Meet Edward

Edward Joy grew up in a small rust belt town with solid small town values.  He graduated as the valedictorian of his high school class.  Edward received a B.A. in Economics from Washington & Lee University where he graduated summa cum laude and First in Class from the School of Economics.  He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School where he graduated cum laude.  At Harvard, he worked at the AIDS Law Clinic, during the height of the AIDS crisis, where he had the honor of providing estate planning to clients with AIDS.

Prior to forming his own practice, Edward worked in San Francisco’s Financial District practicing business litigation for Fortune 500 companies.  Edward was an associate with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (1992-1995) and a senior associate with Marron-Reid LLP (1995-1999) and Preuss, Walker & Shanagher LLP (1999-2000).  Edward found the work intellectually challenging, but, in his heart, he identified with the little guy.

In 2000, Edward formed his own civil litigation practice where he was able to focus more on representing smaller, family owned businesses.

In 2009, Edward had a life changing experience.  One of his best friends was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  Edward helped him with his estate plan and served as his financial power of attorney.  Getting his financial and personal affairs in order brought his friend a great measure of peace even in the midst of the turmoil of his illness.  This was by far the most moving experience of Edward’s legal career.  As a result, Edward became an estate planning attorney.

Helping people with their estate planning is Edward’s passion.  Having lost his best friend as well as his own mom and dad, Edward has learned much about what is truly important to people as they near death.  Edward’s experience enables him to go beyond the mere preparation of will and trusts, and see what really matters most in his clients’ lives.  Edward’s compassion, integrity and standard of excellence make him a top rated estate planning attorney.

Other matters of note: Edward volunteers for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, where he has received awards for "generously donating time and expertise to protect the legal rights" of people living with HIV/AIDS.  He is a member of the Trust and Estates Section, State Bar of California, and the Real Property, Trust and Estates Section, American Bar Association.  Edward is a Board Member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, the Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association.