Welcome to the Board
Gina Dashman Boer
Gina Boer is a partner with Haapala, Thompson and Abern LLP in downtown Oakland. She specializes in civil litigation defense with an emphasis in the areas of real estate, landlord-tenant and personal injury. Since 2003, Gina has combined her law practice with a mediation practice. She mediates court referred and private cases in civil disputes involving real estate, personal injury, contract, partnership and related areas. Gina also serves as pro tem judge and settlement mentor in Contra Costa County.
Gina was born in Manhattan. She grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, just four miles west of Manhattan, where she often visited the City for its many cultural and educational activities.
Gina left the east coast for California to enter Cal as a junior transfer student. Arriving in Berkeley for the first time at age 20, Gina fell in love with Northern California. At Berkeley, Gina majored in Social Science, an interdisciplinary major that afforded her the opportunity to combine classes in Political Science, Economics, History, African Studies, Anthropology and other social science departments. As a Fall senior, Gina spent the quarter in Cape Town, South Africa, during the height of Apartheid, studying the Jewish community. A UC undergraduate fellowship helped financially support Gina while she conducted field research which addressed the dilemma of the Jewish community in South Africa under an Apartheid regime.
At the end of her senior year, Gina discovered a few pertinent classes in the newly founded legal studies program at Cal. The classes reinforced Gina’s interest in law and justice. These studies, along with the inspiration of a close friend, prompted Gina to consider attending law school.
In an effort to appease her parents who dreaded Gina’s choice to move west, Gina attended law school in Washington D.C. at George Washington University. Despite the lure of the exciting opportunities she discovered while living in D.C., the appeal of the sun, the people and the lifestyle of California was too great. After law school, Gina drove her Honda Civic packed tightly with her worldly possessions across the country to begin life as a lawyer in San Francisco.
Gina began her law practice with a branch office of a national firm that specialized in health care transactions and regulatory work. Although the work was intellectually stimulating, Gina craved more dynamic involvement with the law so she switched to litigation and joined a small insurance defense firm in Berkeley where she practiced for 14 years. During that time, Gina got married, had two children, became a partner and honed her skills as a defense attorney.
Eager to explore the “other side,” Gina left the firm for a boutique practice in Oakland focusing on plaintiff’s side real estate and construction matters. The firm offered a great opportunity to learn the subject matter from a different perspective. Sadly, the firm was victim to the recession and closed its doors in February of 2009.
Since then, Gina has worked at her current firm, Haapala, Thompson & Abern, where she became an equity partner in 2014. In addition to her law practice, Gina is committed to advancing concerns of women in the legal profession. Gina is past treasurer of the CCCBA Women’s Section and currently serves as co-vice president of Women Lawyers of Alameda County and as affiliate governor of California Women Lawyers. She is excited to join the board of CCCBA.
In her spare time, Gina travels locally and abroad whenever possible. When homebased in Orinda, you will find Gina entertaining friends at home, trying out the latest restaurant, going to concerts and exercising.
David Erb
As a Certified Family Law Specialist by the California Board of Legal Specialization, David Erb practices exclusively in the area of Family Law. David is a partner at the law firm of Flicker, Kerin, Kruger & Bissada, LLP with offices in Silicon Valley and San Ramon. David is honored to have been selected as a Rising Star by Northern California “Super Lawyers” for 2017.
David was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, moving to Alamo, California and graduating from Monte Vista High School. He graduated from Santa Clara University with degrees in Finance and Law. While he was in college, David worked for the Private Equity Group at Silicon Valley Bank and spent several years as a business valuation analyst preparing business valuations for compliance, litigation and strategic purposes across several industries, with a primary focus on technology companies.
David specializes in family law matters that involve complex financial issues related to support and property division, including founder’s stock, stock options, restricted stock, venture capital interests and other business interests. David also has extensive experience in contested custody matters involving recommending mediation, custody evaluations and the appointment of a special master/parenting coordinator. In addition to his litigation practice, David serves as a consulting attorney to his clients who are attending mediation.
David has enjoyed his work thus far with the Contra Costa County Bar Association and Family Law Section. He is a graduate of the CCCBA Family Law Training program and received several Bay Area Legal Aid volunteer assignments representing victims of domestic violence in litigation matters throughout the Bay Area. David has served on the Board of Directors of the Family Law Section since 2014, serving as the Section’s President in 2017.
David lives in Alamo with his wife, Justine, who works as a Loan Coordinator for RPM Mortgage. David and Justine enjoy working out, hiking, playing tennis and attending plays at the Lesher Center for Arts in Walnut Creek.
David is honored to serve on the CCCBA Board of Directors and looks forward to giving back to the community in which he grew up and now practices.
Qiana Washington
Qiana Washington practices criminal defense (including everything from misdemeanors to serious felonies) throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She has tried more than 50 jury trials in 13 years and achieved phenomenal results. She began her practice at the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office. After more than a year there, she accepted a job at the Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office. She later moved to the San Francisco County Public Defender’s Office, where she worked for six and a half years. After leaving San Francisco, Qiana opened a private practice and has been running it for almost four years.
Qiana has handled everything from arraignments, demurrers, bail hearings, suppression and dismissal motions, preliminary hearings, writs and appeals, and jury trials. She loves to learn and often attends conferences to sharpen her knowledge and skills. While Qiana has enjoyed much success throughout her career, her crowning achievement to-date was when she uncovered video evidence that led to the termination, arrest, and federal criminal conviction of a number of undercover San Francisco police officers who were stealing from her clients. The evidence Qiana uncovered led to widespread dismissals of cases involving the suspect officers.
Qiana attended U.C. Berkeley where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She also took a number of hard science courses which continue to assist her in cases involving forensic evidence, such as DNA. For two years after college, Qiana worked for an aviation research group funded, in part, by the Federal Aviation Administration. She attended law school at the University of Southern California. During law school, she gained practical experience volunteering at the Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall, working on the Post-Conviction Justice Project, and interning at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. Immediately after law school, she passed the state bar exam.
While Qiana serves clients from a variety of walks of life including professionals and athletes, she also handles a number of cases involving indigent clients. In this capacity, she currently sits on the Criminal Conflicts Program Committee which handles court-appointed cases where the public defender has a conflict of interest.
Qiana grew up in and currently resides in West Contra Costa County. She is devoted to increasing involvement and programs in West County to better serve the legal community. In her spare time, Qiana sews, hikes, camps, bakes, and spends time with her dog.