The sole high-school graduate from his family of four, Mr. Witkop took an atypical path to earning his “Esq.” Mr. Witkop began his education at community college and took eight years to earn his bachelor’s degree. By balancing work and school, Mr. Witkop was able to exit undergraduate college debt free. At the time of his graduation, he was working as the Assistant Sports Editor for his local newspaper.

When not at work, Mr. Witkop enjoys spending time with his family, analyzing stocks and playing video games. In 2006, Mr. Witkop competed for the John Madden Football Invitational Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was eliminated from the 64-person tournament as a quarterfinalist. Mr. Witkop’s future goals include competing in the World Series of Poker.

Education

Mr. Witkop graduated cum laude from SUNY-Buffalo in 1997 with a major in psychology and a minor in English. He was accepted to the Santa Clara University School of Law as a Heafy Law Scholarship recipient. In 1998, he studied abroad at the University of Hong Kong School of Law.

During law school, Mr. Witkop was selected for highly-competitive internships with The Oakland Raiders’ legal department and Temple Chambers in Hong Kong, China. Mr. Witkop earned a paid clerkship during his second year of law school doing civil insurance defense. He was an Honors Moot Court competitor in his final year of law school and, upon graduation in 2000, he passed the California State Bar on his first attempt.

Experience

Mr. Witkop successfully started WLG during The Great Recession. He had immediate success and built his practice through responsiveness and quality representation. In 2013, he was awarded Attorney of the Year for the Western United States by Old Republic Construction Program Group at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2018, he was nominated for Defense Attorney of the Year by the California State Bar Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee. Mr. Witkop is currently serving a three-year appointment to the committee, which is now called the California Lawyers Association Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee.

In January 2025, Mr. Witkop secured California Supreme Court review concerning a Shipley issue.  Mr. Witkop has been involved with numerous writ denied and Noteworthy Panel Decisions. He is perhaps best known for the Tidwell decision, which is considered a seminal pre-COVID “work from home” case.

Mr. Witkop has earned a reputation for litigating novel and interesting cases and, as a result, is regularly a panelist at symposiums throughout California. Mr. Witkop has been a conference panelist for many organizations, including: CAAA, the California Psychological Association, Silicon Valley RIMS, the Santa Clara County Bar Association, Examworks and the Workers’ Compensation and Risk Conference.