Photo by Tennison Geihs
We are trying to use only our own, original pictures on the Dumas Law Group website. Here’s the story behind the butterfly picture:
My sister Tennison took this picture at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco when they were having a special butterfly exhibit. I was living in San Francisco at the time, she was visiting me, and we were exploring Golden Gate Park. Hanging out in the glass palace of the Conservatory surrounded by gorgeous tropical flowers and hundreds of butterflies was a great way to spend an afternoon.
When I lived in San Francisco and practiced law in the Bay Area, most of my work involved real estate and business litigation, mostly for farmers, wineries, restaurants, and other family-owned businesses. My cases included:
- Helping resolve a lawsuit among the extended family members who had inherited a famous coffee house and coffee roasting company in North Beach;
- Successfully protecting the trade secrets of a privately-owned company that provided printing and copying services to professionals in San Francisco’s financial district;
- Defending the estate of a Napa wine merchant and magazine publisher against claims by his former mistress, in a case involving complex probate and tax issues; and
- Representing a consortium of cherry farmers when the automated cherry sorting system they bought failed to work and crushed the cherries.
I loved working on these cases because I learned so much about my clients’ businesses and their families – often intertwined. I didn’t grow up in California, so working with families who had deep roots in the Bay Area made me feel connected with the community.