Partner
Mr. Wood provides personalized and zealous representation for his individual and business clients in a broad range of matters.
AREA OF PRACTICE
Probate and Trust Litigation, Real Estate, Business Litigation and Transactions, Estate Planning and Administration, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, and Church Law.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
- Represented business clients as corporate general counsel as they grew company from scratch into $40 million company including partnership and business formation, multiple corporate entity formations, lease negotiations, contract disputes and litigation, and individual estate planning and other personal matters
- Represented ranch family in large land development including joint venture agreements, multiple real estate entity formations, multi-generation estate planning and administration, and family limited partnership administration
- Successfully defended elderly business partner against multi-million dollar lawsuit by his deceased brother/partner’s family, and a subsequent lawsuit by his only daughter over the family trust, by settling each at mediation on favorable terms
- Obtained $6.5 million insurance bad-faith judgment after 4-week jury trial
- Successfully prosecuted and settled multi-million dollar litigation dispute on behalf of residential care facility owner against operator within four months at mediation
- Successfully defended church in multi-million dollar litigation dispute by members over real estate within four months at mediation
- Successfully defended trustee-beneficiary in multi-million dollar trust contest
- Successfully resolved “scorched-earth” church litigation matter involving millions of dollars of real property by taking over from prior counsel after years of litigation and multiple writs and appeals and settling the case at mediation
- Successfully defended sibling trustee in trust litigation by facilitating mediation between four siblings who had not been in the same room for 25 years and reaching settlement and partial reconciliation
- Successfully handled multiple personal injury and wrongful death matters by obtaining policy limits for plaintiffs
- Successfully defended and attacked lis pendens liens on real property
- Successfully facilitated dispute resolution for multiple family clients including family businesses, real estate, and elder care
- Helped locate 50-year-old client’s birth father and introduce them to each other
- Successfully handled many pro bono litigation matters involving religious, parental, and privacy rights as a participating attorney for The Pacific Justice Institute, Alliance Defense Fund, and The Rutherford Institute.
ADMITTED COURTS AND MEMBERSHIPS
Mr. Wood was admitted to the California State Bar in 1992, and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Central Districts of California, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Wood is a member of the Contra Costa County Bar Association, Real Estate and Probate and Trust sections of the Contra Costa County Bar Association, and Christian Legal Society.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Seto Wood & Schweickert, LLP (2019-present) (Partner)
- Bergquist, Wood McIntosh & Seto, LLP (1996-2019) (Partner)
- Stoddard, Falco & Pfeiffer (1992-1996) (Associate)
EDUCATION
Mr. Wood earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1992 from the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, and graduated summa cum laude with his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in 1989 from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California with a double major in Political Science and English with a minor in Business Administration.
OTHER
Mr. Wood lives with his wife and eight boys in Walnut Creek, California, and is a member of Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church.
