Donald Austin has practiced law since 1986 primarily in the areas of school law and public entity defense. He was General Counsel for California's Ventura Unified School District for eight years, where he handled nearly all legal issues for that 17,500 student district. In 2004 he was President of the California Council of School Attorneys. Mr. Austin's experience includes litigation of a wide variety of school law issues. Before practicing law, Mr. Austin taught English and coached football, wrestling, soccer, and swimming at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon.

Mr. Patterson is the senior principal at Patterson Buchanan. He has significant civil trial and appellate experience, having tried more than 100 cases to verdict in both federal and state courts, and having argued over two dozen cases in federal and state appellate courts. Mr. Patterson concentrates his practice on high stakes, high profile litigation and has represented scores of school districts. He won the Mary Kay Letourneau case for the Highline School District. With his big case experience, he is frequently called upon to be the media spokesperson for clients involved in difficult situations.