Clients value Amy for her personalized approach to problem-solving and her ability to take complex issues and reduce them to their simple components. She is equally comfortable speaking with mild-mannered clients as she is battle-hungry opponents, and uses those skills to her clients’ best advantage.
Amy has been involved in the business world for more than twenty years. She comes from a long line of legal and business professionals, and from a relatively young age she was involved and mentored in both the managerial and the administrative side of business ownership. As such, Amy has extensive first-hand knowledge of business operations, including property management.
Amy also has experience in complex multi-generational estate planning, including the personal dynamics which drive it. That understanding enables her to bring additional value to her clients in anticipating their future needs and helping them to achieve their goals without compromising family relationships.
At Cates Peterson LLP, Amy has worked on both transactional and litigation matters. She has had the benefit of learning from and working with both Bill Cates and Mark Peterson, which has helped foster a well-rounded understanding of how good legal work and careful planning can help prevent problems from arising, and help lead to positive results when they do arise. She has drafted contracts, formed corporate entities, prepared estate plans, and has also been involved in every step of litigation from drafting pleadings to presenting witnesses at trial.
Corporate Law and Business Transactions
Probate and Estate Planning / Wills and Trusts
Business Litigation
Real Estate Litigation
Wills, Trusts, and Probate Litigation
Amy can usually be found riding her motorcycle at reasonable speeds on Ortega Highway or at wholly unreasonable speeds on the race track. She also enjoys trivia night, working on her own car, making spreadsheets, and doing deep dives on the latest finds in paleontology.
Admitted to the California Bar in 2007; U.S. District Court, Central District of California in 2007. U.S. District Court, Southern District in 2013.
Member, Orange County Bar Association (Wills and Trusts, Corporate Law)
Member, American Mensa, 2004–present.
Amy attended the University of California, Irvine and received a B.A. in English in 2001. She received her J.D. from Chapman University School of Law, magna cum laude, in 2007. While at Chapman, she served as Senior Articles Editor of the Chapman Law Review from 2006-2007. She also worked as an extern to the Hon. Alex Kozinski, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2005. She received the CALI Award for the highest grade in Federal Income Taxation, Advanced Federal Income Taxation, and Commercial Leasing.
Amy was born in Newport Beach, California and has lived nearby since then.
Amy has supported a number of charities over the years, mostly geared toward environmental causes and wildlife preservation. Recently, she has supported World Wildlife Foundation, National Environmental Policy and Law Center, Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natural History Museum of LA County, Khan Academy, and Hereditary Disease Foundation. She also serves on the board of Volunteer Network OC.