Attorneys

JAMES F. WATTS

attorney at law

 

            Jim Watts is originally from Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.  Prior to Mr. Watts’ attending law school, he served five years in the United States Air Force, finishing his military service commitment as a Captain and Missile Crew Commander of a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launch crew at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona, and he worked as a National Park Service Ranger at Saguaro (pronounced Sa-War-Oh) National Park near Tucson, Arizona. 

 

             Mr. Watts started his legal career as a probate attorney in San Diego.  He still handles several probate cases each year.  He has also served for three years as an instructor of estate planning at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

 

Bar Membership: 

       Member, State Bar of California, 1977.

       Certified specialist, Estate planning, trusts and probate, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,

             1996– present.

 

 

Ashley E. Rathbun

attorney at law

 

Ashley Rathbun is from San Diego, California.  She attended Mt. Carmel High School in Rancho Peñasquitos. 

 

Bar Membership:  Member, State Bar of California, June 2011.

 

Education: 

             University of San Diego (USD) School of Law, Juris Doctor, May 2010.

             University of California, Davis, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics, December 2005.

 

Publication:

             Student Comment, Marrying into Financial Abuse:  A Solution to Protect the Elderly in California, 47 San              Diego L. Rev. 227 (2010).

 

Memberships and Awards:

             Comments Editor, San Diego Law Review, Fall 2009—Spring 2010

             Magister (President), Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity (Honors fraternity at USD School of Law),                           Fall 2009–Spring 2010

             High Passes, Negotiations, Spring 2010; Lawyering Skills I (Legal Research and Writing),

                          Fall 2007 & Spring 2008

            

E-mail: Jfwatts@trust4u.net

 

Education: 

             University of San Diego Graduate Law School, Masters of Law degree (LL.M) in Taxation, 1983.

             California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA, Juris Doctor, 1977.

             Southeast Missouri State University, Bachelor of Science in Zoology; Minor in Chemistry.

             University of Arizona, continuing education.

            

Publications:

             “Liquidation and Re-incorporation as a Tool of the Tax Planner”, Taxes—The Tax Magazine, July 1983 ed.

             The Criminal Law Enforcement Authority of Park Rangers in Proprietary Jurisdiction National Parks—Where Is It?, 13 Cal. Western L. Rev. 126                (1976).

E-mail: ashley@trust4u.net

James F. Watts, A Law Corporation

11585 Sorrento Valley Road, Ste. 102, San Diego, CA 92121

Telephone: (858) 481-2880 • Fax: (858) 481-2885 • appointments@trust4u.net

An estate planning, trusts, trust and estate administration, and probate law firm that practices California law only.