STEPHEN BRUCE BLEY
Mr. Bley is a principal of the firm. He practiced law with his father prior to his father’s retirement in 1985 and now practices with his daughter and law partner, Samantha Bley DeJean.
Mr. Bley is known for his ardent and aggressive client representation, earning him the reputation of a venerable opponent by his colleagues. Mr. Bley’s legal career began as a deputy district attorney in 1967 for the City of San Francisco where his legendary courtroom experience took hold. While trying numerous complex criminal cases, including multi-defendant murder cases as well as many high stakes business and tort cases, the skilled and theatrical style for which he is well known for today was born.
Mr. Bley’s practice is focused almost exclusively on high-asset, high-conflict dissolutions, although he still practices some general civil litigation as well as limited white collar criminal defense cases.
Mr. Bley’s 40 plus years of experience allow him the ability to see complex dissolutions from all angles. While every case is unique, the breadth of his experience allows for creative solutions to difficult problems.
Mr. Bley received a BA from the University of California at Berkeley in 1963 and received a JD from the Boalt School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley in 1966. Mr. Bley has been named a Super Lawyer by San Francisco Magazine for several years and has earned the top professional rating by his colleagues as AV.SAMANTHA BLEY DEJEAN
Ms. Bley DeJean is a principal of the firm. She is a fourth generation member of the Bley and Bley firm, currently practicing together with her father and law partner, Stephen Bruce Bley.
Ms. Bley DeJean specializes in all aspects of marital dissolutions, particularly complex family law trial work.
Ms. Bley DeJean is a Certified Family Law Specialist with the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
Ms. Bley DeJean has been named Super Lawyer for the past several years by San Francisco Magazine and has participated as a lecturer for family law oriented continuing legal education courses and has sat on several family law panels. Ms. Bley DeJean has earned the top professional rating by her colleagues as AV.
Outside of law, Ms. Bley DeJean has sat as a past Board of Trustee member for San Francisco University High School and Burke's. Ms. Bley DeJean currently sits on the Board of Trustees for the Saint Luke’s School in San Francisco.
Los Angeles in 1993 and JD from University of San Francisco in 1996. Ms. Bley DeJean participated as published author and staff member of the USF Law Review as well as a member of the Moot Court program.
RICHARD RADOS
Mr. Rados is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where he was a Note & Comment Associate Editor for the Wisconsin Law Review, a member of Order of Coif, an extern for Seventh Circuit Federal Appeals Court Judge John Coffey, and a recipient of a pair of American Jurisprudence “book awards.”
Beginning in 1989, Mr. Rados practiced with Pillsbury Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman), first as an associate,
and then as a partner in Pillsbury’s San Francisco litigation practice group.
Mr. Rados has more than eighteen years of experience litigating cases in state
and federal courts throughout California and beyond. While at Pillsbury, representing Chevron, he was a member of the team that successfully tried a San Francisco-based nationwide class action to a complete defense verdict. It was then the largest jury trial tried in San Francisco Superior Court and was featured by The National Law Journal as one of the country’s best defense verdicts in 1998.
Mr. Rados now focuses exclusively on family law litigation matters and is experienced in all aspects of marital dissolution cases, from pre-filing preparations through trial and post-trial proceedings.
Mr. Rados received a BA, with honors, in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 and received his JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1989. Mr. Rados is a member of the State Bar of California and of the State Bar of Wisconsin (Non-resident lawyers division).JULIA WHITELAW
Ms. Whitelaw graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from Middlebury College in 1989 with a BA in Political Science. Ms. Whitelaw received her JD from Boalt School
of Law at the University of California at Berkeley in 1999, where she earned the Prosser Prize in both Contracts and Constitutional Law and earned an American Jurisprudence Award in Education and the Law. Ms. Whitelaw began her career with Thelen, Reid and Priest (now Thelen, Reid, Brown, Raysman and Steiner) as a Real Estate associate. Ms. Whitelaw practiced as a real estate attorney until 2006, handling various complex transactions ranging from development of residential and commercial properties including hotels, shopping centers and office buildings, to leasing for both landlords and tenants (including national chains), to purchase and sale for multimillion dollar transactions as well as complex short term and long term real estate finance transactions. Julia is co-author of the California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) Retail Leasing Guide.
Since moving to Bley and Bley, Ms. Whitelaw has practiced exclusively family law and is experienced in all aspects of marital dissolution cases, particularly complex family litigation.
Prior to entering law school, Ms. Whitelaw spent six years as a public affairs/political consultant with one of San Francisco’s premier consulting firms, Solem and Associates, where she managed statewide public relations campaigns, lobbying efforts and media relations on various political campaigns.KATE REDER
Ms. Reder received a BA in English/Gay and Lesbian Studies from Wesleyan University in 2003. While at Wesleyan Ms. Reder edited the University’s literary magazine and was a special advisor to the President of the University on the issues faced by non-heteronormative students. Ms. Reder received her law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2006. While at UNC Ms. Reder was the president of the school’s pro-choice organization, an advisor to the Dean, chair of the Tenure Committee, and a staff writer on the North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology. Ms. Reder’s article on internet pornography, entitled “Ashcroft v. ACLU: Should Congress Try, Try, and Try Again, or Does the International Problem of Regulating Internet Pornography Require an International Solution?" was published in 2006. Ms. Reder was also the research assistant to UNC Professor Emeritus Daniel Pollitt on the issue of civil liberties during wartime.
Ms. Reder has worked exclusively in family law since becoming a member of the California bar in 2006. Ms. Reder’s practice to date has focused on custody matters, particularly those of same sex couples; however she is also well-versed in all manner of property and support issues incident to dissolution. Before joining Bley and Bley Ms. Reder was an associate at Winter & Ross.
KATHERINE FONES
Ms. Fones graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Richmond in 1991. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she graduated cum laude in 2000. Beginning in 2000, Ms. Fones began to practice family law in Maryland. For the majority of her practice, she worked in Baltimore for Miles & Stockbridge P.C. where she became a partner in 2009. There, as a member of the Family Law & Private Clients’ group, her practice focused on complex family law litigation. Katie handled marital dissolution matters and international child abduction matters in Maryland and on an interstate basis. In addition to a busy family law practice, Katie was very involved with the local bar association and judicial elections. Katie was name a Rising Star in Family Law in the Maryland Super Lawyers 2010 Edition.
