Ms. Pleyte opened her solo law practice in 2007 and today maintains offices in Santa Barbara, Hollister, and Three Rivers. Ms. Pleyte’s practice includes comprehensive estate planning services and a family law practice focusing on mediation, settlement, collaborative law, and the drafting of premarital and postmarital agreements. She is a Certified Family Law Specialist, certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.
Prior to beginning her solo practice, Ms. Pleyte was a partner at Polaris Law Group LLP, a summer associate at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto, and a legal extern at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento. While employed by these entities, she worked on complex projects involving employment litigation, securities litigation, contracts, intellectual property, unfair competition, and antitrust.
Ms. Pleyte obtained her Juris Doctor degree from UC Davis School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the UC Davis Business Law Journal and graduated Order of the Coif. She earned the Witkin Award (top grade) in Civil Procedure and Property and graduated in the top five of her law school class.
Prior to attending law school, Ms. Pleyte gained experience handling family law, civil, and criminal cases while working full-time with her father, James R. Pleyte, in his Hollister law practice. For the three years prior to that, she worked as a Consultant for Accenture, LLP, a global management consulting firm. In that role, she worked on project teams redesigning complex processes and organizational structures for Fortune 500 companies.
Ms. Pleyte obtained her B.A. degree in Economics from Tulane University, earning a membership in Phi Beta Kappa and was a regional finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. She also graduated with an M.B.A. in Marketing and Organizational Behavior from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, earning a Morton A. Aldrich Scholarship and membership in the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.
Ms. Pleyte is a member of the California Bar Association and the Santa Barbara County Bar Association.
Ms. Pleyte has acted as a volunteer judge for the Santa Barbara Teen Court program. She is a former member of The William L. Gordon American Inn of Court and Finance Committee of the San Benito County Community Foundation. She is a former board member of the Hollister Downtown Association and San Benito County Art Council and was president of the San Benito Bar Association from 2010-2013.
