Partner
I help families solve estate disputes. I help parents who want their wishes honored, children who want to protect what their parents left, trustees who work in the treacherous breach between the dead and the living, and courts who need to bring order and finality to these disputes. Many of my clients got a trustee job they didn’t ask for, a relationship transition they didn’t expect, or a lawsuit they didn’t want. If I don’t have a quick or easy solution, I’ve got a patient ear, a curious mind, and a seasoned team to understand the problem and find the best way forward.
California probate law is a unique legal arena that sees profound grief and family dysfunction on a daily basis. For over 22 years I’ve helped hundreds of people in that space – trustees, executors, beneficiaries, and family business partners. I’ve fought for hundreds of clients at all stages of litigation; won bench trials, jury trials, and appeals; and successfully resolved all kinds of estate cases – will and trust contests, partnership disputes, breach of fiduciary duty/fraud claims, trustee accountings, and elder abuse claims.
I graduated with honors from Oak Brook College of Law in 2003 and became one of the five youngest attorneys in California upon passing the bar on first taking. I worked in religious liberty litigation at Pacific Justice Institute and later as as a judicial extern at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. I spent over a decade at a couple of East Bay law firms before forming Seto Wood & Schweickert LLP in 2019. I continue to help clients pro bono in free speech, religious liberty, asylum, and other public interest claims against the government and its agents. I am admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of California and all State courts in California, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia Bar, and the United States Supreme Court.
I love to run, bike, ski, play cello, explore this planet and share what I find, keep bees, enjoy ballet, and talk with people. I work with several nonprofit organizations to mentor young people, promote international cultural exchange, speak up for those who can’t, and provide better options for women and men in need. I am married to Kaitlin, who is always worth listening to, and not just because she’s a better attorney than I am. Our first beneficiary was born in 2022 and the second followed in 2024.
