About Us
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CLIFFORD & BROWN
The firm now known as Clifford & Brown has roots over half a century old. In 1966, when Steve Clifford walked into a two-man firm known as Raymond & Noriega and was hired as its first associate, he joined two men who were already premier trial lawyers in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Bob Raymond had been a partner in Baker, Palmer, Wall & Raymond in the 1950’s, and later joined the late Hon. Gerald K. Davis in the firm of Raymond & Davis, until the latter’s appointment to the bench. In 1971, senior partner Joseph Noriega moved the firm to a newly-constructed law building at 1605 “G” Street where the firm remained until 1988. In 1988, the firm moved to its current location, the Bank of America building, directly across from the Kern County Superior Courthouse.
The bedrock of the firm was primarily insurance defense litigation during the sixties and through the mid-seventies. Bob Raymond retired in 1970, the same year Jim Brown joined the firm. Thereafter, the firm name changed several times as partners joined, until Joe Noriega was appointed to the Superior Court in 1976. The name Clifford, Jenkins & Brown then went on the door, and remained until 1994, when it became Clifford & Brown. Pictured above are the two named partners, Steve Clifford and Jim Brown, both members of ABOTA and fellows in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Steve was actively practicing and mentoring until his passing in 2018 and Jim retired in 2010 and still remains close to and consults with members of the firm.
In the late seventies, Clifford & Brown’s business practice began to develop, and it has grown and expanded to represent about one half of the firm’s total practice. Clifford & Brown is now a broad spectrum commercial law firm, offering transactional counsel, complex tax advice, real estate, estate planning and a wide range of related services. Because of their reputation for legal knowledge and ethical service, attorneys at Clifford & Brown are regularly requested to appear as lecturers and instructors for many legal and professional associations.
The firm is ready to meet the entire range of litigation needs of its clients with the strongest stable of trial lawyers in the Valley including one fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and three members of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
The firm offers uncommon experience and perspective on the issues confronting businesses and individuals today. Clifford & Brown draws upon its years of legal experience to creatively and cost-effectively resolve issues and concerns of our clients, and stands ready to provide the same level of service to new clients of the firm.
