Jacob C. Smith

When facing trusts and estate disputes, clients turn to Jake Smith for his steady hand and creative solutions to ambiguous situations.

Jake applies his knowledge and experience as a Certified Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate & Trust law to shepherd clients through the valleys and peaks of trusts and estates disputes. His practice focuses on helping clients achieve the right result tailored to their situation.

Prior to joining Downey Brand, Jake honed his conflict resolution skills over years of experience gained while deployed across the globe as a United States Army special operations human intelligence collector.

While in law school, Jake participated in the Pacific McGeorge Elder Law Clinic, where he obtained elder abuse restraining orders on behalf of vulnerable elderly clients. Jake also participated in the Legislative and Public Policy Clinic where he co-wrote and advocated for legislation to improve peace officer training on recognizing the signs of financial elder abuse; AB 2623 (Pan) became law in 2014.