Practice Areas
- Appellate
- Commercial Litigation
- Insurance Defense
- Professional Liability
- Trust Litigation
Admissions
- California
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
Bonnie Margaret Ross
Of Counsel
Phone: 408.792.5927
Email: bross@messner.com
Office: Silicon Valley
Bonnie Margaret Ross is a member of the litigation practice group at Messner Reeve LLP and has provided legal advice and trial services to businesses and individuals involved in litigation since 1998.
Ms. Ross attended the University of California at Santa Cruz and Berkeley as an undergraduate, obtaining a B.A. in 1988. After graduating from Boalt Hall School of Law at Berkeley in 1995, she went into the practice of criminal law, working first in the public defender’s office and later in private practice, where she gained significant trial and appellate experience. After joining Robinson & Wood, Inc., now Messner Reeves LLP, Ms. Ross shifted her practice from criminal to civil litigation. Dedicated to untangling the law’s complexities for her clients both outside and inside the courtroom, she enjoys standing up for her clients as a trial lawyer.
Ms. Ross has been active in the Santa Clara County Bar Association’s Women Lawyers’ Executive Committee for many years, and has served on the Federal Courts and Civil Practice Committees. Ms. Ross’s pro bono work in the community has included volunteering as a literacy tutor, an attorney mentor to young people through Volunteers in Parole, and providing advice to indigent clients in the Pro Bono Project’s Lawyers in the Library and Unlawful Detainer clinics. She established the nonprofit Fountain Blues Foundation and serves as Vice President of its board. Under the moniker “The Bluesevangelist,” Ms. Ross broadcasts “Basement Full of Blues,” a radio show on college radio station KSCU (www.kscu.org).
- J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law at Berkeley, 1995
- B.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1988
- Santa Clara County Bar Association
- State Bar of California
- California Native Plant Society
- Silicon Valley and Golden Gate Blues Societies
- United States Tennis Association
Noteworthy Cases
- Successfully defended a defamation, breach of contract and trespass case at trial on behalf of a woman business owner.
- Secured a nonsuit ruling at trial for an attorney-client accused of mishandling the estate plan of an elderly client.
- Obtained a judgment after trial in a property and financial dispute between a mother and son in a case involving claims of fraud and financial elder abuse.
- Tried a case on behalf an employee for wage and hour violations, sexual harassment, age and racial discrimination, wrongful termination, and retaliation.
- Defended a business owner in a white-collar criminal trial involving allegations of embezzlement and tax fraud, achieving a dramatic reduction of the sentence.
- Obtained a large binding arbitration award for her client, a software developer, in a breach of contract case against the company he hired to write code.
- As a mediator, helped a tenant and property owner resolve a years-long dispute over a commercial lease.
You can catch Bonnie every third Sunday on KSCU 103.3 Santa Clara, hosting the radio show Basement Full of Blues under the moniker The Bluesevangelist. The broadcast streams live at kscu.org.
