William Howard Safford

William Safford graduated from Capital Law School, Columbus, Ohio, in 2009.  While living in Columbus, he worked for three years with the Franklin County Public Defender, helping with felony trials and appeals.  Prior to attending law school, he worked with several notable criminal defense litigators.  His case work with these attorneys included defense against charges of drug trafficking prosecutions, murder, money laundering, and a variety of other crimes, in both state and federal courts.

While still in law school, Mr. Safford represented multiple clients in trial court, including one whose case involved the county sheriffs, the county prosecutors, and the state attorney general as parties.  After the trial court decided in favor of Mr. Safford's client, the other parties appealed, and Mr. Safford successfully defended the case upon appeal.  O'Brien v. Whalen, 2009-Ohio-1807, Tenth District Court of Appeals.  This case was one of thirty-six trial court cases and six district appeals that Mr. Safford handled while working for the Franklin County Public Defender.

Mr. Safford is a member of the California Bar Association, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and the American Civil Liberties Union.  He lives on the peninsula, but practices law throughout the Bay Area.

Philosophy:

I believe that everyone, regardless of gender, race, religion, orientation, or economic status, deserves excellent legal counsel.  To put it another way - every person, in every court case, no matter how "small" the case or how thin their wallet, deserves an attorney whose sole job is looking out for their interests.  This is not a new idea, but it is an extremely important one!