Moncrief & Hart

A 1989 graduate of Salinas High School, Paul attended University of California, Santa Barbara, where he obtained bachelor's degrees in Spanish and Law and Society. He also obtained a master's degree from UCSB in Latin American Studies, with emphasis in Mexican history and political science. While in graduate school Paul studied politics in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, focusing on the administration of then-governor Vicente Fox. His master's thesis, published in 1997, predicted Fox's victory in the 2000 Mexican presidential election.

Paul earned his law degree from UC Davis in 1999. During law school, he clerked in the legal department of the California Department of Food & Agriculture and served as Editor in Chief of the UC Davis Journal of International Law & Policy and was a member of the UC Davis Law Review. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Michael S. McManus in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California, before returning to Salinas. His practice includes agricultural law, business transactions and litigation, real estate, bankruptcy and debtor-creditor relations. Paul is a board member of MCAE and ALBA, Advisor to Hartnell College, and former Co-Vice Chair of the California State Bar Agribusiness Committee.

Paul Hart is an experienced litigator and trial attorney specializing in resolving agricultural business and general business disputes. Mr. Hart grew up in Central Indiana, the eldest child in a multi-generation farming family. Mr. Hart obtained a bachelor's degree in Biology from DePauw University (1991) and graduated cum laude from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College (1996), in Portland, Oregon.

Mr. Hart is the father of four and strongly believes in the importance of family as a guiding and stabilizing force. His practice style is perhaps most guided by the words of his grandfather:

"What's fair is fair and what's right is right. Always be reasonable enough to make sure that you are on the side of fairness and righteousness."

Dennis Lewis was born and raised in Salinas and graduated from Everett Alvarez High School in 2001. Dennis graduated Magna Cum Laude from Sacramento State University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government. Dennis went directly from college to law school, earning his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2008.

Dennis began interning for Moncrief & Hart after his first year of law school and quickly became engrossed with the vast areas of law practiced by the firm. During his internship at Moncrief & Hart, which lasted throughout law school, Dennis researched a wide array of legal issues ranging from basic landlord tenant law to the intricacies of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, otherwise known as PACA.

Koren is an associate attorney with Moncrief & Hart where she represents clients in a variety of transactions. Koren has over twenty years of experience in corporate and business transactions. Representative matters include entity formation and dissolution (including corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships), mergers and acquisitions of commercial and agricultural businesses, real estate purchases and sales, commercial and agricultural leases, grower and harvesting agreements, and a myriad of other commercial and business agreements.

Koren obtained her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of California, Davis, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Koren is admitted to the California State Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California.