Michael F. Obrand, Attorney

Michael Obrand was born and raised in Montreal, Canada.  His family moved to California when he was a teenager.  He has been married to his wife, Cynthia for over 30 years.  Michael and Cynthia have three children.

EDUCATION:

Mr. Obrand received a Wheeler Scholarship to attend the University of California at Berkeley.  He received his B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

He attended law school at the University of California Hastings College of the Law where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1973.  At Hastings, Mr. Obrand was an editorial associate of the Hastings Law Journal and a member of the Thurston Honor Society.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Mr. Obrand has substantial experience in general business, real estate, employment and criminal litigation, including a highly successful record as a trial lawyer.  His most recent triumph in court occurred when an Orange County Superior Court jury rejected a charge of fraud brought by the seller against Mr. Obrand's clients, a major residential real estate brokerage company and its agents.  The Court awarded Mr. Obrand's clients approximately $160,000 in attorney's fees and costs against the seller in this case.

In another case, Mr. Obrand was successful in having a trial court judgment against his client in a major land use case in Los Angeles reversed on appeal.  Twice the City of Los Angeles approved his client's application for an exception to a height restriction of a specific plan.  However, on two separate occasions, the trial court issued a writ of mandate ordering the City to set aside its approval.  Mr. Obrand appealed the trial court's judgment.  On March 24, 2003, the Court of Appeal for the Second District reversed the trial court judgment and ordered the trial court to enter a new judgment in favor of Mr. Obrand's clients.

Mr. Obrand began his legal career as a trial attorney in the Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office where he tried several misdemeanor and felony cases to a jury.

After several years in private practice, Mr. Obrand became general counsel for Coldwell Banker's residential brokerage company in Southern California.  In that capacity, he litigated cases.