Law Firm Overview

With offices in San Francisco and Oakland, California, Michael J. Tonsing is a management-side employment lawyer and business transactional lawyer with nearly three decades of practical experience in the law. He was instrumental in developing a very successful method to train employees in employment law topics tat was featured in The New York Times and on CNN/Fortune. He designs training modules on employment law topics for a highly regarded online human resources support company, LawRoom.com. Having been in firms as large as 400 lawyers (Littler Mendelson), having been a sole practitioner, and having founded his own AV-rated commercial litigation and transactional firm in the East Bay (Pierucci & Tonsing), Mike was identified as one of the Bay Area's top lawyers by the San Francisco Business Times.

Tonsing also co-founded a highly regarded, American Bar Association accredited, college-level paralegal program that has trained literally thousands of adults as legal assistants.

Earlier in his career, he was a Supreme Court Fellow, serving under a grant from the American Bar Foundation and the Ford Foundation on the staff of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger at the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C. There, he won the prestigious Justice Tom C. Clark award for excellence. He then served as a litigator in the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco for several years, representing the United States, primarily in civil matters, in Federal court. He is also a former administrative law judge for the State of California.

Beyond his accomplishments in the law, legal education and workplace training, Mr. Tonsing has practical experience in business. In addition to heading his own law firm, he has also served for two years as the President and CEO of Hardhat wholesaling products to the construction industry.

A former counterintelligence officer and investigator (rank of major, recipient of Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service), Mr. Tonsing received his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1976. He also holds an M.A. in Political Philosophy and Government from Claremont Graduate School. He is the author of over 60 published articles in legal newspapers, journals and magazines. For the last six years, he has written a monthly column on technology for lawyers in The Federal Lawyer, The Federal Lawyer in Cyberia, the monthly magazine of the Federal Bar Association.

Areas of Practice

• Administrative Law
• Business & Commercial Law
• Civil Litigation Trial Practice

Published Works

• Automatic Plastic Molding, Inc. v. United States, 2002 USCIT 119, International Trade, 2002
• United States v. Gavilan Joint Community College District, 849 F.2d 1246 (9th Cir.), June, 23, 1988
• Justin C.S. Kim v. Commandant, 772 F.2d 521 (9th Cir.), 1985
• Evelyn v. Schweiker, 685 F.2d 351 (9th Cir.), August, 26, 1982

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Admiralty & Maritime Law, Agriculture Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Banking & Finance Law, Bankruptcy Law, Business & Commercial Law, Consumer Protection, Contracts, Debtor/Creditor, Franchising, Lemon Law, Business Organizations, Sexual Harassment, Communications & Media Law, Constitutional Law, Discrimination, Eminent Domain, Construction Law, Criminal Law, DUI/DWI, Traffic Violations, White Collar Crimes, Education Law, Election Campaign & Political Law, Employment Law -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Energy Law, Entertainment, Sports & Leisure Law, Environmental Law, Estate Planning, Elder Law, Trusts, Wills, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Family Law, Adoption, Child Support, Collaborative Law, Custody & Visitation, Divorce, Gaming Law, Government Agencies & Programs, Social Security -- Disability, Government Contracts, Health & Health Care Law, Nursing Home, Immigration & Naturalization Law, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, Patents, Trademarks, International Law, Internet - Cyberspace, Labor Law, Litigation & Appeals, Military Law, Native Peoples Law, Natural Resources Law, Personal Injury -- Defense, Personal Injury -- Plaintiff, Motor Vehicle Accidents -- Plaintiff, Probate & Estate Administration, Products Liability Law, Professional Malpractice Law, Legal Malpractice, Medical Malpractice, Real Estate Law, Land Use & Zoning, Landlord/Tenant, Science & Technology Law, Securities Law, State, Local & Municipal Law, Taxation Law, Toxic Torts, Transportation Law, Aviation, Workers' Compensation Law