Our Firm

Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer

History

Over the last 30 years, Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer has become one of the most successful and respected personal injury, employment and consumer law firms in northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The firm was founded in Oakland by attorneys J. Gary Gwilliam and Eric Ivary in 1978. Jim Chiosso joined the firm in 1979 and was followed soon thereafter by Steve Cavalli. In 1986, Steve Brewer joined the firm. In 1991, the firm's name was changed to include each of its partners. Since that time, we have gone on to establish a superior track record for winning cases, and for results that have had an impact ranging far beyond the compensation achieved for our clients.

Practice

Representing clients throughout Oakland, the Bay Area, Northern California and beyond, our practice has evolved to the point where we accept only the more serious and complex litigation cases involving personal injury and wrongful death, medical malpractice, insurance disputes/bad faith, product liability, as well as employment, business fraud and consumer law cases.

 As an established firm, we have the experience, knowledge, and resources to permit us to litigate against the well-funded corporate and insurance company law firms. We have achieved an excellent reputation in the legal community based on our track record. Our success is predicated on more than 30 years of obtaining outstanding results for our clients. Our attorneys are respected for their litigation skills and years of trial experience, and are well versed in the art of settlement negotiations.

The Holistic Approach

The clients that we agree to represent, or the family members in those cases where a wrongful death is involved, almost always have more pressing needs than just our legal representation. They often need the assistance of physicians, mental health care professionals or other professional experts. Our approach is to get to know our clients, understand how they and family members have been affected by these personal tragedies, and to approach them and their case in a holistic sense; as fellow human beings who need our help in ways that go beyond any immediate legal concerns.

People

Our attorneys are active in numerous professional and community organizations such as the American Board of Trial Advocates, Consumer Attorneys of California, Public Justice Foundation, and the American Association for Justice. They often write articles or teach seminars for the benefit of other lawyers and are frequently asked by the courts to serve as pro tempore judges in many Bay Area counties. They routinely, willingly and gladly offer their services pro bono to individuals and organizations in the community, and are fully committed not only to obtaining the best possible results for their clients, but to advancing the integrity and ethical status of the legal profession as well.

The firm and each of its partners have received the highest possible AV* Peer Review Rating® under the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating system. In addition, the firm's partners have been voted by their peers as Northern California Super Lawyers since the inception of that honor, an exclusive group which represents just five percent of all Northern California lawyers.

However, a law firm is comprised of more than just lawyers and we would be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the indispensable contributions and value our paralegals, secretaries, law clerks and other administrative staff provide to each of the firm's attorneys and their clients.

*CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell Ratings fall into two categories — legal ability and general ethical standards.