Our Team
Brian S. Harnik*
ATTORNEY AT LAW
*Professional Corporation
A trial lawyer for more than 35 years, Senior Partner Brian Harnik is an aggressive and successful advocate in both civil litigation and general business law. He handles disputes on behalf of defendants, plaintiffs, and as a neutral mediator and arbitrator. He also advocates for clients before various government entities.
Martin A. Mueller
PARTNER
Mr. Mueller is a trial lawyer with extensive experience arbitrating and litigating, court and jury trials in State and Federal Courts. In addition, he serves as general counsel to numerous private country clubs throughout Southern California.
Mary E. Gilstrap
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Mary Gilstrap has been practicing business litigation for more than 25 years. She represents private entity clients in a variety of business-related disputes, including contracts, real estate transactions, corporate acquisitions and other corporate disputes; agribusiness and media law. She also handles contested matters in the probate courts, including wills, trusts and conservatorships.
Helene P. Dreyer Koch*
ATTORNEY AT LAW
*Certified by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization (Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law)
Helene P. Dreyer Koch is a member of American Mensa, Ltd. and has been practicing law in California since 1992. She is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in the areas of estate planning, trusts and probate law. She has vast experience with complicated appellate matters, and has earned a reputation as an exceptional legal writer.
Richard A. Umbenhauer*
ATTORNEY AT LAW
*Of Counsel
Having practiced law for over 40 years, Richard Umbenhauer has a broad range of experience in business, real estate and insolvency law. He is a former member of the Pennsylvania Bar and is currently admitted to practice in California. Mr. Umbenhauer is also a licensed California real estate broker.
Bruce S. Ross
OF COUNSEL
Bruce S. Ross is preeminent in the realm of trust, estate and conservatorship disputes, providing stellar client representation strengthened by his decades of experience as a trial lawyer. He is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, having been so certified each year since such certification has been recognized.
Daniel E. Olivier
OF COUNSEL
Daniel E. Olivier is a transactional lawyer with many years of experience in all aspects of real estate law, land use, entity formation and general business law. He is one of the few attorneys in the Coachella Valley or Inland Empire with substantial experience drafting governing documents for both residential and commercial condominium and planned development projects. His governing documents for residential planned developments and condominium projects have been pre-approved by the California Department of Real Estate.
Cameron G. Stout
OF COUNSEL
Cameron Stout is a nationally known securities defense litigator and mediator, admitted to practice in California. Over the last several decades, Cam has represented well-known financial services firms in customer dispute FINRA arbitrations, as well as in employment matters in state and federal court. Cam has led teams of legal professionals handling securities “investment failure” mass actions around the country. He also has expertise in trusts and estates litigation, trade secret disputes, and commercial litigation matters.
Andrew G. Montez
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Andrew Montez has practiced law for 5 years in Southern California. He represents a wide variety of business clients in complex litigation matters, corporate formation, real property disputes, and much more. In addition to guiding clients through an array of transactional and litigation-focused matters, Mr. Montez counsels clients on pre-litigation activities to achieve successful outcomes before entering the courtroom.
Jolina A. Adams, JD, LL.M
PARALEGAL
Jolina was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to California in 2007. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration and Juris Doctor degrees from the Philippines, and has a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.), with a Certificate in Business Law from the USC Gould School of Law in Los Angeles. She began her legal career in 2009 and has worked for firms in the Coachella Valley in the areas of civil, business law, family law, real estate, trusts and estates, and probate law. She is a member of the Desert Estate Planning Council and a board member for Act for MS (multiple sclerosis) Palm Desert.
Zee Alejos
LEGAL ASSISTANT
Zee works as an administrative assistant at Roemer & Harnik. With more than 30 years of experience in the areas of criminal, family law, business law and civil litigation, she offers client support and aids in case management, handling various administrative duties to assist the attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants.
Veronica Montes
LEGAL SECRETARY
Veronica Montes has served the firm for over 13 years as a legal assistant performing administrative support to the attorneys, communicating with clients and more. Her primary focus is assisting with wills, trusts, and estate planning. Her bubbly personality and skill sets make her a valuable asset to the firm.
Samantha Emmett
RECEPTIONIST
Samantha is the first face you see at Roemer & Harnik as the firm’s receptionist. Always eager to learn and help others, Sam greets visitors and clients, and provides the attorneys and staff with administrative services support.
