I am a pastor of a church in Pittsburg, California. I met Ray in 2009 after a schism within our congregation filed a derivative lawsuit against the church, the trustees, and myself. At the time, Ray was a paralegal and was preparing to enter law school in 2010. After meeting Ray and his supervising attorney, I hired them to defend me against the derivative action and to sue our insurance company for refusing to abide by the insurance policy provisions. As it turns out, it was the perfect decision. After completing his first year of law school, Ray became a certified law student and artfully assisted in the defense against the derivative action and prosecution of the coverage action against our insurance company. I, along with the trustees and church congregation, was extremely impressed with Ray’s tenacity in the performance of his work. I was even more impressed with the favorable comments that came from the practitioners that presided over our mediation proceedings and the judge that presided over our case. One mediator remarked how impressed he was with Ray’s performance and approach to the case because there were extremely complicated coverage issues involved. During a judicially supervised settlement conference, the judge echoed the same admiration for Ray and his ability to comprehend very complex insurance coverage issues. As a result of Ray’s committed work on the case and professionalism, we were able to settle all litigation in our favor. I have since referred Ray to numerous members of the community and other church pastors. All have reported favorably of Ray, and I continue to highly recommend him.

Victor B.

I became acquainted with Ray in 2012 through my best friend, Joy K., prior to her death. Joy was suffering from terminal illness and engaged Ray to assist her with selling her home.  Joy was so impressed with Ray that she engaged him to assist her in getting her estate plan updated. After meeting Ray, I could see why Joy liked him so much. Ray was very helpful and knowledgeable. Joy had asked Ray to be the successor trustee of her trust in the event of her death. Although Ray respectfully declined to do so, he promised Joy that if she selected me to be her successor trustee (a task that I certainly didn’t want to take on), he would be there every step of the way to help me. Based on Ray’s promise, I reluctantly agreed to serve as Joy’s successor trustee. It’s been many years of administering the trust, but Ray has been there the entire time. Joy’s prior attorney was so impressed with Ray, he offered to sell Ray his law practice when he retired. Even though it has been years since Joy passed away, Ray continues to help me with the trust administration. At no time has Ray asked for compensation. Ray has volunteered at least 100 hours of his time, during the past 5-6 years, helping me with the trust administration. I don’t know of very many people that would take out the time to volunteer helping elderly or terminally ill people. But I can see why Joy liked Ray so much. Ray doesn’t hesitate to volunteer his time and I can’t imagine how I would have been able to administer Joy’s trust without Ray’s help.  

Mary T.

I am a licensed real estate broker and general contractor. I have been in the real estate business for over 34 years. During that time, I have purchased, sold, and/or developed millions of dollars in real estate. I met Ray in 2014. I hired Ray, in a fiduciary capacity, to represent me in the purchase of apartment buildings in Oakland. After successfully closing escrow on the apartment buildings, Ray represented me in the purchase/sale of 3-4 single family homes. In addition, I hired Ray to manage all 16 units in my apartment buildings. His performance has been great, and I truly appreciate his hard work, honesty, and reliability.

Jack R.

I met Ray in 2012. He was in the process of selling a property for my former neighbor. I was impressed with how fast Ray sold her property and decided to give him a call to see if he could assist me in the sale of my property. I had previously tried (on two separate occasions) to sell my property through another Realtor, with no success. After meeting Ray, I was impressed with his professionalism and knowledge.  Ray pointed out many issues that had to be addressed before we were in a position to market the property, including resolution of any repairs. After settling into our new home, I approached Ray about assisting my elderly brother with his estate plan. Ray did not hesitate to assist with the task. After meeting Ray, my brother agreed that he needed an estate plan in place.  It has been very challenging for me to endure my brother’s death, while at the same time handle his financial affairs as successor trustee of his trust. Ray has helped me beyond what I imagined. Ray sold all of my brother’s properties and is assisting me with the administration of the trust.

Asbery F.

Ray is our uncle. Since we were young teenagers, Ray mentored us to become successful, hard working men. We attribute our work-ethic to Ray. Watching how hard he works and listening to his advice made us the men we are today. Over the years, Ray emphasized the importance of saving and managing our money, maintaining good credit scores, and buying real estate. We purchased our first home through Ray in 2012 at 21-years old. We purchased our second home in 2015; our third home in 2016; and our fourth home in 2018. In addition, we purchased our own barbershop in 2017. Ray represented us in the purchase of our properties and served as our property manager. Like many, the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on our business, and we ultimately closed down. Our landlord sued us for breaking the lease, despite pandemic conditions. Ray did not hesitate to represent and defend us against our landlord.

Mark R. & Mario R.

I am an attorney licensed to practice in the State of California and have been a member of the California State Bar, in good standing, since my admission date of December 1974. I have had the opportunity and pleasure of working with Ray, as his supervising attorney, during the time period he was registered as a certified law student. Ray’s performance was excellent. I appeared with and supervised him during depositions, court appearances, mediations, and trial. Judges, commissioners, mediators, and opposing counsel alike, have commented favorably regarding Ray’s performance and skill. My wife was so impressed with Ray, she insisted on using him to assist us in preparation of our estate planning.  

Melvin H.