Donald J. Sands

Don graduated from Palomar College and California State University at San Diego in 1959, and the University of West Los Angeles Law School in 1974. Before becoming a lawyer, he worked in the insurance industry for fifteen years adjusting catastrophic claims. He is admitted to practice law before all of the state and federal courts in California.

Don is a frequent teacher of continuing education courses in California, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and North Carolina, and is a member of the North American Committee on Surface Transportation, which participates with representatives from Canada and Mexico on NAFTA related issues.

Don focuses his practice on the transportation industry. He has jury and non-jury trial experience and recently prevailed in a high profile, multi-million dollar class action case that was filed by the owner-operators in the Port of Los Angeles against the motor carriers.

Neil S. Lerner

Neil graduated from Tulane University in 1982, and George Washington University Law School in 1985. He also attended Bristol University in England from 1980-1981. He admitted to practice law in New York and California.

Neil is a frequent guest speaker at luncheons, seminars and association meetings and has been featured, for cases that he has won, in the Los Angeles Times, The Daily Journal, Lloyd's List, and The Seattle Times. He has published four articles on various topics, and is writing a book on a case that resulted in a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court and the imprisonment of the "king of insurance fraud."

Neil focuses on unusual cases involving all of the firm's practice areas. He has jury and non-jury trial experience and has won appeals before the California and Federal appellate courts.

Arun Dayalan

Arun graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1997, and from Loyola Law School in 2001. He is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court's Central and Southern Districts of California, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He primarily handles business litigation, public entity defense and maritime cases.

Jolene R. Rice

Jolene graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1997 and from Southwestern University School of Law's advanced two-year SCALE program in 2004. Prior to law school, she worked as a paralegal for approximately five years, which allowed her to gain an invaluable familiarity with several areas of law, including insurance and labor and employment. During law school, she served as a clerk in the Natural Resources Division of the Office of the Attorney General where she concentrated on environmental regulatory and litigation matters.

Jolene obtained a LL.M. in Admiralty from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. Prior to joining Sands Lerner, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Clement J. Kennington with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Administrative Law Judges in Covington, Louisiana. Her caseload at the Office of Administrative Law Judges consisted mainly of disputes concerning the Longshore Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and its extensions.

Jolene is a member of the State Bar of California. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Central, Northern and Southern Districts of California as well as before all California state courts. She primarily handles maritime cases.

Art Severance

Art graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1991. Before becoming a lawyer, he taught English in Austria and Germany. He also served in the Navy repairing marine electronics.

Art graduated from California Western School of Law, cum laude, in 2006. As a law student, he was a volunteer judicial intern for the Honorable Barbara L. Major, Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. He was also the executive editor of the California Western International Law Journal and published the comment "The Duty to Render Assistance in the Satellite Age," 36 Cal. W. Int'l L.J. 377 (2006).

Art received an LL.M. in Admiralty Law, with distinction, from Tulane University Law School in 2007. He is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before all U.S. District Courts in California as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In September 2010, he was appointed to the State Bar's Advisory Commission for Admiralty and Maritime Law. He passed the first examination for certification as a specialist in that field and is awaiting certification.

Art primarily handles maritime, transportation, and appellate cases. His published cases include In re Mission Bay Jet Sports, LLC, 570 F.3d 1124 (9th Cir. 2009), In re Mission Bay Jet Sports, LLC, 2010 A.M.C. 1320 (S.D. Cal. 2010), In re Gibson, 2009 A.M.C. 2249 (E.D. Okla. 2009), and Markel American Ins. Co. v. Woolard, 2007 A.M.C. 2597 (C.D. Cal. 2007).