Kimball, Tirey & St. John Specialize in Real Estate Law

By George Walsh, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Real estate transactions can be complex, so it's good to know that expert legal advice is available. Kimball, Tirey & St. John, at 5994 W. Las Positas Boulevard, is a statewide, full-service law firm that has been representing owners and managers of commercial and residential rental property in California since 1977. In addition to representing many of the largest owners and property management firms in the state and country, the firm also serves the legal needs of thousands of smaller owners.

Whether you're a large real-estate group or a single person renting out a single house, hiring experienced representation has its advantages. "Most law firms do work in a number of fields but our firm is strictly involved in landlord/tenant law," says Puneet Singh, managing attorney of the Pleasanton office of Kimball, Tirey & St. John. "We're very specialized and have a number of experts in the field. Every year new rules and laws are passed in terms of the types of notice requirements that landlords need to give tenants," Singh says. "You can't have any mistakes in your paperwork. Unlike other lawsuits, unlawful detainer cases must occur over a very short time period, so the time for filing, the time for filing an answer, the time for making a motion-everything is compressed. Also, each county has its own rules, so you need an attorney to make sure that the notices use the proper language."

While the Pleasanton offices of Kimball, Tirey & St. John primarily handle commercial and residential unlawful detainers, the Southern California offices of the firm have additional departments that do estate planning, employment law, collections, home owner association law, business real estate, seminars, and fair housing education. Overall, Kimball, Tirey & St. John has a total of 34 attorneys in its six California offices. The Pleasanton office in Hacienda includes three attorneys, a law clerk, five staff members, and a managing partner who visits the office on a monthly basis. Throughout California, the entire firm works on 2,000 cases each month, with between 200 and 250 being handled by the Pleasanton office. The company also has aggressive plans for expansion. "We currently have a satellite office in Sacramento and we definitely intend to grow here in Pleasanton," Singh says. "Our Pleasanton office handles cases from the Grapevine all the way past Yuba City. Our office has the farthest reach of all the Kimball, Tirey & St. John offices. We want to have all the departments here that our Southern California offices have, including a business real estate group."

Photo: Puneet K. Singh, left, and Nathan W. Austin are two of the attorneys who work at Kimball, Tirey & St. John's Northern California offices.

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