Contact Info: Law Offices of Bemis & Associates 140 Geary Street, 4th Floor San Francisco, CA 94108 (415) 367-4578 www.bemisandassoc.com

Wendy Bemis' Bio:

I grew up in Virginia in a small industrial town close to North Carolina. While in Virginia, I held a variety of jobs from waiting tables to teaching pre-k and kindergarten, to being a legislative assistant to Virginia State Senator Jane Woods. The community that I grew up in was one of working class families trying to make ends meet and living pay check to pay check. I saw many people being taken advantage of by their employer, but felt that most of the working class in the area had no voice because they did not know their rights and/or could not afford an attorney. This bothered me and I wanted to do something about it.

Another influencing factor was the racial tension in the area. There were many moments in my life where someone told me a "life rule" regarding race that revolted me. Then, I had a life changing interaction when I spoke out against the beliefs of certain members of the Klu Klux Klan. I was very young and I knew that I could be hurt, but I could not let the unjust words that were being spoken go unchallenged. I remember the fear as I watched a cross burn--for me. I became passionate about seeing that people were treated fairly regardless of their race and about living a life changing the ideas that I found so inhumane.

I moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1995 where I obtained my undergraduate degree in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. While in Richmond, I began doing internships for law firms and for Senator Woods. I worked with kids that were on probation and in diversion programs to help them learn to read. I began to meet people that were able to make a difference for other people...to help make people's lives better. I decided that I wanted to go to law school so that I could also work for the rights of others.

In 1998, I moved from Virginia to California to go to law school. I had no money, no friends, and no family in San Francisco. I took a bus to get there--three days and three nights. I believed that my financial aid would promptly go through and give me a livable allowance. I was wrong.

I spend the better part of my first year in law school homeless. I lived in various places: on people's couches, in the office wherein I had managed to get an internship, and off the kindness of the friends I made. Fortunately, real life made learning the law the easiest part of law school.

Throughout law school, I focused on learning litigation skills. I was a teaching assistant for several professors, including Professor Bernard Segal, who was the head of the litigation department. In May 1999, I began working for Goldstein, Gellman, Melbostad, Gibson & Harris. I loved the work. I was assigned to a big case at the firm. Initially, my job was merely to organize documents. I became so familiar with the case that I was asked to research some of the issues for the case. As I began researching issues, I began helping prepare legal theories and arguments for motions, for mediation and for trial. I was asked help prepare the case and witnesses for mediation and then trial. The partners liked my trial preparation, so I was then chosen to second chair the trial--all the while I was still in law school. It was here that a love for litigation was born.

When I graduated law school, I was asked by Professor Segal, to help assist him with the Mock Trial Program, preparing mock trial teams for competition. I helped prepare mock trial teams for competition for about five years. I also had the privilege of winning scholarships through the I was also working for a couple of smaller law firms: Farber and Company and Law Offices of Laurence Padway. Working in a small firm environment allowed me to gain experience in all aspects of litigation: mediation, depositions, negotiations, client interaction, motion practice and trials. The intensive, hands-on experience gave me an opportunity to develop and nurture my own litigation skills very early in my career. After seeing how smaller firms operate, I became inspired to open my own practice.

So, in 2004, I formed the Law Offices of Bemis & Associates.