Mary L. Sansen represents public safety officers in administrative and disciplinary matters. As a former law enforcement officer and as a primary instructor for the Federal Officer Regional Academy at Napa Valley College, Mary brings extensive experience to defending police officers accused of misconduct. Mary has also instructed classes that include Legal Aspects of Evidence for Police Officers, Legal Liability for Police Trainers, and Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure for Paralegals.

A graduate of California State University at San Jose, Mary earned her law degree at John F. Kennedy School of Law.

Leo Tamisiea focuses his practice on collective bargaining and labor relations, as well as on administrative disciplinary appeals. Leo co-developed and remains primary instructor for the PORAC basic and advanced collective bargaining seminars. Leo is also a former member of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) Board of Directors, Chair of the PORAC Legal Defense Board of Trustees, and President of the PORAC Bay Area Chapter.

Leo retired after 27 years as a police officer, having worked in the City of Berkeley and as a police lieutenant with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District.

He earned his law degree at John F. Kennedy Law School.

John Noble has many years of experience negotiating and administering contracts, as well as representing peace officers in disciplinary matters.

John received his Bachelor's Degree from California State University at Long Beach and completed the Labor/Management Certificate Program at UC Davis. He was a police officer for twenty-eight years starting in 1969 at Long Beach PD and retiring from Santa Rosa PD in 1998.
 
John held a position on the Board of Directors of the Santa Rosa POA for sixteen years. During this time, he served his Association as President, Vice-President, and Treasurer.  He also held a position as Vice-President for the Northern Chapter of PORAC.

Rick Pattison represents clients at all stages of the disciplinary process and has served as the lead negotiator in collective bargaining sessions. Rick has successfully litigated many cases in administrative and arbitration hearings, as well as in trial and appellate courts. He also has extensive experience in civil writs.

Rick’s appellate experience includes a series of cases involving the collective bargaining rights of California state employees, culminating in Department of Personnel Administration v. Superior Court, 5 Cal.App.4th 155 (1992), which established that the governor does not have the right unilaterally to implement a salary cut for state employees.

Rick worked for the Lodi Police Department as a police officer and sergeant, as well as having served as deputy sheriff and sheriff's sergeant with the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department. Rick also provides extensive peace officer academy instruction.

Rick is a graduate of California State University at Sacramento, and earned his law degree at McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.

Mark O’Connell primarily handles collective bargaining and labor relations matters, as well as administrative discipline cases.

Mark retired from the Alameda Police Department as a sergeant after 28 years. During his tenure, Mark served as the president of the Alameda Police Officers Association, held several positions on the executive board, and also served as the Association's wage and benefit committee chairman for 14 years. He also served an extensive assignment in the internal affairs bureau conducting disciplinary investigations.

A graduate of California State University at Hayward, Mark has also completed the Labor-Management Certificate program at the University of California at Davis.

Terry Lynn Bowman represents public safety officers in administrative, disciplinary, and criminal defense matters. Terry has immense trial experience, having tried over 50 cases during her 7 years as a prosecutor for Santa Clara County, where she handled a variety of cases including homicides and sexual assaults. She also spoke to various community groups about domestic violence prosecution. Her high success rate and ability to handle complex legal issues led to her being named Trial Attorney of the Year in 2000.
 
Terry Bowman graduated cum laude from the University of California at Davis and earned her law degree at the University of San Francisco.

Bud Stone joins the firm after retiring from the Berkeley Police Department where he rose through the ranks to Lieutenant. Bud brings to his work extensive experience with the Berkeley Police Association as a Board Member, President, and Vice President. In that capacity, Bud negotiated collective bargaining agreements, and represented members in misconduct investigations and hearings. Bud also served as PORAC President, Vice President and as Treasurer. Bud has taught extensively in the PORAC Collective Bargaining, Internal Affairs and Leadership Courses.

Bud has a BA in Criminal Justice from West Virginia State College and has recently earned an MA in Leadership from St. Mary’s College.

Janne O’Neil provides estate planning services to RL&W clients. Janne advises clients on all aspects of preparing an estate plan including trusts, wills and powers of attorney. Janne also counsels RL&W clients on trust administration, estate taxes, probate, conservatorships and guardianships.

She has been exclusively practicing in the area of estate planning since 1994. Prior to attending law school, Janne was a litigation/probate paralegal in San Francisco for 13 years.

Janne has been a contributing commentator on radio station KSRO in Santa Rosa on “The Real Estate Hour” since 1997.

Janne graduated from San Jose State with a degree in Political Science and graduated cum laude from Empire College School of Law in Santa Rosa.

Tom Leary served the citizens of Contra Costa County for 28 years as a Deputy Sheriff for the Office of the Sheriff (13 years) and as a Senior Inspector for the District Attorney’s Office (15 years), where he specialized in white collar crime and public corruption. He also investigated over 50 officer involved fatal incidents while employed by the District Attorney, and served a term as President of the District Attorney Investigator’s Association.

Kathy Rains serves of counsel to Rains, Lucia & Wilkinson from her Dublin office. As of counsel, Kathy represents police officers in administrative discipline and criminal cases. In her separate private practice, Kathy also provides representation in family law matters.

Kathy brings to her practice 10 years of law enforcement experience with Contra Costa County Sheriff's department and the Brentwood Police department. After retirement, she began her legal career first representing police officers as a non-attorney labor representative and then, after graduating from John F. Kennedy University School of Law, continues to primarily devote her practice to representing police officers.

Kathy is a graduate of Saint Mary's College (BA Business Management) and John F. Kennedy School of Law, JD. She is a member of the California State Bar, Contra Costa County Bar Association and RPORAC.

Matthew George represents peace officers in administrative, disciplinary, civil, appellate, critical incident and criminal matters.  His practice focuses on labor and employment litigation, although he works with partners in all of the firm’s practice areas.
 
Matthew received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2005.  Before that, he earned bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and political science, magna cum laude, from Chapman University in Orange County.  He has experience in labor arbitration and served as a law clerk at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C.