Richard Sax

Richard Sax passed the California Bar and began his practice in 1978, after graduating from Seattle University School of Law in 1977. Previously, he spent a year abroad studying in Florence, Italy, before graduating from Gonzaga University in 1975 with a degree in Political Science.

Richard was raised to value integrity, public service, and helping others. While growing up in in Washington State and British Columbia, Richard worked with his father, the town mayor, in the family title business. Richard’s mother was a nurse, hospital administrator, and state legislator. Both of his parents were saddened when they saw people lose their homes because they lacked legal representation. They urged him to practice law to equalize the playing field and help people deal with the intricacies of our legal system.

When Richard established his law practice, he began taking on “big city” attorneys and large law firms that aim to exhaust their adversaries, both financially and emotionally.

That’s why Richard became a lawyer—to equalize the playing field by fighting for people’s rights, and to work tirelessly to bring them justice.

In 40 years of trial practice, Richard has successfully undertaken a wide variety of legal cases. He practices civil litigation, real estate law, divorce and family law, personal injury/wrongful death, business law, foreclosure defense, and criminal defense. Richard is licensed to provide full representation in state, federal, appellate, and supreme courts.

Richard has successfully brought or defended more than 18 appeals and writs of mandate, including two CEQA writs of mandate, during the course of his career. Three published appellate decisions have arisen from appeals that Richard has brought or defended:

James Rufini v. CitiMortgage, Inc. (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 299 (foreclosure defense)

Guardianship of D.W. (2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 242 (guardianship with ICWA issues)

Manor Investment Co. v. F.W. Woolworth Co. (1984) 159 Cal. App. 3d 586 (conspiracy)

Richard also has an extensive history of hard-fought jury trials, both civil and criminal, in state and federal courts. He has advocated for his clients in thousands of arbitrations, court trials, mediations, and courtroom hearings.

James McWhorter is a Sonoma County attorney licensed to practice in California for over 45 years. He is admitted to practice law in The Supreme Court of the United States, California Federal Courts, California Supreme Court and all California State Courts. He makes appearances in Sonoma County Superior Courts almost on a daily basis.

James has always had a passion for serving others. Originally a political science major, he wanted to get involved in the government. Funnily enough, Law School was just an obvious step towards pursing that goal. However, after completing Law School, he knew that his skills best served others in court, not in politics. Additionally, he joined the National Guard for a year and served 5 years in the Army Reserves for a total 6-year commitment and honorable discharge in 1975.

James graduated from USC Law School in 1972 and began his practice of law with a law firm in Monterey. He was the lead trial attorney for a firm in San Jose, worked as an Insurance defense attorney for Farmers Insurance in Sacramento and was in charge of a law office for a firm in South Lake Tahoe.

He moved to Sonoma County in 2009 to practice law and is currently working with Attorney Richard Sax on civil, criminal and plaintiff’s personal injury cases. He is happy to be of help and service to those in need of his expertise.