John litigates a wide array of cases, including business and commercial disputes, class actions, embezzlement recovery, construction defect cases, real estate, and commercial lease issues, personal injury, professional liability, civil rights, false arrest, and other intentional tort litigation.  

​

Protecting Employees and Business Premises: People should not fear violence at work. They do. 93% of California retail employees report “fear of violence at work” as their primary concern.

 

For over 25 years, I have helped California clients protect their employees,  customers, and businesses from violent and disorderly people who trespass at their stores, shopping centers, apartment communities, and offices. We use highly effective “workplace violence” and “anti-trespass” restraining orders to get the job done. State courts issue these orders within one court day of application where the offender has threatened or been violent, stalked an employee or contractor or has otherwise disrupted business. Once served, almost all restrained persons obey these orders voluntarily, as is explained in my 2023 article. https://losspreventionmedia.com/california-retail-restraining-order/

 

Our goal is to make client workplaces safer immediately once a client contacts us. Each case is urgent and we treat it as such. We have obtained more than 500 orders against those who are violent, and those who disrupt business without violence, such as charity solicitors and petition circulators. We also work closely with law enforcement agencies to get orders enforced under the contempt of court laws in those unusual cases when the restrained person violates the order.

 

I also evaluate, litigate, and try a wide variety of civil cases including business and real estate disputes, First Amendment issues, labor and employment, and embezzlement recovery.

​ 

Education

• J.D., Yale University Law School. Prize Trial Finalist.

• A.B., University of California, Berkeley. With Highest Honors.

• Oakland Police Department Academy, Valedictorian

• Lowell High School, San Francisco

​

Professional Appearances

• March 19, 2024 Presenter at BOMA-SF (Building Owners and Managers Association) Life Safety and Security Committee along with representatives of   Urban Alchemy and San Francisco’s Union Square Alliance and Other Groups. Topic: Using Restraining Orders to Make Employees and Private Property Safer.

• December 19, 2023 MCLE Webinar Provider for California Attorneys on Restraining Order Law and Practice Webinar

• Panelist on “Uninvited Behavior” Problems at the February 2020 National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association National Conference. Discussed the recurring trespass and nuisance problems retailers face on their doorsteps and in their parking lots, what the police can and cannot do, how to regain control of retail premises, and when to seek civil court orders.

​

​Recent Articles

• February 2024: California Centers: “Handling Repeat Trespassers”  – California Centers : January/February 2024 (mydigitalpublication.com)

• Restraining Orders: The Secret Weapon of Cali Retailers (June 2023) https://losspreventionmedia.com/california-retail-restraining-order/

• John Dahlberg Featured in The Primerus Paradigm

• Profile of My Experiences 1988-1996 in Oakland During “The Crack Wars” – Cops Taught Me How to Ask Better Questions as a Lawyer

​

​