Carl R. Gustafson, Attorney

Carl R. Gustafson is a Certified Bankruptcy Law Specialist with the California Board of Legal Specialization. He opened the Lincoln Law California offices and focuses his practice on bankruptcy law in the East Bay area.

• Certified Bankruptcy Law Specialist, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization (2013)
• U.C. Berkeley School of Law, with honors (2007), and UCLA, magna cum laude (2003)
• Handles the firm's Spanish-language consultations; he also speaks Portuguese

It made me angry to see people get ripped off.

Why he practices consumer law

It was Carl's yearning to right wrongs and prevent injustice that made law his calling. When Carl lived in Brazil he enjoyed the sights and playing pickup sports on the beach, but he was also witness to a cold reality: one of corruption and injustice. Carl has a passion for consumer rights. "It made me angry to see people get ripped off," said Carl. "I feel like we are hitting the big guys. We are punching back and making them pay for all the bets they thought they wouldn't get caught in." The confidence and ease of Carl is born of experience that is well beyond his years.

Education and early work

In 2003, Carl graduated from UCLA magna cum laude with a Bachelor's in History. In 2005, he was a legal intern for Global Justice in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he drafted sections of human rights situation reports and submitted them to the United Nations and other international bodies. He also researched issues of international jurisdiction and the enforcement of international treaties. Carl went on to graduate with honors from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2007, where he was also an associate editor for the Ecological Law Quarterly.

Experience

He started working with bankruptcy in 2003 when he graduated from UCLA. In August 2011, Carl was a presenter panelist on Practising Law Institute's seminar and webcast "Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: Its Value and How It Benefits Low-Income Debtors."