Attorney RecordMarin County
Donald Howard Specter · California Lawyer
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Donald Howard Specter is on California’s State Bar roll, #83925, admitted in 1978; license status: active as of 22 July 2026. The address of record is in San Quentin, Marin County. 4 practice areas are listed in the registry, shown on this page. 41 case appearances are listed on this profile. Registry record updated 11 September 2026; license information comes from the State Bar.
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Verified against official State Bar of California records · record last updated 11 September 2026. Contact information on this page comes from the public record and is shown free, the registry never paywalls it.
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The record
| State Bar number | #83925 |
|---|---|
| License status | Active |
| Admitted | 1978 |
| Law school | Univ of San Francisco |
| Firm | Prison Law Office |
| Location | San Quentin, Marin County |
| Registry identity | Official State Bar record |
Practice areas
Practice areas are self-reported to the State Bar or added by the attorney; listing one is not a State Bar certification.
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Cases of record
From published opinions naming this attorney as counsel. The attorney has not yet confirmed these records.
| Case | Appeared for | Citation | Court | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Armstrong v. Edmund Brown, Jr. | Counsel for the respondent | 768 F.3d 963 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 26 September 2014 |
| Victor Parsons v. Charles Ryan | Counsel for the respondent | 754 F.3d 657 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 5 June 2014 |
| Marciano Plata v. Edmund Brown, Jr. | Counsel for the respondent | 754 F.3d 1070 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 28 May 2014 |
| John Armstrong v. Edmund Brown, Jr. | Counsel for the respondent | 732 F.3d 955 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 4 October 2013 |
| Valdivia v. Brown | Counsel for the plaintiff | 956 F. Supp. 2d 1125 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 3 July 2013 |
| Coleman v. Brown | Counsel for the plaintiff | 960 F. Supp. 2d 1057 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 3 July 2013 |
| Armstrong v. Brown | Counsel for the plaintiff | 939 F. Supp. 2d 1012 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 4 June 2013 |
| Coleman v. Brown | Counsel for the plaintiff | 938 F. Supp. 2d 955 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 5 April 2013 |
| Valdivia v. Brown | Counsel for the plaintiff | 848 F. Supp. 2d 1141 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 14 September 2011 |
| Valdivia v. Schwarzenegger | Counsel for the respondent | 623 F.3d 849 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 28 September 2010 |
| In re E.J. | Counsel for the petitioner | 47 Cal. 4th 1258 | California Supreme Court | 1 February 2010 |
| Valdivia v. Schwarzenegger | Counsel for the plaintiff | 603 F. Supp. 2d 1275 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 26 March 2009 |
| In Re Lugo | Counsel for the respondent | 164 Cal. App. 4th 1522 | California Court of Appeal | 21 July 2008 |
| Plata v. Schwarzenegger | Counsel for the plaintiff | 556 F. Supp. 2d 1087 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 23 May 2008 |
| Valdivia v. Schwarzenegger | Counsel for the plaintiff | 548 F. Supp. 2d 852 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 25 March 2008 |
| L.H. v. Schwarzenegger | Counsel for the plaintiff | 519 F. Supp. 2d 1072 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 19 September 2007 |
| Clement v. California Department of Corrections | Counsel for the respondent | 364 F.3d 1148 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 20 April 2004 |
| In Re Smith | Counsel for the petitioner | 109 Cal. App. 4th 489 | California Court of Appeal | 5 June 2003 |
| Plata v. Davis | Counsel for the respondent | 329 F.3d 1101 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 27 May 2003 |
| In Re Rosenkrantz | Counsel for the petitioner | 29 Cal. 4th 616 | California Supreme Court | 16 December 2002 |
| Clement v. California Department of Corrections | Counsel for the plaintiff | 220 F. Supp. 2d 1098 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 9 September 2002 |
| Armstrong v. Davis | Counsel for the respondent | 275 F.3d 849 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 28 November 2001 |
| Williams v. Bowman | Counsel for the plaintiff | 157 F. Supp. 2d 1103 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 26 July 2001 |
| Madrid v. Gomez | Counsel for the respondent | 190 F.3d 990 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 30 August 1999 |
| Madrid v. Gomez | Counsel for the respondent | 150 F.3d 1030 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 2 July 1998 |
| Madrid v. Gomez | Counsel for the respondent | 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5249 | California Supreme Court | 2 July 1998 |
| Armstrong v. Wilson | Counsel for the respondent | 124 F.3d 1019 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 27 August 1997 |
| Armstrong v. Wilson | Counsel for the plaintiff | 942 F. Supp. 1252 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 20 September 1996 |
| Madrid v. Gomez | Counsel for the plaintiff | 940 F. Supp. 247 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 23 August 1996 |
| Coleman v. Wilson | Counsel for the plaintiff | 933 F. Supp. 954 | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California | 12 July 1996 |
| Madrid v. Gomez | Counsel for the plaintiff | 889 F. Supp. 1146 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 10 January 1995 |
| Richard Hogan v. Ron Koenig, Chairman of Prison Terms | Counsel for the respondent | 920 F.2d 6 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 27 November 1990 |
| Charles Denton Watson v. Wayne Estelle | Counsel for the petitioner | 886 F.2d 1093 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 21 September 1989 |
| Toussaint v. Rowland | Counsel for the plaintiff | 711 F. Supp. 536 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 20 April 1989 |
| Charles Denton Watson v. Wayne Estelle | Counsel for the respondent | 859 F.2d 105 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 6 October 1988 |
| Toussaint v. McCarthy | Counsel for the plaintiff | 662 F. Supp. 1583 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 16 July 1987 |
| Grummett v. Rushen | Counsel for the appellant | 779 F.2d 491 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 26 December 1985 |
| Toussaint v. McCarthy | Counsel for the plaintiff | 597 F. Supp. 1427 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 18 October 1984 |
| Toussaint v. McCarthy | Counsel for the plaintiff | 597 F. Supp. 1388 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 18 October 1984 |
| Grummett v. Rushen | Counsel for the plaintiff | 587 F. Supp. 913 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 20 June 1984 |
| Thompson v. Enomoto | Counsel for the plaintiff | 542 F. Supp. 768 | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | 29 June 1982 |
Appearances in published opinions, drawn from public court records. Cases of record are matters of public record and are not a representation of results; past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Legal information, not legal advice.
Each case name opens the published opinion it comes from. Is a case not this attorney’s? The attorney can claim this profile and mark it as not theirs, which removes it from this page; anyone can report an error through Help & Support.
On the official record
The employer on the official record is Prison Law Office.
The law school on the record is University of San Francisco School of Law.
Admitted to the California Bar in 1978 · 48 years on the roll.
Practice areas on the record: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Health Care Law and Litigation.
41 appearances as counsel in published opinions are on this record.
The address of record is in San Quentin, in Marin County, where matters are ordinarily heard at the Superior Court of California, County of Marin, seated at San Rafael.
Confirm Donald Howard Specter’s license status, bar number #83925, and official disciplinary or administrative history directly with the State Bar of California at apps.calbar.ca.gov before retaining counsel. This profile does not reproduce the complete official history; missing information does not mean no discipline. This page indexes public-record data and identifies verified claims; it does not rate attorney quality or predict results.
Legal information, not legal advice.
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