Our Team

Attorneys

Mr. Brumfield, a principal attorney with the firm, has more than 25 years of legal experience. Over the course of his legal career, he has represented numerous private businesses and individuals in the areas of general business law, real estate, construction, litigation, insolvency and bankruptcy. His experience allows him to recognize potential disputes in all areas of representation and affords clients the opportunity to avoid unnecessary and costly litigation. By virtue of his experience, Mr. Brumfield serves as a mediator, handling mediations in all of the areas in which he practices. With civil cases having less courtroom availability due to budgetary constraints, alternative dispute resolution methods are gaining importance and KMTG is committed to this out of court resolution process.

Legal Experience

Mr. Brumfield provides legal services to individuals, private businesses and governmental agencies, focusing his practice on the following areas:

• Mediations
• Business law
• Real estate law
• Construction law
• Businesses and commercial litigation
• Insolvency and bankruptcy

Specific examples of some of the legal matters he handles for clients include:

• Trials and appeals
• Contract review
• Breach of contract
• Corporation and partnership issues
• Business liens
• Review of lease agreements
• Bankruptcy proceedings focusing on the representation of creditors under all Chapters of the Bankruptcy Code
• Arbitrations and mediations

Mr. Brumfield has practiced law in Bakersfield since 1986. Before joining KMTG, he was in solo practice for two years where he emphasized real estate, business law and litigation, construction, property tax and bankruptcy (primarily creditor representation). For nearly four years, he was a partner in a four-attorney firm that provided legal services in real estate, business, construction, bankruptcy, tax, estates and probate. For 13 years prior to that, he was an associate and then partner with a Bakersfield full-service business and civil litigation firm.

Practice Examples

Following are examples of legal matters Mr. Brumfield handles for his clients:

• For one of his long-term clients, a large publicly traded oil field supply company, he provides business litigation services, representing them in any debt-related matters in California, including liens on contractors, defective provision of service claims and bankruptcy and collection matters.
• In a large Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, he represented the litigation trustee in matters designed to achieve recoveries after the confirmation of a Chapter 11 Plan. At the time, the litigation trustee was a new advent in bankruptcy cases, and this particular case was written about in the American Bankruptcy Journal.
• In a case concerning losses occasioned to a number of participants in a retirement plan, he obtained a judgment denying the plan administrator’s bankruptcy discharge enabling the plan participants to obtain a recovery of some or all of their losses.

Reported Decisions

• In re Wright, 355 B.R. 192, (Bankr.C.D.Cal. Oct 24, 2006)
• Jans v. Nelson, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 106, (Cal.App. 5 Dist. Sep 14, 2000)
• In re De la Cruz, 176 B.R. 19, (9th Cir.BAP (Cal.) Dec 22, 1994)

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Mr. Brumfield has been a featured speaker on several occasions for educational programs sponsored by the California State Bar, Kern County Bar Association, Central California Bankruptcy Association and the National Business Institute. His other professional activities and affiliations include:

• Board Member, Kern County Bar Association Charitable Foundation
• Chair, Kern County Bar Association’s Mandatory Fee Arbitration program
• Mediator, Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program, United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California
• Member, California Dispute Resolution Center
• Member, Southern California Mediation Association
• Member, Association of Conflict Resolution
• Member, California State Bar Association
• Member, Kern County Bar Association (former President and board member)
• Member, Kern County Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
• Former Member, Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, California State Bar
• Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
• Martindale-Hubbell BV Rated Attorney

Mr. Brumfield’s community involvement includes:

• Board Member, North Bakersfield Rotary Club
• Board Member, Bakersfield Homeless Center
• Board Member, Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault

Academic Background

B.A. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 1980

J.D. University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 1983

LL.M., Taxation, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 1985