Rafael joined Solomon Minton Cardinal Doyle & Smith LLP as a Partner in mid 2010. Rafael began his legal career in 2002 at Loeb & Loeb LLP in Los Angeles. In 2006, Rafael moved to San Diego and joined Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith LLP, where he specialized in real estate and business transactional law. Rafael continues to specialize in these areas and his practice focuses primarily on advising large and medium-sized local and regional companies and entrepreneurs in all transactional aspects of their businesses, with an emphasis on commercial real estate matters. Representative matters include:

• Real estate acquisitions, dispositions, and leasing
• Entity formation and corporate governance
• Purchase and sale of business entities and assets
• Acquisition, development, and construction financing transactions
• Development of a 96-unit senior housing project, involving tax credits and bond, construction, and redevelopment agency financing
• Workout and restructuring of debt secured by mixed collateral
• Negotiation and settlement of pre-litigation business disputes

Rafael earned his B.A. summa cum laude from Arizona State University, and he earned his J.D. at the University of Chicago Law School, as a Cornerstone Scholar, in 2002.

Rafael is fluent in Spanish.

Rafael’s professional affiliations include serving as a member and former chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners of the Unified Port of San Diego, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of MANA de San Diego and the Board of Directors of the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the California State Bar Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, and the Mexican American Business and Professional Association. Rafael was named one of the San Diego Daily Transcript’s Top Young Attorneys in 2008, and in 2011 was named one of San Diego Metro Magazine’s 20 Men Who Impact San Diego.