Santa Clara, CA

Frederick W. Penney

Frederick W. Penney is the founding partner of Penney & Associates® and one of California’s most recognized personal injury attorneys. He holds the highest AVVO rating of 10-“Superb Lawyer”-and is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, reflecting the highest possible level of legal ability and ethical standards. With more than 30 years of experience, Mr. Penney has represented clients in thousands of personal injury cases, including high-profile matters involving product liability, trucking accidents, escalator and elevator failures, aviation accidents, and boating incidents. He earned his B.A. in Philosophy from Brigham Young University (1988) and his J.D. from J. Reuben Clark Law School (1991). He was admitted to the California State Bar in 1992. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California (1992), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1993), and is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar. He has served as a Settlement Conference Judge (Judge Pro Tem) for the Placer County Superior Court. He is also the host of Radio Law Talk and has authored numerous articles on personal injury law. He has been a member of the California Trial Lawyers Association since 1993.

Norman Gregory Fernandez

Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., is a top rated, nationally recognized Senior Attorney at Law, and the founder of The Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates, a California personal injury law firm. He has almost 3 decades of experience handling Personal Injury and other legal matters throughout the State of California. He has obtained millions of dollars for thousands of clients. He is a member of the Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Association and was named one of the 10 Best by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys for 2016-2017. He is licensed to practice law in California and before several U.S. Federal Courts.

Kevin L. Elder

Kevin L. Elder has been practicing as a civil litigation attorney for 34 years. He spent the first 18 years as an associate for a civil litigation defense firm, earning partnership status. In 2008, he moved to the plaintiff bar, serving as Penney and Associates' managing trial attorney. He has successfully tried cases to jury verdict, receiving verdicts and settlements totaling over $65 million. Kevin is a proud member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He has tried 4 jury trials in the last 4 years, totaling over $12 million, and was the lead trial attorney in a Federal Court case that settled for over $14 million in June 2022. He handles various personal injury cases throughout California. He is a member of the Multi-Million and Million Dollar Advocate Forum, the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), and the California Trial Lawyers Association. He is licensed to practice in all California courts, including the California Supreme Court, and in the United States Federal District Courts in the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California.

Stewart P. Galbraith

Stewart P. Galbraith was born March 25, 1964, and admitted to the California bar in 1990. He received his B.A., with honors, from California State University at Sacramento in 1987 and graduated Cum Laude from California Western School of Law in 1990, where he served as an editor and staff writer for the California Western Law Review. He received the American Jurisprudence Award in Legal Writing and interned at the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District. He worked for eight years with a Sacramento insurance defense law firm before joining Penney & Associates in 1998, specializing in personal injury law. In July 1999, he opened and managed the Penney & Associates satellite office in Chico, California, focusing on personal injury cases for the injured party. He is an American Board of Trial Advocates Member.

Michael H. Steffen

Michael H. Steffen was admitted to the California State Bar in 1966. He received his B.A. from the University of San Francisco in 1962 and his J.D. degree from the U.S.F. School of Law in 1966. He worked as a staff attorney for the California State Automobile Association for over thirty years, specializing in civil litigation, corporate and business assignments, insurance coverage litigation, employment, Workers Compensation, and real estate matters. In the 1990s, he managed the Sacramento office of Preston, Steffen, Katzen & Gallagher. Since retiring from CSAA, he has been associated with several Sacramento law firms, representing clients in real estate, personal injury, Workers Compensation, and employment law. He has been with Penney & Associates since 2007. He is the managing attorney of the Penney and Associates® Rocklin office and admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. He is also a licensed California Real Estate Broker and serves as an arbitrator with the Sacramento County Superior Court, and has been a member of the American Arbitration Association.

Leonard Emil Chaitin

Leonard Emil Chaitin, Esq., is an experienced trial lawyer with over 44 years of legal experience in Criminal Law, Appellate Law, Civil Law, Federal Law, and other legal areas. He holds a Juris Doctor Degree from the San Fernando Valley College of Law and is Of Counsel at The Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates.

Garrett Penney

Garrett Penney is a California native who spent two years in Peru, becoming fluent in Spanish. He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, receiving a BA in Spanish and a Juris Doctorate Degree from J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. While in law school, he clerked for Utah’s 4th District Court and a Salt Lake City personal injury law firm, primarily representing Spanish-speaking clients. In 2017, Garrett joined Penney & Associates as a law clerk. After passing the California Bar in 2019, he became an associate attorney, representing victims of auto accidents, slip and falls, wrongful deaths, dog bites, and other personal injury claims. He has been admitted to practice in the United States Federal District Court, Central District of California, and has recovered millions for his clients. He earned his Eagle Scout at age 14 with over 90 merit badges and continues to live by the Scout Law. His hobbies include family activities, basketball, and scuba diving.