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, investing in speculative 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 for the Golden Tee Golf National Championship and 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 in 1997 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 and Temple Chambers in Hong Kong, China.  Mr. Witkop successfully competed during on-campus interviews and was selected for a paid clerkship during his second year of law school.  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 his own law firm in 2008 during The Great Recession.  He had immediate success and built his practice through hard work 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 Committee.

Mr. Witkop has been involved with numerous writ denied and Noteworthy Panel Decisions.  He is best known for the Tidwell decision, which is considered a seminal pre-COVID “work from home” case.  Mr. Witkop is an excellent public speaker and has been a conference panelist for the following organizations: Examworks, CAAA, Silicon Valley RIMS, the Santa Clara County Bar Association, and the Workers’ Compensation and Risk Conference.