Wiegel Law Group
Attorney Biographies
Andrew J. Wiegel
Voted one of the top lawyers in the region by the independent Super Lawyers survey every year since 2004 when it it was first published, and having held the highest available Martindale-Hubbell rating of AV over two decades, Andrew J. Wiegel has specialized in real estate litigation and alternative dispute resolution since 1977.
The prestigious International Network of Boutique Law Firms has honored Andrew by adding him and his firm to its hand selected group of preeminent specialty law firms. The firm is the San Francisco member for referrals of real estate matters and related disputes for the more than 300 member firms of the network.
Andrew efficiently grasps the big picture and nuances of any dispute and uses that insight to provide clients with creative strategies and effective solutions. His experience includes decades of sucessful real estate litigation in court and jury trials, arbitrations and mediations, as well as extensive personal involvement in real estate development and construction.
Andrew has extensive alternative dispute resolution experience representing clients in mediation and arbitration. He serves as an Arbitrator in real estate cases for the Marin County Superior Court. He served as a Municipal Court Judge pro tempore for the San Francisco Municipal Court and has the additional experience of having presided over jury trials in tort and construction cases as a judge. Andrew is available to serve as mediator for confidential private real estate disputes.
Andrew has authored standard reference texts widely relied upon by other lawyers to handle real estate disputes in California. He is a coauthor of California Real Property Remedies and Damages, second edition, and California Landlord-Tenant Practice, second edition, both published by Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) of the Regents of the University of California.
Andrew is often asked to speak to issues of real estate law for real estate professional organizations and attorney audiences. He is regularly consulted by colleagues and managing real estate brokers on the rights of parties to real estate transactions, insurance coverage disputes and landlord-tenant relations.
Andrew is a member of the Real Estate Law Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco, where he was past chair and Delegate to the State Bar Conference of Delegates representing the Bar Association of San Francisco on matters of real estate law reform. He is also a member of the Real Estate Section of the State Bar of California and many industry groups including the San Francisco Association of Realtors, the San Francisco Apartment Association, the Coalition for Better Housing and the Professional Property Managers Association.
John P. Baba
In each of the last two years, John Baba has been voted a Super Lawyers "Rising Star," a much sought after accolade for attorneys in their first decade of practice who have distinguished themselves as truly outstanding. Mr. Baba focuses his work
in the areas of motion and writ practice, civil appeals, commercial and residential lease
disputes, and trial litigation.
In 2000, Mr. Baba first worked as a summer associate with Andrew Wiegel in the Wiegel & Fried law firm. He subsequently worked for two semesters during his third year of law school as a legal extern in the Law and Motion Department of the San Francisco Superior Court with Judges David A. Garcia (co-author of the Rutter Group's California practice guide Landlord-Tenant), Ronald Evans Quidachay, and A. James Robertson, II.
Mr. Baba received his bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He received his law degree from Golden Gate University in 2001, where he participated in the Landlord-Tenant Clinic with Professor Myron Moskovitz, author of the CEB California practice guide California Eviction Defense Manual and co-author of the CEB California practice guide California Landlord Tenant-Practice. Mr. Baba also received a Witkin Award in Trial Advocacy in 1999.
Kevin P. Greenquist
One of the first things you realize about Kevin Greenquist is that he is a natural storyteller and he uses stories to help explain who he is and how he can help you.
He loves to tell people why clients select Wiegel Law Group to handle their problems. In his characteristic deep voice, Kevin explains that "people come to us because they want to figure out how to navigate the morass of rent control, land use regulations, or a complicated lease. They know there are all kinds of laws that affect the use of their property and they don’t know where to start. I help them understand what they can and cannot do."
"Some people just want to get rich or richer - and they think we’ll do anything for them to make that happen," he laughs. "It’s true, we are aggressive. We’re not always nice to the other side, but we’re professional and we protect our clients with integrity and hard work."
At Wiegel Law Group, Greenquist is in charge of the bulk of housing litigation. Overseeing a complex calendar of document deadlines, hearings, and noticing requirements, Greenquist makes sure clients meet the requirements of local rent control laws, striking a delicate balance between protecting clients’ interests without undermining tenants’ rights. In communities where tenants outnumber landlords, and, consequently control the political process, that’s not an easy thing to do.
In court, Greenquist is street smart and scrappy to boot, skills born of an unusual career in the law. Whether appearing before a rent control board or negotiating with a client’s difficult tenants, Greenquist seems to have developed the perfect skill set and temperament to successfully navigate the murky waters of landlord-tenant relationships.
He fights for the underdog and became a lawyer in order to "save the world from tyranny." While that may sound trite and sarcastic, it is a philosophy intrinsic to the person he is. When well-intentioned and law-abiding property owners become the underdog in a tenant-controlled political arena, he says, clients often feel that their legal rights have been thrown under the wheels of the "politically correct" bus.
Born in Bossier City, Louisiana, Kevin has lived all over the country and has seen a side of life unique to those who aim to improve the lives of others.
Greenquist spent his early years as an attorney helping the less fortunate and those down on their luck to survive. "I like helping people with difficult issues," he says. Civil rights cases, bankruptcy matters, and criminal defense litigation presented valuable lessons in working within the procedural constraints and expectations of the legal system. He learned to think quickly, deal appropriately with people confused by their life circumstances, and defend the rights of the disadvantaged, skills which have served him well at Wiegel Law Group.
While attending Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware, he received the Outstanding Student Service Award for establishing a bankruptcy clinic for poor people living in communities outside of Philadelphia.
"It was the worst neighborhood in the world," Greenquist remembers. "And we wanted to provide free bankruptcy assistance to the poor. But we couldn’t because the law says that you must be able to pay for your legal expenses. This is to discourage people from filing for bankruptcy by not making the process too easy."
Greenquist tells the story of approaching a local judge with a novel suggestion. "I wanted the judge to agree to waive the filing fees for certain clients, the ones who truly could not afford their legal fees. The judge had the authority to do this through the legal process."
The judge agreed on two conditions. First, Greenquist had to convince another judge to participate in granting the fee waivers. Second, Greenquist had to promise not to ever appeal any of the judge’s decisions. Although uncomfortable with it, Greenquist was able to work around the unusual request and establish the bankruptcy clinic as planned.
Outside the law office, Greenquist is a fast character. Donning a vivid orange and black leather jacket, he can often be seen on his motorcycle, taking in the turns of Highway 1 north of the City, or on the motard track at Infineon Raceway, to stretch his mind and his nerves.