Our team
Principal
Lisa Prince
Lisa Prince has represented employers in OSHA and Cal/OSHA matters for more than seventeen years. Lisa was a partner at Walter & Prince LLP before starting The Prince Firm. The Prince Firm gives Lisa complete autonomy to do what she does best: serve her clients.
The Prince Firm represents employers ranging from Fortune 500 companies with thousands of employees in many states to local small businesses and every size in between. The firm focuses on all aspects of the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration [Cal/OSHA] including advocacy during rulemaking, compliance assistance, management of enforcement activity and appeal of citations.
For over seventeen years of full time OSHA practice on behalf of employers, Lisa has worked to ensure that her clients’ defenses are investigated thoroughly and efficiently; evidence is carefully discovered, preserved and presented; and that, through zealous advocacy, her clients receive fair treatment at the hands of a sometimes imperfect regulatory system.
For ten years, Lisa has co-written, with former partner, Frederick L. Walter, the chapter “Workplace Safety” in a Continuing Legal Education publication of the California State Bar Association titled Advising California Employers and Employees. Lisa literally co-wrote the “Workplace Safety” guide used by other attorneys in advising clients in matters related to Cal/OSHA.
Education
Empire College School of Law, J.D., cum laude
Sonoma State University, B.A., cum laude
Professional Memberships
American Bar Association
Associated General Contractors of California, Safety & Health Council Steering Committee
American Society of Safety Professionals
Sonoma County Bar Association
State Bar of California
Practice Areas
Administrative Law
Cal/OSHA Citation Defense
Cal/OSHA Appeals
Crisis Management
Serious & Willful Misconduct Defense
Bar Admissions
• California
Honors & Publications
Co-author of the “Workplace Safety” chapter of the California State Bar publication Advising California Employers and Employees.
“When is a Roof Just a Roof?” AGC of California, California Constructor, (May/June 2016)
Co-recipient, Vickie Schlechter Associate of the Year Award, AGC (2008)
MORE ABOUT LISA
Lisa is also a sought-after speaker on a broad spectrum of workplace safety topics and regulatory updates, as well as Cal/OSHA investigations and the Cal/OSHA appeals process. She addresses groups in a wide range of industries, including the State Compensation Insurance Fund, the American Society of Safety Professionals, HR Connections, AgSafe, the Sonoma County Employer Advisory Council, the National Safety Management Society and Associated General Contractors (AGC). She presents an annual update on the law for several safety groups.
Lisa began her law career as a civil litigator. That is the official story anyway. Lisa’s first experience in law was as a 19-year-old file clerk. She quickly moved from filing documents to preparing documents for the firm attorneys, interacting with clients and court staff and interviewing witnesses. When Lisa earned her undergraduate degree, the firm partners encouraged her to go to law school and to continue at the firm as their paralegal. She did both. This experience gave Lisa the opportunity to learn how to be a lawyer, how to run a firm and, most importantly, how to serve clients, before she received the official title.
Lisa joined a Cal/OSHA defense firm after the birth of her daughter. She found she enjoyed, and was really good at, OSHA defense work. For Lisa it was a return to that mix of desk work and having opportunities to interact with people and learn new things. It was a perfect fit. Since that time, she has practiced exclusively in the areas of OSHA, crisis management, and "serious and willful misconduct" defense.
Lisa makes use of the advocacy skills she honed as a civil litigator in representing the firm's clients. She is respected by clients and colleagues for her strong communication skills and appreciated for her ability to put people at ease and defuse tense situations. Lisa helps clients understand the strengths and challenges of their legal positions and works with them to achieve the most favorable possible outcome.
In addition to her defense work, she helps employers, safety directors, risk managers, and human resource administrators to proactively reduce risk and develop preventive safety programs that comply with regulatory mandates.
Lisa lives with her wonderful husband and partner in all things. They are now empty nesters as their amazing daughter has gone off to college in southern California. That leaves Mila the Magnificent, the “Canine-American Hybrid” (mutt) in charge. In her spare time, Lisa continues to strive for a perfect garden and a perfect manicure … both are proving elusive.
senior associate
Lisa Baiocchi
Lisa Baiocchi is a senior associate at The Prince Firm, a Santa Rosa, California law firm that concentrates its practice in Cal/OSHA, Fed/OSHA and crisis management. She has been with the firm since 2020. Previously, Lisa was a senior associate at Walter & Prince, LLP, where she had practiced since 2012. A native of Sonoma County, she returned to California after attending college and law school out of state.
Lisa represents the firm’s clients in all aspects of Cal/OSHA and Fed/OSHA administrative process and defense, as well as amicus curiae and appellate briefs. She has also assisted employers with crisis response, improving and updating their safety programs, as well as with managing pre- and post-appeal abatement issues before Cal/OSHA.
OSHA law continues to evolve and to become more complex, placing employers in increasingly precarious positions as they strive to protect employees and operate their businesses successfully. Lisa understands the challenges facing employers. She is well-respected for her strength in legal research and writing and is a powerful advocate on behalf of the firm's clients. Lisa has a strong record of success before the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals board and at the Superior and Appellate Court levels.
In addition to her strength in advocacy and legal analysis, Lisa also excels in the less technical, but no less important, aspects of practice: working with clients. She is valued for her ability to establish a good rapport with clients and to explain complex concepts to them in a straightforward and understandable way so that they are empowered to make good decisions.
Lisa enjoys working with a broad range of clients, ranging from "mom and pop" employers to multi-state corporations. Her clients encompass a wide variety of industries, including construction, wineries, wastewater treatment, and manufacturing, to name just a few. In addition to the variety of clients and industries her work involves, Lisa appreciates the collegial nature of her practice area.
In a former life, Lisa was a professional ballerina, and has taken that same level of passion and dedication required for dancing and channeled it into her professional life. But it’s not all business for Lisa – she enjoyed running marathons during law school and thought she and her son would enjoy years of running together; but in short order, he became much too fast and left her in the dust. Lisa also lives with her partner, Matt (who happens to be her best friend from high school), and together they enjoy brewing beer, gardening, yoga, traveling, running (slower than Lisa’s son) and hiking; all of which occur far too infrequently. Not limiting herself to human interaction, Lisa is devoted to her Corgi, Ranger, who is a frequent attendee at SF Corgi-Con - which is a real thing and it is a very big deal, so be impressed.
Education
University of Houston Law Center, J.D.
University of Colorado at Boulder, B.S. Finance
Professional Memberships
American Bar Association
State Bar of California
Sonoma County Bar Association
Practice Areas
Administrative Law
Cal/OSHA Citation Defense
Fed/OSHA Citation Defense
Bar Admissions
• California
Publications
"Regulating Green House Gas Emissions Via the Clean Air Act: Disastrous, Our Only Viable Option, or Both? Environmental & Energy Law & Policy Journal (2010)
Profiles in Business and Society Co-Author/Co-Editor, University of Colorado at Boulder (2002)
OFFICE MANAGER
Cat Andre
Office manager Cat Andre has been working in the legal field for over three decades. Previously, she was with Walter & Prince LLP and has worked with Lisa Prince since 2007. As office manager, she is responsible for the multitude of unseen tasks that help the firm keep running smoothly.
Cat is the friendly voice on the other end of the phone if you need to call the firm with a question about your invoice or to make payment arrangements. She enjoys helping put clients' minds at ease, and her favorite part of her fast-paced job is getting to interact with people, whether attorneys or clients.
When not busy keeping the daily business of the firm on track, Cat likes fostering a collegial environment, helping the attorneys and staff pull together as a team, and generally making The Prince Firm a more pleasant and friendly place to do business. Outside of the office, Cat enjoys mystery novels, live music, and dancing. She also spends an inordinate amount of time with her six cats, and observes that herding cats is much like herding attorneys. She declines to comment as to which group is better behaved.
paralegal
Steff M Brunson
Steff M Brunson is a paralegal at The Prince Firm and has been working with Lisa Prince since September 2018. She brings with her 20 years of experience in the legal field and has proven herself to be an invaluable member of the team.
Her work is mostly behind the scenes, as the attorneys’ right hand. Clients and colleagues who call the office may also hear Steff’s friendly voice on the other end of the line, helping them to get answers to their questions or find the attorney with whom they need to speak. Steff enjoys the day-to-day challenges of working in a high-energy legal environment, and likes keeping up with interesting changes in the law.
Steff attended Sonoma State University, where she earned a B.A. degree in Global Studies with a concentration in International Business. The international perspective is something Steff well understands, having moved to California from a town in the south of France as a teenager! Having lived here for 30 years, she now considers California her home, and is a huge Golden State Warriors fan. She is married to her best friend and wonderful partner Jerohn and is the proud mother of a beautiful and energetic rottweiler named Zephyr, and an adorable tortoise shell cat named Rami.
When not at work, Steff is planning her next Halloween party. She is an active member of the USA Track & Field Masters program and competes nationally in sprints. She also enjoys travel, music concerts, dancing, freelance photography, and collecting vintage cameras and Adidas gear.