William D Kopper Attorney At Law

William D Kopper is an attorney who practices in the field of Family Law and Estate Planning and Probate. Mr. Kopper is one of the few practitioners who is a certified specialist in two fields. Mr. Kopper is a certified specialist by the State Bar Board of Legal Specialization in the fields of Family Law, and Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. The Board of Legal Specialization recently honored Mr. Kopper for his 20 years of service as a certified Family Specialist.

• CalBar Profile — Admitted to the bar on 1980-12-16.

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2005-10-13 02:54:39   I don't like this guy. In my opinion, when he represented my dad during my parents' divorce, he did everything he could to help ensure that the process remained as nasty and protracted as possible. A friend's Davis-resident parent told me that s/he initially went to Kopper for his/her divorce, but changed attorneys because of what s/he saw as Kopper's counterproductive approach. I believe he acted unethically when representing my dad, and if I were more directly involved I'd file an ethics complaint. —GrahamFreeman

2006-12-11 23:30:21   I agree. I faced him in both my divorces! His main stragety appears to be to to waste alot of his clients money by scheduling prolonger depositions over trivial matters and distracting his opponents from the real issues. His lack of ethical behavior is evident from the claim he makes publicly to attempt to settle conflicts without delays and distractions. —JeffreyReiser

2008-01-12 13:40:32   My coworker hired Kopper to handle a divorce in the 1990s. My friend says Kopper was ballast. Did not lift a finger to anything but send a bill. The best advice I ever got was to file a malpractice complaint not an ethics complaint Graham. It may drive up there... guess what: malpractice insurance. You can complain to the state bar, but they hide complaints from the public claiming confidentiality (what a crock). That means an attorney can have 1000 complaints pending and the public will never know. If your attorney is going up against a firm he does business with or would like to work for with your case... he is more likely to please his business contact than effectively advocate for you. They are not called shiesters for nothin'. Judge Rosenberg may disagree. My Uncle was a retired judge. He did not disagree with that assessment. There is an attorney in Sac. that only gives advice for a reasonable fee. She will not take cases and is not interested in a practice. She is great. You get 15 minutes to ask her opinion, overview your case and give you advice on direction, where to research, what the laws are and what common Calif. rulings are. She is great if you do not trust your lawyer. There are real problems with switching attorneys to often. You can get black balled as a client. Susan Garcia-Swain is the advice attorney. a la carte Legal Services & Coffee Lounge

A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. —LouisM

2008-01-13 13:01:25   I've used Bill Kopper as an attorney for one or two small matters, and his associates for slightly larger ones. He is smart, thorough (in my limited view) and probably would be a very effective advocate in a court proceeding or when filing papers. I know him more as a politician with whom I often agree — I first saw him in 1980 when he was re-elected to the City Council. I add that ballast is very useful when you're sailing (though perhaps it was not intended as a compliment above). —DougWalter

2008-02-04 17:56:02   Dr. Jeffrey Reiser is a physician who lost his license to practice medicine due to substance abuse and other inappropriate conduct. Mr. Kopper defended Dr. Reiser’s first wife in a drawn-out, contentious divorce. Dr. Reiser contended that his first wife was the crazy one and he should have custody of their young child. Mr. Kopper was able to succeed in both securing custody of the party’s child for Dr. Reiser’s first wife, and obtaining a favorable distribution of property. Dr. Reiser’s second wife fired her first attorney and hired Mr. Kopper after her first attorney could not deal with Dr. Reiser. Mr. Kopper settled the second Reiser divorce in court moments before the trial was to start. The second Mrs. Reiser received a very good settlement.

Unfortunately Graham Freeman chose to take sides in his parents’ divorce. Graham Freeman has no information about how much his father paid in attorney fees related for his divorce action. Graham’s father was both satisfied with the services he received from Mr. Kopper, and the billings. The fact that Graham’s mother may feel she paid too much for the divorce, or that her husband should have rolled over and accepted an unfavorable settlement, has no bearing Mr. Kopper’s services to his client. —AstouFall

2008-08-12   Astou, who the hell are you? And who the hell are you to say that I took sides in my parents' divorce? Unless you're using a pseudonym, I've never met you before in my life, so what could you possibly know about me and my family? And I've never seen you in my home office, so how would you know what information I have or don't have? In that horrible period of time, I was accused by all parties of favouring another when in reality I simply chose to think for myself. I'm sorry that you feel that it's "taking sides" to have my own opinion when you just don't share that opinion - that says something unfortunate (for you) about the way you think. —Graham

2008-02-04 23:47:27   Mr. William D. Kopper is very passionate about the law and very well aware of how his actions will affect the lives of his clients, which is something I cannot say about very many other people, let alone attorneys. He always seemed to get things done for my case right away and never waited until the last minute. To say that he does not do anything but send bills is ridiculous. A lot of people don't realize that the waiting game comes from Court procedures or waiting for responses, comments, or other actions from the other side(s) and cannot in most cases be helped. —CharlieSmith

2008-02-10 17:18:31   I am Graham's dad and, while I don't feel comfortable correcting my son in a public forum, finally I must. Divorce proceedings can be acrimonius and painful, especially for sons and daughters. Bill Kopper represented me in a professional and ethical manner. I, and other attorneys that are familiar with the case, think that my settlement was fair and just. Finally, any delays or difficulties that arose were not due to the actions of Bill Kopper. Graham's mother (an attorney) and the two successive attorneys that represented her may have played a role. —HueFreeman

2008-08-12   It is *extremely* rare that my dad would use a computer, much less the internet. As such, I'm somewhat skeptical that the above post was really made by my dad. Regardless, you are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine. I stand by my stated (low) opinion of Mr. Kopper and his practice. —Graham

2008-05-11 15:00:58   2008- I am the ex-girlfriend of Dr. Jeffrey Reiser. I am the main witness to the reason why he lost his medical license. He has been deemed a sociopath by a forensic psychiatrist. He twists the truth around. HE prolongs legal assaults on his victims, wifes, ex girlfriends and anyone else who doesn't do exactly what he wants of them. His charges are true to the word of the victims. DA dropped charges only so we can get him next time. Hard to put a sociopath on the stand and he will just lie and the victims would suffer further. He has fired and hired many attorney's to buy himself time. He is a pathological liar and is very dangerous. Any attorney this ex Dr. would hire would have a difficult time dealing with a mentally ill man such as he is. The attorney's hands are tied due to the roots of this ex Dr. having a history of many years. He is an addict and always will be. He lives with his next victim now. She has no idea, and we have warned her, just as his ex wife warned me. But he had the charm and the name... Sometimes these sociopaths come out of the woodwork and society can only do so much. We know what he is doing, where he is and what he will do next. Delays and distractions are what the ex Dr. Reiser has used as one of many of his ploys to manipulate. As for ethical behavior, look who speaks... sexual assault, drug addict, ex wifes, affairs, sexually assaulted, but has walked away as a sociopath does. Don't blame the attorney's for this one! —Jeaniemoine

2008-08-05 16:53:32   I used Bill Kopper to mediate a divorce. He did an excellent job, billed conservatively, and helped to resolve what might have otherwise been a more complicated issue. —CeciliaGabrielli

2010-12-03 13:16:46   I'm a member of the Solar Community Housing Association, a Davis nonprofit, and we've received great support and advice from Mr. Kopper and his office on numerous occasions. He has reviewed contract documents and agreements for us, and helped us through a tough renter issue. We were very impressed with the efficiency at which he reviewed very lengthy contracts and the very reasonable rates for his services. —Carl