helping you navigate the path ahead
OUR SERVICES
We specialize in helping individuals, small businesses and nonprofits throughout California with their business and employment law needs.
Consider calling us if you are facing any of these or similar situations:
Need Outside Legal Counsel?
Just because you don’t have in-house counsel doesn’t mean you don’t have in-house legal issues. Want to talk to an attorney before making a new hire? Before signing a new vendor contract? Our firm has the breadth of experience to provide you with creative, business-friendly solutions.
Facing a Strategic Crossroads or Major Transaction?
Are you thinking of starting a joint venture or forming a new subsidiary? Entering into a new lease? Buying or selling material assets? We can help you strategize and choose the best way forward.
Starting a New Business?
We help small businesses transition from the idea stage to actuality. We will help you choose and form a legal entity, structure your ownership, document your policies and procedures, register your trademarks and start hiring employees.
Do You Know Your Employment Rights and Responsibilities?
Both employees and employers face a variety of legal challenges in the workplace. As an employee, what rights do you have? As an employer, what legal risk do you face? We have more than fifteen years of experience advising on these very questions. We can help you understand your rights and legal risks and figure out the best approach to the problem.
Have a New Job or Making a New Hire?
Don't let legalese and fine print dampen your excitement about a new job or a new hire. We help both employers and employees negotiate employment, nondisclosure, noncompete and other employment agreements so that you are comfortable putting your signature on the paperwork.
Considering a Potential Lawsuit?
Litigation should never be jumped into blindly. Sometimes going to court is the best - or only - way to proceed; often though, an alternative approach may solve the problem more cost-effectively and with far less stress. With over a decade of experience litigating individual and class action cases in state and federal court, we can help you evaluate the costs, benefits and risks of a lawsuit versus other options, and find the path that works best for you.
OUR STORY
We are Heather Conger and Ramey Barnett. We became friends over twenty years ago at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. We come from very different backgrounds: Ramey grew up riding horses in Oklahoma while Heather was skateboarding around an ex-pat town in Saudi Arabia.
We made our separate ways to California for law school -- Heather at UC Berkeley/Boalt Hall and Ramey at Stanford Law. After graduating in 2006, Heather worked for more than 10 years at a well-known employment and labor law firm in Oakland, where she litigated individual and class action cases in state and federal court as well as in arbitration, mediation, and administrative hearings. Ramey, on the other hand, spent the first half-decade of her career practicing corporate, securities and M&A law at the San Francisco headquarters of a global law firm and the following seven years as senior in-house counsel at a major bank.
For the past two decades, we have followed different career and life paths but have always remained friends and shared some key perspectives:
-- We believe in doing things the right way, every time. Making good decisions in the beginning is much easier than cleaning up a mess later on.
-- We enjoy helping other people succeed. Seeing clients achieve their dreams is fun.
-- We think that the law and legal services should be more accessible so that more people and organizations can pursue their happiness.
-- We embrace adventure and expanding our boundaries. We are both avid travelers, enjoy getting outdoors, and value a healthy balance of work and play. We gravitate towards new experiences.
CongerBarnett, P.C. reflects our commitment to each of the above principles. We left our traditional practices to build our own kind of law practice. Our mission is to provide high-quality, creative, affordable legal services to help individuals, small businesses and nonprofits succeed and thrive. We also offer affirmative support to nonprofits and individuals with limited resources by offering a sliding fee scale.
Whether you are an employee, a business owner, a budding entrepreneur, or a social activist, we'd love to share our experiences and our legal expertise to help you navigate the path ahead.
OUR ATTORNEYS
Heather Conger
Prior to forming CongerBarnett, P.C., Heather practiced for more than 10 years with Siegel LeWitter Malkani, a well-known employment and labor law firm in Oakland, California. Heather has successfully litigated numerous individual and class action cases in state and federal court, arbitration, and mediation and has developed a deep understanding of California employment law, process and standard practices. She was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine, an honor awarded to no more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in the state. Heather also has experience negotiating severance agreements, advising employers and employees regarding employment policies and practices, and assisting small businesses and non-profits with trademark issues.
J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Trinity University
B.A., International Studies
Admitted in California
Ramey Barnett
Ramey has more than a decade of experience as a corporate and transactional attorney. She has counseled small and large companies on corporate governance, securities, M&A, financing and general commercial matters. Prior to founding CongerBarnett, P.C., she worked for five years as a corporate attorney with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, and for seven years as in-house senior capital markets counsel with a global bank.
J.D., Stanford Law School
Trinity University
B.A., Economics
Admitted in California
CONTACT US
About Our Fees
We founded CongerBarnett, P.C. with the mission of providing access to high-quality legal services to individuals, small businesses and nonprofits, and, in keeping with that purpose, we strive to keep our rates affordable for all clients. One of the ways we keep our rates lower than many other lawyers is by avoiding the costly overhead of a traditional brick and mortar law office. We work remotely with clients all over the state of California and depending on the case, we offer an hourly rate or a flat rate.
Schedule a Consultation
The best way to get in touch is to send us an email. Please do not send confidential information until we agree to work together. However, a general description of the matter (such as "starting a new business" or "have a severance offer to review") would be helpful. If the matter involves a dispute between two or more parties, please send us the names of the parties so that we can conduct a conflicts check before we obtain detailed information.
Contact us here: inquiries@congerbarnett.com
PLEASE NOTE: We are not your lawyers until we have agreed with you, in writing, to be your lawyers, and we will not provide you with any legal services or any representation until we have so agreed. We won't know if we can assist you in any way until we meet with you, discuss your needs, and ensure that there are no conflicts or other barriers to working together.
Licensed only in California; this website does not constitute a solicitation of clients outside of California.
© CongerBarnett, P.C