Blackhawk Products Liability Lawyers

I serve personal injury clients throughout the entire East Bay from my offices in Danville and Pleasanton. I know how devastating an injury can be. Aside from physical pain, it can also accompany financial hardship, a complete change of lifestyle and livelihood, family duress and more. I understand the full scope of what an injury can bring and has dedicated his life to helping those who through no fault of their own suffer at the negligence of others. I am a strong advocate for your rights and has fought hard for over 20 years to make our communities a...

My law practice focuses on representing injury and death victims and their families. Many of my cases have involved personal injury, car accidents, accidental death, wrongful death, truck accidents, big-rig accidents, motorcycle accidents, products liability, defective products, dog bites, nursing home injuries, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, and dangerous property. I have been highly successful in favorably resolving my clients' cases and obtaining monetary compensation for my clients for over 22 years. My clients have suffered catastrophic injuries, death of a family member, serious injuries requiring hospitalization or surgery and many other types of injuries including coma, brain injuries, quadriplegia, triplegia, loss of...

Robert D. Finkle received his Juris Doctor from Thomas Jefferson School of Law and was admitted to practice in the State of California in 2009. He is also admitted to practice in the Northern and Eastern Districts of the Federal District Courts of California. Prior to law school Robert followed family tradition and worked in the home building industry for subcontractors, as an installer and later as a cost estimator, and large national builders and, as such, has extensive and intimate knowledge of home building practices. During law school Robert was involved in multiple student groups, including the Phi...

Leaders In Personal Injury Litigation In the aftermath of a life-altering injury caused by someone else’s negligent or reckless actions, you and the people you love face many challenges. You will face a grueling recovery process with no guarantee of living the life you once lived. In addition, you will need significant financial resources to compensate you for your medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages. It is important to understand that the lawyer you select in your personal injury claim matters a great deal. For many decades, individuals and families across Oakland, the Bay Area, Central Valley and...

Andy Gillin received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and his law degree from the University of Chicago. He is a co-author of California Government Tort Liability Practice, published by California Continuing Education of the Bar. He has written and lectured in the field of plaintiffs’ personal injury law for numerous organizations. Andy’s case results include many recoveries for his clients in excess of $1,000,000.

John Hill has been representing injured individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area for over fifty years. John is a Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and a Board Certified Civil Pretrial Advocate by the National Board of Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy. John's areas of practice include Personal Injury Law; Wrongful Death; Products Liability Law; Medical Malpractice; Premises Liability; Employment Litigation; Torts; General Civil Trial Practice; and Commercial Litigation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Hill is also a member of ABOTA (The...

Andrew is a senior counsel in the Oakland/East Bay office of Ericksen Arbuthnot and co-chair of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. He is AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected as a Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Star by Thomson Reuters. Andrew has extensive litigation experience representing individual and institutional clients in state and federal court. His areas of practice include insurance coverage and defense, intellectual property, personal injury, professional liability, real estate, and other commercial issues.

Andrew has B.A. degrees in Cognitive Science and History, and a minor in Philosophy, from the...

With more than 40 years of legal experience, Andrew Schwartz has handled countless cases for clients ranging from serious injuries and personal injury to product liability law at Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook. A 1975 graduate from the University of San Francisco School of Law, Mr. Schwartz has been admitted to the Federal and California Bars and the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout his legal career, he’s achieved numerous multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for injured clients, including a $5.6 million jury verdict that was considered one of the top 100 jury verdicts in California in 2017. In addition to holding memberships...

Joe Appel has specialized in personal injury cases for more than 30 years. He’s seen it, tried it, and won it, both in state and federal courts. Joe graduated from St. Mary’s College of California, Moraga, California in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He also played basketball for the Galloping Gaels for four years. At graduation Joe received the Scholar Athlete of the Year Award. He then attended and graduated from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1979. Joe was admitted to the California and Federal Courts in the same year. He has been a member...

Jeffrey Nadrich is a successful and nationally-recognized personal injury lawyer specializing in all aspects of personal injury, mostly: Auto accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Bicycle accidents, Truck accidents, Dog bite injuries, and Wrongful Death cases. Mr. Nadrich is a 1972 graduate of the University of California Berkeley. He is also a 1975 graduate of the University of California Hastings College of the Law. Mr. Nadrich was admitted to the California State Bar in 1976. Mr. Nadrich is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocate Forum, STLA, AAJ, CAALA, LACBA, ABA, and many other prestigious legal organizations. Nadrich Accident Injury...

A resident of Oakland, Len spent much of his legal career with prestigious, top-ranked, San Francisco law firms. Mr. Watkins brings the same level of expertise, and standard of excellence, to his practice in the East Bay. Focusing on consumer bankruptcy and business law, Mr. Watkins’ depth of experience and training include: A Masters of Business Administration, concentrating on finance, from the University of California, at Davis A stock brokerage license (inactive) from the National Association of Securities Dealers A California Real Estate Broker’s license Previous Experience Business Attorney Norris & Norris (now...

Thomas C. Knowles, an attorney with The Van Blois Law Firm in Oakland, California, helps clients address Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff situations. He also helps clients with Personal Injury - Products: Plaintiff and Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff concerns.

Tim Knowles is an experienced trial lawyer in cases involving mechanical engineering, construction and medicine. He was a defense lawyer that represented Ford Motor Company early in his career. He has the knowledge and experience to represent persons injured by auto defects including crushed roofs, defective tires, seat belts and airbags.

As a lifelong sailor, sailing the Atlantic and Pacific...

Attorney Adam M. Carlson is managing partner at Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook. While he is skilled in various areas of law, he focuses the majority of his practice handling cases related to wrongful death, civil rights, and personal injury. He believes that tailoring each case to each client’s needs is key to providing aggressive and compassionate legal representation.

Before joining the firm, Carlson served as an intake assistant for our team, where he was responsible for fielding calls from potential clients. It was at this time that Carlson decided he wanted to do more. He found that he was passionate...

Shahrad Milanfar is a Trial Attorney and Mediator who has focused his career on serious personal injury, automotive, asbestos and other types of product liability, transportation/ trucking, and habitability cases. Since the beginning of his career, Shahrad has worked on catastrophic injury cases such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), serious orthopedic injuries, including quadriplegia and paraplegia.

Shahrad gained his trial and courtroom experience while working with the district attorney’s office and as a civil trial attorney. He has handled cases form inception to verdict as the primary trial attorney. Over the past 20+ years, Shahrad has managed serious personal injury and...

J. Michael Hosterman has over forty years of experience in personal injury law. He is known for his empathetic nature and vigorous advocacy on behalf of his clients. Civic-minded and forward-looking, Mr. Hosterman is involved in many community and professional organizations; he is a longtime member of the Pleasanton Downtown Association and the Rotary Club of Pleasanton. "Mike was a great asset to me and my case. He and his staff were on top of the details of my case and were always going the extra mile for me." - Kristi H. Livemore, CA "Michael was very honest, professional, diligent and such a friendly...

Thomas has a passion for the law as it relates to personal injury and worker's compensation. His current practice at the Appel Law Firm LLP focuses on representing those involved in personal injury claims, as well as worker's compensation and other related matters. During law school, Thomas served as a judicial extern for Judge Timothy A. Reardon of the First District of the California Court of Appeal. He was a member of the University of San Francisco Advanced Advocacy teams for two years and served as the Social Chair on the Advanced Advocacy Board. Thomas also was a member...

I was born in Latin America and grew up in San Francisco. A product of the Bay Area, I studied economics at UC Berkeley before moving to Washington, DC, where I worked at both the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve. In 2003, I embarked on my legal studies at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, NY. Upon graduation, I worked as a corporate associate in Manhattan at a boutique international law firm. There I had the opportunity to work on a wide array of corporate transactions, from financing the construction of a hotel in NYC, structuring investments...

Nick Casper is a Managing Partner at Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook, where he has worked since 2007. As a plaintiffs' attorney, Nick has been an active participant in the litigation of many of the firm’s largest cases. These cases involved wrongful death, catastrophic injury, products liability, child sexual abuse, and civil rights violations. Most recently, Nick obtained settlements of $9 million in a premises liability case and $3.2 million in a truck-vs.-pedestrian death of a senior citizen. Nick has been lead trial counsel in five civil jury trials in both state and federal court. He was named to the Top 100...

Practicing maritime law for 49 years. Handled both Jones Act and Longshore & Harborworkers claims. Over 75 trials to completion. Many 7 figure verdicts and settlements. Voted best Northern California maritime attorney (2003) by the Recorder. AV rated. Also handled and litigated major trucking accident cases resulting in multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements.