Stone | Dean Selected to President’s Circle by SFVBA 

Stone | Dean is proud to announce our selection to the President’s Circle by the San Fernando Valley Bar Association (SFVBA). Members of the SFVBA President’s Circle — seventeen of the Valley’s largest law firms & legal organizations — are recognized for their dedication to the Bar and the San Fernando Valley community. The President’s Circle assists the SFVBA in its mission to create a more inclusive legal profession, provide meaningful access to justice, promote public service, educate its members, and uphold the highest standards of professionalism.

In this special issue of Valley Lawyer, members of the SFVBA’s President’s Circle address the issues and challenges facing the profession and how practicing law in the Valley differs from practicing law elsewhere. These Bar-Members also shared their observations on diversity, mentoring new lawyers, and participating in community outreach and education programs.

Here’s what Stone | Dean, and our Managing Partner, Kristi Dean, Esq., had to say:

AMONG THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ISSUES AND challenges facing the San Fernando Valley legal community are providing legal support to the increasingly diverse and urbanized population of the Valley and the resulting legal issues surrounding immigration, landlord tenant, and easement disputes. “The Valley has become increasingly multi-racial largely as a result of migration of immigrants from many diverse places and the ‘suburbs’ have melted into urbanized areas,” says Kristi Dean, managing partner Stone | Dean LLP in Woodland Hills. “With diversity comes new and different challenges and the need for affordable legal services for the variety of different ethnic groups.”

Stone | Dean, founded in 1992, bills itself as a full-service law firm focused on solving problems and taking on new challenges. “The Valley maintains a reputation all its own, despite its many similarities to the surrounding areas and the same goes for doing business here,” says Dean. “The San Fernando Valley is so much more ‘suburban,’ with enough family-owned businesses to make your head spin.” The Valley, she adds, “isn’t just the place we do business, it’s the place we call home. As such, we’ve maintained a great reputation and done work for some important organizations around the area, such as the LAPD Foothill Division, The City of Hope, American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, and Villa Esperanza Services.”

The firm’s nine attorneys are noted for their volunteerism, which includes investing time in the SFVBA Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program and mediation programs, and serving as pro tem judges for the courthouses located in the Valley. For a business law firm like Stone | Dean, this presents “a unique sort of client; the kind that’s been family-owned and operated for decades. We pride ourselves on being able to help these community-owned businesses with serious problems because they are an important foundation to the Valley’s success what makes the Valley so great,” she says.