J.Patrick O'Hara
J. Patrick O’Hara is a graduate of the Santa Barbara College of Law, where he served as vice president of the student bar association.
After serving as law clerk/research attorney for the Hon. Robin Riblet, bankruptcy judge, Patrick joined the firm of Cappello & McCann (now Cappello & Noel), where he concentrated on bad faith, lender liability, and complex civil litigation cases. He also worked at Anticouni & Associates where he specialized in employment law for plaintiffs, completing dozens of mediations, contested hearings, bench and jury trials.
He operated his own solo practice for four years before joining Select Staffing, a national temporary employment company, as corporate counsel, where he oversaw litigation, contractual and employment matters.
Since leaving Select, Patrick has graduated from the respected Straus Institute program Mediating the Litigated Case at Pepperdine University and has mediated cases through the Los Angeles Superior Court as a member of the California Association of Mediation Professionals (CAMP).
A long-time local resident and graduate of Santa Barbara schools, Patrick has also served as adjunct professor at Brooks Institute of Photography, where he taught college level classes including Business Law, Basic Business and Writing for Publication.
Prior to attending law school, Patrick was an award winning business journalist, writing articles for publications including the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and Santa Barbara Magazine. He also was business editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press for five years.
In his spare time, Patrick participates in triathlons.