For nearly 30 years, Steven Lewis has focused his practice in civil litigation, with an emphasis on advising attorneys and other professionals in malpractice and ethics matters. He also handles insurance law issues, and real estate and title litigation.

Since 1990, Mr. Lewis has been both a settlement judge pro tem and an arbitrator for the Sacramento County Superior Court.

Mr. Lewis’s published appellate decisions include:

• SacramentoBrewing Co., Inc. v. Desmond, Miller & Desmond (1999) 75 Cal.App.4th 1082, 89 Cal.Rptr.2d 760
• Hensley v Caietti (1993) 13 Cal.App.4th 1165, 16 Cal.Rptr.2d 837
• Miller v. Elite Insurance Co. (1980) 100 Cal.App.3d 739, 161 Cal.Rptr. 322
• Transit Casualty Co. v. Spink Corp. (1979) 94 Cal.App.3d 124, 156 Cal.Rptr. 360
• Williams v. Coombs (1986) 179 Cal.App.3d 626, 224 Cal.Rptr. 865

Mr. Lewis is the founder and principal in the law firm of Lewis & Bacon, which was originally established in 1982 as the Law Office of Steven A Lewis. He became affiliated with Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in September 2005. Previously he was an associate from 1976 to 1982 at Long & Levit in San Francisco. From 1974 to 1976, he was a member of the Office of Exceptions and Appeals of the United States Federal Energy Administration (Department of Energy) in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Lewis is a member of the California Bar Association and is the current chair of the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC). He is also active in the American Bar Association’s Member Center for Professional Responsibility, which is part of the ABA’s National Legal Malpractice Data Center.

Mr. Lewis is also a member of the Sacramento County Bar Association and a past member of the Sacramento Advisory Committee of Legal Services of Northern California.

Mr. Lewis has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law since 1999. He teaches a course in civil pre-trial litigation. Mr. Lewis’s publications include:

• “Fletcher v. Davis, A Dramatic and Ill-Advised Departure from Decades of California Jurisprudence, Should Not Be Extended to Require Rule 3-300 Compliance for Charging Liens In Contingency Fee Contracts,” State Bar of California Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, Ninth Annual Statewide Ethics Symposium Program Materials, April 2005.
• “Business Transactions with Clients: Is a Lawyer with Business Dealings with a Client Protected if the Client Relies on Independent Counsel,” California Bar Journal, April 2004.
• “Core Values and Conflicts of Interest,” Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company, June 2002.

In addition to his publications, Mr. Lewis is a sought-after speaker, panelist and moderator. His recent presentations include:

• “Whither/Wither Goes the Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege?,” Hinshaw’s 2006 Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference, Chicago, Illinois, March 2006.
• “Recent Significant Developments Affecting the Law of Lawyers,” panelist, State Bar of California, San Diego, California, 2005.
• “How to Collect your Fee and Avoid a State Bar Complaint,” State Bar of California, panelist, San Diego, California, 2005.
• “Expanding Duties to Non-Clients,” Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company, Moraga, California, 2005.
• “California Legal Ethics: Confidentiality in the Spotlight,” panelist, Lorman Education Services, Sacramento, California, 2005.
• “Attorney-Client Fee Agreements and Conflicts of Interest,” moderator, Ninth Annual Statewide Ethics Symposium, State Bar of California Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, Los Angeles, 2005.
• “New Rules in the Ethics Game,” panelist, Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company, Costa Mesa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Moraga, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Woodland Hills, California, 2004 – 2005.

Mr. Lewis is a member and vice-president of the board of trustees for Hillel at Davis and Sacramento State. He is also a member and past president of the board of trustees of the Shalom Day School in Sacramento.