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Michael Rothschild and M. Bradley Wishek founded the firm in 1991. Since that time, it’s been our honor to have been affiliated with some of Sacramento’s most preeminent lawyers.
Michael Rothschild co-founded the law firm in 1991, and retired from active practice in 2023. Mr. Rothschild is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Hastings College of the Law, and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1969.
Mr. Rothschild honed his trial skills over his more than 50 years’ experience representing plaintiffs in civil litigation, representing professionals before licensing boards, and defending people charged with felony offenses. From 1991 until his retirement, Mr. Rothschild was recognized by and included in the peer-reviewed publication Best Lawyers in America. He held an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating available from this peer-reviewed publication.
Mr. Rothschild is past president of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. He lectured on trial skills to the National Child Abuse Defense and Resource Center and served both as trainer and program director of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice Trial Skills Workshop at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California. In addition, Mr. Rothschild taught trial skill seminars on behalf of California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) and presented to California trial judges through the continuing education program of the California Judicial Council.
Mr. Rothschild litigated many important precedential cases in the State of California, including Hatton v. Bonner (2004); Townsend v. Superior Court (1975); Newland v. Board of Governors (1977); Lorenzana v. Superior Court (1973); California v. Orin (1975); Brosnahan v. Brown (1982); Gebremicael v. California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (2004); California Teachers Association v. Commission on Teacher Credentialing (2003); People v. Superior Court (Frietag) (1988); People v. Lopez (1975); People v. Thomas (1975); Walker v. Superior Court (1974); Dudley v. Superior Court (1974); Li v. Superior Court (2021); and Little v. Commission on Teacher Credentialing (2022).
Michael S. Sands joined the law firm as counsel in 1996 and has since retired from the active practice. For more than 30 years, Michael Sands was recognized as one of the best criminal defense attorneys in Northern California.
Mr. Sands received his law degree from Stanford University. Early in his career, he served for five years as assistant public defender for Sacramento County. He was elected to the Sacramento City Council and served for eight years, four of them as vice mayor. He has also served as president of the Sacramento County Bar Association and the Sacramento Barrister’s Club, executive council member of the State Bar Conference of Barristers, member of the board of directors of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, one of the founders of the California Public Defenders Association, member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, and Master of the Bench, Emeritus, of the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court. For many years he received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and was included in the peer-reviewed publication, “The Best Lawyers in America.”
Mr. Sands served as professor of law and director of the Center for Legal Advocacy at McGeorge School of Law of the University of the Pacific from 1991 until he joined the firm in 1996. The author of “The Therapeutic Abortion Act,” 13 UCLA Law Review 285, he has also authored and co-authored numerous case files for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.
Quin A. Denvir (1940-2016) joined the law firm as counsel in 2006. Mr. Denvir was a nationally recognized trial and appellate lawyer. As the federal public defender in Sacramento from 1996 to 2005, he defended complex and high-profile prosecutions and argued landmark cases before the United States Supreme Court. He briefed and argued three cases before the United States Supreme Court, over twenty-five cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, over twenty-five cases before the California Supreme Court, and over fifty cases before the California Court of Appeal.
In 1989, Mr. Denvir received the prestigious Annual Award presented by California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and in 1998 received that statewide bar association’s Presidents Award. In 1998 Mr. Denvir received the Special Recognition Award of the California Public Defender’s Association.
Mr. Denvir graduated cum laude from Notre Dame University and the University of Chicago Law School. Mr. Denvir was lead counsel in the ‘Unabomber’ Theodore Kaczynski trial. He also represented former state schools chief William Honig in the appeal of his conflict of interest conviction; Michelle ‘Batgirl’ Cummiskey, who was charged with the brutal slaying of a Sacramento man; and Reza Eslaminia, who was charged in the Billionaire Boys Club murder of the former Iranian official who was his father.
He continued in the active practice until his untimely death in 2016, when The Sacramento Bee headline read: “Sacramento Legal Giant Quin Denvir Dead at 76.” For all of his extraordinary legal accomplishments, he remained humble and dedicated to his family. His counsel and friendship are greatly missed.
Clyde M. Blackmon (1935-2021) joined the law firm as a partner in 2012, and retired from the practice of law in January 2021. Before commencing private practice in 1969, he was a Ford Foundation intern with the California Legislature and served as a consultant to various legislative committees, including the Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure. Mr. Blackmon handled virtually every kind of criminal matter during his 51-year career as a criminal defense lawyer. He was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court as well as all federal and state courts in California.
Mr. Blackmon was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was listed in the peer-reviewed publication “Best Lawyers in America”, where he was named Sacramento Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense: General Practice in 2011 and 2014, and Sacramento Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense: White-Collar in 2012. Mr. Blackmon was recognized by the peer-reviewed publication “Northern California Super Lawyers.” He received an AV, preeminent lawyer, rating by Martindale-Hubbell.
Mr. Blackmon was a member of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He served on the Board of Directors of the Central California Appellate Program and was Chair of the Board of Directors of Harm Reduction Services, which seeks to reduce the harm caused by narcotics abuse through outreach programs and needle exchange.
He was motivated to practice criminal law by his belief in the importance of individual liberty and dedication to the rights of those accused of crime.
