The Marin Lawyer recently caught up with MCBA Past President Wanden Treanor.

Where did you grow up and what was that like? I grew up in Marin, initially in Los Ranchitos and then that quaint little island in southern Marin—Belvedere. It was idyllic in many respects.

Who were your influences? The Dominican Sisters of San Rafael had the most influence in my developing years. I attended Dominican Convent and later San Domenico from kindergarten through high school. The nuns were a constant guide in my life, teaching me to be of service to others. While I don’t ascribe to the patriarchal hierarchy of the Catholic Church, I am grateful to have been grounded in an environment that cared about the health of the planet, about world peace, and that all people should have equal opportunities to achieve their full potential. Most importantly, they taught us that those of us with privilege have the greatest obligation to make sure that there is equity and inclusion.

How did you find your way into the law as a career? My father told me from a young age that I had to be a “professional.” As a neurologist and rehabilitation specialist, he did a fair bit of expert witness work in the early years of medical malpractice cases. Bruce Walkup and other notable attorneys would have dinner with us and then after dinner, they would prep my father for a deposition or trial testimony in our living room. I would sit and listen in awe. I knew by the time I was twelve that I wanted to be a lawyer. Bruce made law exciting for me, which was fortunate, since I knew I didn’t want to be a doctor.

A brief history of your career: Where did you start? What jobs did you take? My first job was an associate at Mayer & Oswald in San Rafael. I was hired by Gary Oswald, who drafted a lot of development documents for the condominiums built in Marin in the 1970s. It was in the very early years of construction defect litigation. Gary knew about condominiums but very little about construction. In the interview he asked me if I knew anything about construction. I think he expected me to say ‘no,’ but instead, I said I knew quite a bit. I ended up getting the job. I learned about construction as a Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA), running a self-help housing project. That project brought low-income families together to use their sweat equity to build homes. As a result, I knew each phase of construction that had to be done because I coordinated the training classes to prepare the families for the work required of them. Gary and I worked together for about four years and I learned a lot from him.

I knew I wanted to do more work in the community. I also knew I needed to be a solo practitioner because law firms wouldn’t tolerate the amount of time I would spend on non-billable matters. I opened my own office on a shoestring in 1989 and never looked back.

How did you decide to work in your particular legal arena? Like most attorneys, I ended up practicing in the area of law where I spent my initial training years. My practice focused on representing boards of common interest developments because of my work with Gary. Then, as parents of my high school friends and old family friends needed estate plans, I branched out into estate planning and eventually into trust administration. So that I wouldn’t be vulnerable to one area of law, I kept the two areas of practice about equal in the thirty years I was out on my own.

What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses? My strengths would probably be my empathy for others and my leadership abilities. One of my weaknesses would be that I took on more leadership roles in the community than I might have had the bandwidth to do. While my clients’ needs were met, my leisure time was impacted. Judge Henry J. Broderick, dec., who was like a father to me growing up, told me something I will never forget. He said, “Remember, ‘no’ is a complete sentence.” Meaning that I didn’t always have to say ‘yes’ to every service opportunity I was presented. Making sure there is a healthy balance in life is a struggle for most lawyers.

What are your proudest moments? Professionally, serving as President of the Marin County Women Lawyers and the Marin County Bar Association made me proud. While I am proud of many cases I handled, one case stands out. After a decade-long court order to dredge, I was able to convince Judge Michael Dufficy, ret., to look at all the facts and reverse that order. It was a tremendous result for my client, the Bahia Homeowners Association.

You closed your practice—what was that like? Yes, it is true, I closed my practice at the end of 2019. It was a huge learning opportunity for me figuring out how. There is so much to do to prepare for such a significant life transition. There are psychological issues, such as ‘Who will I be?’; legal obligations to notify clients and obligations to get files back to old clients; and insurance issues. First, you need to determine if you can sell your practice and if so, how much you can expect to receive, and how you will transition your current clients. There’s the money issue, ‘Can I afford to retire?’ as well as how will you spend your time and talent if you aren’t practicing law. I have learned so much that I plan to coordinate an MCLE program on how to close a solo law practice. Stay tuned, it will happen this year.

Where does the next twenty years see Wanden Treanor? I will continue serving on the College of Marin Board of Trustees and be engaged in political and social issues of our time. As noted earlier, my leisure time was short-changed in my earlier years, therefore, I will not feel guilty if I choose to spend what time I have remaining enjoying life. For the past 30 years, Judge D’Opal, ret., and I have been fortunate to live on the Corte Madera Creek and we have a fair number of ‘water toys.’ While I couldn’t enjoy those toys as much as I would have liked, I will now enjoy being on the water as much as possible. As long as I am able, I see myself paddle boarding in the mornings and sailing or kayaking in the afternoons. See you out there!