The RegistryCounty Record · California

Litigation Attorneys in Santa Barbara County, California

Counsel for civil lawsuits: filing, defending, trying and settling cases in California courts. In Santa Barbara County, that work runs through the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. This directory presents litigation records from official State Bar of California data in neutral order.

Venue matters. Litigation cases from Santa Barbara County are ordinarily heard at the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. South Central Coast county whose 1929 Anacapa Street courthouse still hears live calendars; branch courts in Santa Maria serve the north county.

Deadlines shape these cases before merits do · two years for personal injury (§ 335.1); four years on a written contract (§ 337); three years for property damage and fraud (§ 338); two years on an oral contract (§ 339) (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 335.1, 337, 338, 339). A defendant served with a summons generally has 30 days to respond (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 412.20(a)(3)). Injury claims against a public entity first require a written government claim within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2).

This page is the Santa Barbara County chapter of the registry's statewide record · Litigation Lawyers in California collects all 58 counties.

The clock & the court

Statute of limitations

Two years for personal injury (§ 335.1); four years on a written contract (§ 337); three years for property damage and fraud (§ 338); two years on an oral contract (§ 339).

Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 335.1, 337, 338, 339

A defendant served with a summons generally has 30 days to respond (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 412.20(a)(3)). Injury claims against a public entity first require a written government claim within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2).

Court of record

Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara.

County seat: Santa Barbara

Main courthouse: Santa Barbara Anacapa Division, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Help with forms without a lawyer: the court's self-help center (source: The court's official website, read 2026-09-27).

Official court information, locations, and filing rules: www.santabarbara.courts.ca.gov

Litigation · Santa Barbara County roster

241 attorneys on the official State Bar of California roll list litigation among their practice areas with an address of record in Santa Barbara County.

233 of them hold an active licence; the remainder are recorded as inactive and are not currently eligible to practise.

The roster concentrates in Santa Barbara (202), Santa Maria (14), Goleta (8) and Carpinteria (5).

8 hold a State Bar Certified Legal Specialist designation, a certification issued by the State Bar's Board of Legal Specialization, and not a rating or a ranking.

For 15, the registry records a language other than English, almost always from a firm website published in that language; that describes the website, not an attorney's own ability.

Admission years on this roster run from 1965 to 2025.

The employers most represented here are Santa Barbara County Counsel (6), McCarthy & Kroes (5) and Cappello & Noel LLP (4).

Thomas M. Fitch

Litigation · Carpinteria · Santa Barbara County

Bar #209817 · Admitted 2000

Official record · View the record →

Call(805) 963-8252