Frederick H. Ebey

Mr. Ebey began his legal career in 1963 as a Deputy District Attorney for Alameda County where he practiced until he was selected as Counsel to the California State Senate Judiciary Committee in 1965. In 1966, the Chairman of the State Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Donald L. Grunsky, invited Mr. Ebey to become an associate at the Grunsky Law Firm. He became a partner in the law firm in 1969. He has served as lead counsel in over 200 jury trials that have gone to verdict, representing plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of cases in both federal and state court. He has been involved in numerous multimillion-dollar trials and settlements. In addition to his extensive trial court practice, Mr. Ebey has a broad scope of appellate experience - having appeared before the California Supreme Court and several districts of the California Court of Appeal, argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and submitted briefs to the United States Supreme Court. He also frequently serves as a Mediator, Arbitrator, Special Master and Discovery Referee. Mr. Ebey was the first Santa Cruz County attorney elected to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and the only Central Coast attorney who has attained ABOTA's highest ranking of Diplomate. He served as the President of the San Francisco Chapter of ABOTA in 2005 and has been a member of the chapter executive committee continuously since 2002. He was the president of CAL-ABOTA in 2011, a member of the CAL­ABOTA executive committee from 2008 to 2014 and he served on ABOTA's National Board of Directors from 2005 through 2011. Mr. Ebey is one of only two active Santa Cruz County attorneys elected to membership in the American College of Trial Lawyers, an organization whose membership is limited to less than one percent of the attorneys in each state. In 2002, he became the first Santa Cruz County attorney ever elected to membership in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, whose membership is limited to only five hundred attorneys in the entire United States. In 2016, he was voted as one of the top 100 Attorneys in Northern California and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from America's Top 100 Attorneys. He has been designated a Northern California "Super Lawyer" each year since 2004. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Distinguished Service A ward presented by the Santa Cruz County Trial Lawyer's Association. Mr. Ebey has been a featured speaker at many educational programs including ones sponsored by ABOTA, the Santa Cruz County Bar Association and the Santa Cruz County Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Ebey has received an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell each year for more than 35 years. Mr. Ebey has been involved in many community activities including being a past member of the Board of Directors of the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Cruz County Legal Aid Society, and has served as an officer or director for numerous charities, including the Kidney Foundation, Little Helpers, and the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County. He has also served as President of the Santa Cruz County Bar Association and is a member of the Monterey County Bar Association.