About Bryant Law Group
The Bryant Law Group is located in San Francisco. We maintain a civil and criminal trial practice, specializing in the representation of people who have been harmed by the negligence or wrongdoing of individuals, corporations, and government entities.
Paul Alaga
Paul Alaga graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 2002, where he received the Witkin Award for Excellence in criminal procedure and trial advocacy. While pursuing his legal education, he interned at the San Francisco and Marin County Public Defender’s Offices. After passing the bar, Paul Alaga opened a boutique law firm in San Francisco along with Attorneys Lewis Romero and Ian Kelley. He began his practice handling criminal defense in state and federal jurisdictions. He has represented clients involving complex federal drug conspiracy, international drug trade, money laundering, California Three Strikes cases, murder, attempted murder, mayhem, drug matters, assault and battery, and all types of misdemeanor matters.
He currently handles litigation and trial in criminal defense, civil rights, habitability, discrimination, and personal injury cases in the State of California as well as in Federal Courts throughout the United States. After practicing criminal law, he transitioned his litigation and trial skills into a civil practice where he helps individuals harmed by discrimination, economic oppression, or the negligence of others. Mr. Alaga has centered his practice around giving voice and agency to those who have been marginalized or taken advantage of by others.
Mr. Alaga believes that representing individuals is an honor and that representing his clients with respect and dignity is integral to providing just results. When he takes on a client’s case, he intends to remain present for them to assist with any legal needs. He believes that the client should have agency over their case, and he understands that it is his clients who have suffered and who have the most to win or lose in any given case. He puts his clients first.
Mr. Alaga has represented clients in nearly 30 separate counties throughout the State of California, in Illinois, in Oregon, in Hawaii, in Nevada, and in Florida. In addition to trial representation, Mr. Alaga has represented individuals in the United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals in California, Georgia, and Illinois as well as in the California Supreme Court and the California Court of Appeal.
Edward Higginbotham
Attorney Edward Higginbotham was born in Las Vegas, Nevada but has been a resident of San Francisco since 1999. His nearly twenty years of practice have focused on landlord-tenant and business law as well as maintaining a thriving practice that includes plaintiff representation in personal injury and employment. He has both landlords and tenants as clients, mainly residential matters but also has represented commercial also.
Mr. Higginbotham has represented over 100 small businesses throughout his career including over 50 liquor stores, smoke shops and small grocery stores, a dozen restaurants, a dozen cannabis dispensaries and is a member of the million-dollar advocates forum. He has successfully litigated complex cases, litigation on behalf of non-profits and a fortune 500 company.
He has received awards for his work furthering justice and helping working people reclaim their legal rights. He works hard to empower his clients by prosecuting the people who have harmed them.
Professional Associations and Memberships:State Bar of California,Million Dollar Advocates, Bar Association of San Francisco, Alameda County Bar Association
Siofra Byrne
Siofra Byrne is a partner at the Bryant Law Group. Born in Ireland, her family came to San Francisco in her youth where she thrived growing up in the Richmond District and attending Lowell High School.
The dedication she brings to her practice is based on a strong sense of justice and commitment to her clients. A fierce advocate, Ms. Byrne transitioned from a mixed criminal defense and civil rights law practice to a nearly exclusive civil litigation practice in 2018.
Her practice encompasses all aspects of civil law matters, including landlord/tenant matters, personal injury, particularly catastrophic accidents, obtaining and defending against civil and domestic violence restraining orders, and business litigation.
Before being a lawyer, she obtained a B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and worked as a paralegal for four years. She also had a career working as an IT business analyst at UCSF and as an Operations Analyst at technology companies.
Siofra received her J.D. from John F. Kennedy University School of Law in 2010 and was admitted to the State Bar in the same year.
Since becoming a lawyer, she has volunteered for various justice events which have required her to judge law school moot court competitions and for justice symposiums where she presented before local judges and other attorneys. She also provides pro bono legal services for low-income community members selected within the Bryant Law Group. She is a member of the State Bar of California, the United States District Court-Northern District of California, and the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Ian Kelley
Ian Kelley has practiced in State and Federal Court since 2001, representing clients ranging from indigent criminal defendants to Fortune 500 companies. He is an adjunct Professor of Law at both John F. Kennedy University College of Law and San Francisco Law School, teaching Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, and Civil and Criminal Procedure. He is a founding member of San Francisco’s Coalition for Third Amendment Rights. He has been lead counsel in two cases before the California Supreme Court: CMHE v. Sierra Club where the Court considered free speech issues in the elections context, and Handoush v. Lease Finance Group, where he secured an important win against efforts to rob consumers of the constitutional right to jury trial.