Thomas M. Duggan graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, obtaining a B.A. degree in history in 1973. Following graduation, Mr. Duggan obtained a master’s degree in business administration at Cal Poly. He thereafter obtained his law degree in 1977 from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he was a member of the Moot Court Honor Board.
By appointment of the State Bar Board of Governors, he has served both on the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission and the Client Security Trust Fund Commission. Prior to forming Duggan Smith & Heath LLP, Mr. Duggan was a principal with the law firm Sinsheimer, Schiebelhut & Baggett.
Mr. Duggan is a trial lawyer who specializes in business, product liability and general litigation matters. He is rated by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory as “av,” the highest rating given to attorneys based upon their level of legal ability and professional ethics, reliability, and diligence. Mr. Duggan has taught courses on Trial Practice and Civil Litigation at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is past President of the San Luis Obispo Friends of the Library.
Linda Somers Smith graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with high honors from the University of California, Davis in 1983 with a Bachelors Degree in Economics. While attending U.C. Davis, Ms. Somers Smith competed in track and cross country, earning All-American Honors in both sports. She earned her J.D. degree from Martin Luther King, Jr. School of Law at University of California at Davis in 1986.
Upon graduation, Ms. Somers Smith practiced law in Sacramento and the Bay Area, before relocating to San Luis Obispo in 1996. She co-founded the San Luis Obispo law firm Duggan Smith & Heath, LLP in 2000. Today, she is the managing partner and a principal of the firm, where she practices business formation and transaction law, with an emphasis in real property and health care. She also advises her clients in strategic alliances, intellectual property and employment matters. Ms. Somers Smith has a diverse legal background, which serves the wide-ranging needs of her business clients throughout the Central Coast.
In April, 2010, Ms. Somers Smith was honored as one of the “Top 50 Women in Business” in the Tri-County area by the Pacific Coast Business Times. Somers Smith was recognized in the Professional Services category for her consistent leadership as the co-founder and managing partner of a majority woman-owned law firm in downtown San Luis Obispo.
Jane Heath has extensive experience in civil litigation and as a mediator. She graduated magna cum laude from San Francisco State University and earned a paralegal certificate with high honors from Cañada College in Redwood City, California. After over twenty years as a paralegal in the San Francisco area and the Central Coast, she entered USF School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2005. While in law school, Ms. Heath was a member of the McAuliffe Honor Society and on the staff of the Law Review.
Ms. Heath was named a 2004 University of Michigan Bergstrom Fellow and completed intensive advocacy training in child welfare law in Ann Arbor. She was awarded a State Bar Foundation Scholarship and earned a Public Interest Certificate and USF’s Pro Bono Publico award for volunteer legal services to the community during law school. Her comment “Who’s Minding the Nonprofit Store: Does Sarbanes-Oxley Have Anything to Offer Nonprofits?” was published by the USF Law Review in the fall of 2004.
Janet L. Wallace graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the History of Art and Architecture. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Davis, where she founded Law Students for the Arts and served as a Research and Teaching Assistant to Professor Lisa R. Pruitt. During law school, Janet interned with the Office of General Counsel for the University of California and with California’s Legislative Counsel.
Janet presently serves on the Board of Directors of Ms. JD, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the success of women in the legal profession, and the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council.
