 He grew up in Brooklyn NY, and was admitted to the California Bar on January 9, 1962.Prior to co-founding the Greenlining Institute, he was the founder and chief counsel for America’s first legal service program for rural families, California Rural Legal Assistance, which received numerous national awards as the most outstanding legal service program in the United States.He also was the founder and senior partner in the western United States’ first public interest law firm, Public Advocates.