LAW OFFICES OF
BESSON & YARBROUGH
ELDER LAW ATTORNEYS SERVING SAN JOSE & THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Jann Besson, California State Bar Certified Estate Planning Specialist
Jann Besson obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. She enjoyed successful careers with the movie and recording industry, the San Francisco Symphony, and Hewlett Packard prior to attending law school. Jann graduated from the University of California's Hastings College of Law in San Francisco in 1994. Prior to opening her own law practice in downtown Los Altos, she worked with the law offices of Charles Drexler in Oakland, and Alice McAlister in Cupertino. She is the founding partner in the Law Offices of Besson and Yarbrough which was formed in 2000.
Jann is recognized state-wide as an expert in Medi-Cal/Medicaid law in California and regularly teaches at the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) attorney-training conferences.
She is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law. Jann is a founding trustee of the Silicon Valley Bar Association in Santa Clara County and served as chair of the SVBA Trusts and Estates Committee. She is a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, the Santa Clara County Estate Planning Council, and CANHR’s Attorney Referral Panel. Jann focuses exclusively on probate, estate planning, wills, trusts, special needs trusts, long-term care planning, and Medi-Cal planning.
Steven L. Yarbrough, Trust, Estate and Conservatorship Litigation
Steven L. Yarbrough obtained his bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia. After more than 20 years as a practicing newspaperman, he graduated from law school at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law in San Francisco in 1995. Steve spent five years of intensive trial practice as a court-appointed defense attorney in Del Norte County, California. He handled approximately 300 adult and juvenile felony and misdemeanor cases per year including major felony jury trials, three-strikes cases and homicides to verdict with several re-trials to verdict. In addition, he was responsible for preliminary hearings, pre-trial evidentiary motions and related hearings.
Steve was a partner at the general-practice firm of Cochran, Follett & Yarbrough, in Crescent City, California, which provided legal services to local governments, including the Crescent City Harbor District, Del Norte County Hospital District, several water districts, and the Del Norte County Solid Waste Authority, plus family, land-lord tenant, business, and real property law. He was court-appointed trial attorney for numerous juvenile dependency cases, representing children, parents and grandparents and was court appointed to represent conservatees in LPS and probate conservatorship hearings.
At the appellate level, Steve has participated in both oral argument and appellate briefs and writs before the California Court of Appeal.
In April of 2000, he joined Jann Besson in Los Altos to form the partnership of Besson & Yarbrough. He now focuses exclusively on elder law: probate, trust and estate litigation, conservatorships, and patient rights.
Steve is an active member of the California State Bar and its Trusts and Estates Section. He serves on the Silicon Valley Bar Association board of trustees, having served as chair of the Education Sub-Committee and as chair of the Probate, Trusts and Estates Executive Committee. Steve is a member of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform Attorney Referral Panel, the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, and Santa Clara County Estate Planning Council and was admitted to the United States Supreme Court in 2005.
