DJ's practice areas encompass business, real estate, and estate planning, with a core expertise in corporations/LLCs, securities, debt & equity financings, secured transactions, and mergers & acquisitions. He has extensive experience working with owners and companies throughout the entire life cycle of a business.

His real estate practice covers both residential and commercial property-related purchases and sales, tax-deferred exchanges, and leases. His estate planning practice includes trusts, wills, health care directives, powers of attorney, as well as estate and gift tax strategies. DJ applies the combination of his business, real estate, and estate planning skills to the unique circumstances of family-owned businesses, including succession planning.

DJ received his J.D. in 1995 from U.C. Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. He received an LL.M. (Masters of Law) in Japanese and International Business Law in 1996 from Kyushu University in Japan, where he lived for three years. He received a B.A. in Japanese in 1992 from Brigham Young University. Prior to joining SMT in 2002, DJ worked in the San Francisco offices of Perkins Coie LLP and Brown & Wood LLP.

DJ is a member of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California, as well as the Business Law Section and the Intellectual Property & Technology Section of the Sonoma County Bar Association. He has spoken on various topics at U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law, Kyushu University Faculty of Law, Santa Rosa Junior College, as well other venues.