Amy Shelf - Counselor at Law
  • Home

A different take on planning ahead

Picture
I took a winding path in becoming an attorney.  After earning my bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1992, I spent most of my 20's developing my art and music, and holding random jobs that ranged from making body jewelry to tutoring math. While searching for a more stable career path, and obsessively following the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, I took a step back and realized that my extended community needed a good attorney. My whole life I've been told that I am level-headed, non-judgmental, and infuriatingly calm in the midst of conflict, so I decided I might be a good fit for the job.

I received my J.D. (with all sorts of exciting honors!) from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, where I performed research and writing in the fields of tax, wills & trusts, and assisted conception. While in law school, I interned with the San Francisco Probate Department.  There I learned as much about human psychology as I did about probate practice.  Following my time at Hastings, I worked for seven years at the wonderful firm of Folger, Levin & Kahn, practicing primarily estate planning for high net worth clients.  In April, 2007, I hung out my own shingle in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco—a fabulously close-knit community where my husband and I also own succulence: life and garden (and owned the well-loved and now defunct Four Star Video).

I am the mother of two, and in my free time (ha!) I sing with Conspiracy of Venus, a women's a capella alt-choir.  My own life philosophy is founded in a joyous appreciation of the here and now, in the pleasures and beauty of food and nature, and in the practice of yoga. 

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.