Michael R. Tener is a Partner of the firm practicing civil, probate, and trust litigation at the trial court and appellate levels. Michael has developed expertise representing plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of litigation matters involving breaches of contracts, competing property claims, personal and business torts, real estate and land disputes, and claims by or against trusts or probate estates. Michael represents a diverse array of clients including businesses, agriculture, and private individuals as well as trustees, creditors, and beneficiaries.
Michael earned his law degree at the University of California, Davis School of Law (“King Hall”), where he held a chair on the Moot Court Board and represented King Hall as a co-captain of its Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition team. Michael also received a public interest grant from the King Hall Legal Foundation and spent his 1L summer serving indigent clients with the San Joaquin County Public Defender. He was also honored to be one of only two students invited to serve on the law school’s Admissions Committee, where he helped select the incoming Class of 2010.
Michael earned his Bachelor of Arts with distinction in English at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Cal, Michael interned at the Trade Advocacy Center of the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.; held a position on the board of the Berkeley Undergraduate Journal; and was published in the undergraduate political science journal Politica. Since 2010 he has served on board of the Cal Club of San Joaquin, a regional chapter of the Cal Alumni Association, including serving several years as its president.
Michael built his career in San Joaquin County and has actively served the legal community here, including as co-chair of the San Joaquin County Bar Association’s Barristers Section and, for many years, as the editor-in-chief of the Association’s official publication, Across the Bar. He is a graduate of the Leadership Stockton and Leadership Lodi programs organized by the Greater Stockton and Lodi Chambers of Commerce, respectively, and was an active participant in several nationally-recognized teams as a member of the Consuelo M. Callahan American Inn of Court. Michael was recognized in 2014 with the SJBCA’s Outstanding New Lawyer Award for distinguished service to the Bar and legal community.
Michael has also enjoyed serving the broader community by donating time to provide legal advice as part of the SJCBA’s “Lawyers in the Library” program and fostering youth interest in the law through the First Impressions mock trial program.
Michael was admitted to practice law in California in 2007. He is also admitted to practice in each federal district court in California and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Michael’s published legal opinions include McGuire v. More-Gas Investments, LLC (2013) 220 Cal.App.4th 512 and De Jong v. Solario (E.D. Bk. 2020) 611 B.R. 327. Michael represented the prevailing party in both opinions.