-founder, former Dean, Chair of the Board of Trustees, President and Adjunct Professor of Law at San Joaquin College of Law, Fresno, California (1970-1994, 2011). United States Marine Corps Reserve (1960-1967). He offers private judging services, including arbitration, mediation, and private jury and mock trials and sentencings. He also engages in trial practice and trial consulting. He has qualified as an expert witness in Federal and State Courts, Arbitrations in judicial ethics, performance, and standards of care; attorney ethics and professional conduct, standards of care, attorneys’ fees and billing; insurance coverage issues – tripartite relationship, Cumis and Buss issues; trial practice and performance.
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Mr. Jones focuses his law practice on civil litigation with a strong emphasis on real estate litigation, construction litigation, environmental litigation, and land use. His clients include environmental energy companies, national home and community builders and developers, and a large population of statewide development and agricultural interests.
Mr. Helsley is a shareholder at Wanger Jones Helsley PC, and is head of its Employment Litigation practice. In his civil practice, Mr. Helsley focuses on complex litigation matters in federal or state court, including employment litigation and commercial cases. Mr. Helsley represents national Fortune 500 companies, regional and local employers in wage and hour class actions, race, gender, national origin and disability discrimination cases, sexual harassment cases, breach of contract, wrongful termination and other employment matters. Mr. Helsley also represents employers in labor matters. Mr. Helsley’s practice includes advising employers on various employment-related issues, including internal and external employee investigations. Mr. Helsley also represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial litigation, including antitrust and unfair competition matters. Mr. Helsley has successful jury trial and appellate experience in federal and state courts.
Riley Walter has focused on restructuring, insolvency and reorganization matters since 1980. Mr. Walter specializes in Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 reorganization cases representing debtors and Chapter 9 cases involving special districts. He has handled all types of cases, including, but not limited to, large farms, dairies, wineries, canneries, developers, retail businesses, gold mines, hospitals and hospital districts. Mr. Walter has also authored numerous articles on insolvency and bankruptcy and is a frequent speaker to business, legal, agricultural and financial groups, including presentations at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Farmers and Ranchers Tax Conference, Central California Bankruptcy Institute, Eastern District Judicial Conference and the Agricultural Lending Institute.
Mr. Walter is a Certified Business Bankruptcy Specialist, accredited by the American Board of Bankruptcy Certification, and is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, Class XIII. He has been recognized as a “Top 100” Super Lawyer for Northern California seven times and annually as a Northern California Super Lawyer beginning in 2004. He has enjoyed an Av rating from Martindale-Hubbell since 1995.
Mr. Walter was a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and is past chair of the Eastern District Judicial Conference Committee. He was co-chair of the Business Law Section of the Fresno County Bar Association. He is a past president of the Central California Bankruptcy Association, past president of the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, past director of the California Bankruptcy Forum and California Receiver’s Forum, past chair of the Agricultural Law Section of the Fresno County Bar Association, and past co-chair of the Agribusiness Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar.
Mr. Walter’s passion for serving his community is evident through his active involvement in civic and social organizations. He was a founding board member of the Central Valley Business Incubator and is past board chair of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State. He served as Vice Chair of the City of Fresno Charter Review Commission. Mr. Walter served on the Valley Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees on its Finance and Facilities Committees and was Chair of the Valley Children’s Hospital Medical Foundation. In addition, he has been a trustee or director of several cultural, arts and historical groups. He was formerly an associate professor of agricultural business management at Cal Poly Pomona, a lecturer at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has taught agricultural law at San Joaquin College of Law and entrepreneurship at Fresno State.
In his spare time, he reads, studies Native American anthropology and enjoys travel.
Mr. Toole joined WJH as a lateral attorney in 2001, and was elevated to a shareholder in 2005. Mr. Toole focuses his practice on civil trials and litigation. He has successfully prosecuted and defended cases through trial in multiple areas, including: commercial litigation, class actions, corporate and partner dissolutions, insurance bad faith litigation, trade secret litigation and unfair business practices. To date, Mr. Toole has tried over 18 cases to verdict and successfully defended or prosecuted over 25 appeals. Clients of Mr. Toole range from Fortune 500 companies to individuals.
Mr. Laird focuses his practice on representing businesses and individuals in commercial, real property, insurance, agriculture, partnership/shareholder and litigated probate disputes in trials, arbitration and litigation. His clients include national agricultural growers/packers/shippers, national manufacturing companies, local builders and developers, general contractors, and other successful local businesses and individuals. Mr. Laird joined Wanger Jones Helsley in 2001 and became a shareholder in 2005.
Mr. Kinsey is a Shareholder of the law firm of Wanger Jones Helsley PC. Mr. Kinsey’s practice focuses on all aspects of land use, environmental law, water law, and civil writs and appeals. He has been recognized as a certified specialist in appellate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, a distinction held by only a small handful of attorneys in the San Joaquin Valley. He also has significant experience advising clients on and litigating matters involving governmental ethics, administrative law, and municipal law.
Mr. Kinsey is a specialist on the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), and regularly provides instruction to non-attorneys regarding the preparation of CEQA documents.
Mr. Vote practices both commercial litigation and real estate transactions, which allows him to offer his clients a unique blend of deal-making and dispute resolution. His litigation practice includes cases involving breaches of contract and fiduciary duty; creditors’ rights and remedies; partnership, corporate, and LLC dissolutions; unfair trade practices, and other business disputes. Mr. Vote’s Civil Engineering degree has made him well-suited to represent clients with a wide range of construction defect, delay, disruption, and related disputes. Mr. Vote also forms and maintains all types of business entities; prepares shareholder, partnership, and operating agreements; and represents both buyers and sellers of real property in all manners of real estate transactions, including purchase agreements, sales agreements, and option transactions. Finally, Mr. Vote brings his unique skill set and experience to dispute resolution by acting as a private mediator on select cases.
Mr. Ewell joined Wanger Jones Helsley in October 2011, as an associate attorney. Prior to joining Wanger Jones Helsley in 2011, Mr. Ewell previously worked for the firm from September 2000 to December 2003, litigating and advocating in a variety of civil actions including real estate litigation, commercial litigation and contract litigation. From January 2004 to October 2010, Mr. Ewell worked as an in-house attorney for Ranger Group, Inc., and its related entities, performing a wide range of legal services, including contract preparation, negotiation and review, and representing the companies in a broad range of litigation matters. During this time, Mr. Ewell also worked as a principal in a number of different entities developing real estate projects throughout California. From October 2010 to October 2011, Mr. Ewell worked for Powell and Pool, concentrating on creditor’s rights issues in bankruptcy and representing national banks in non-judicial foreclosure actions. Additionally, during law school, Mr. Ewell served as an extern for Justice Nickolas Dibiaso at the Fifth District Court of Appeal, State of California.
Mr. Christofferson is a shareholder of WJH. Mr. Christofferson practices in all areas of business litigation, including cases involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, business dissolution, joint venture, as well as subrogation, personal injury, insurance coverage disputes, employment, family law, estate planning, conservatorships, and guardianships. He has litigated a dozen court trials and arbitrations throughout the San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles and San Diego and has successfully argued before the Ninth Circuit and the Third District Court of Appeals.