Attorneys & Staff

Peter C. Ward - Partner

Peter C. Ward has been practicing law in the areas of Construction, Insurance, and Business Litigation for 20 years. After attending Yale and then University of California San Diego for his undergraduate studies, Peter received his Juris Doctorate from University of San Diego School of Law in 1986. He became a partner at Chapin Fleming & Winet (later known as Chapin Shea McNitt & Carter) in 1991 where he headed up the Construction Defect Litigation Department. After 15 successful years, Peter moved into smaller practice, eventually forming Ward Law Offices in 2002. In 2004, Peter and Christopher H. Hagen formed Ward & Hagen LLP.

Professional Activities include:

• AV rated by Martindale Hubbell
• Past-President of San Diego Defense Lawyers Association (1999)
• Board of Directors (1997-1998)
• Judge Pro Tem, San Diego Small Claims Court
• Arbitrator, San Diego Superior Court
• Licensed California Real Estate Broker (2003-Present)
• Instructor, San Diego Inn of Court Trial Tactics and Techniques
• Speaker on Construction Litigation Issues to various professional and trade organizations
• Past member of San Diego Building Industry Association; Association of Building Contractors (Legislative Committee Member 1999-2000)
• Past member Defense Research Institute (DRI); Association of Southern California Defense Counsel.

Civic/community activities include:

• Volunteers of America Board of Directors (1996-2001)
• Chairman, S.D. County Bar Attorney Assistance Committee (1995-1998)
• Committee Member for Campaign to Elect Brian Maienschein for San Diego City Council (5th District)

Peter has participated in a variety of jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, and has briefed and argued several cases before the California Court of Appeals (one published opinion).

Email Peter: pcw@wardhagen.com

Christopher H. Hagen - Partner

Christopher H. Hagen graduated from University of San Diego School of Law in 1995. He joined the newly formed firm of Naumann & Levine, LLP and was soon heading up a variety of construction related cases. Over the next nine years Chris handled the law and motion side of most Construction Defect cases and successfully helped recover money for hundreds of homeowners around San Diego County. In 2004, Chris joined with Peter Ward to form Ward & Hagen LLP where he continues to practice in the areas of construction and business litigation. Chris is a member of Consumer Attorneys of San Diego and his articles can be found in that organizations publication, Trial Bar News.

Email Chris: chris@wardhagen.com

Ralph W. Peters - Senior Associate

Ralph W. Peters received his Juris Doctorate from University of Buffalo Law School in 1982 and is admitted to practice in California, Massachusetts, The District of Columbia, as well as several levels of the Federal Court system.  Ralph is a former partner of McInnis, Fitzgerald, Rees, Sharkey, and has extensive trial experience in the fields of general commercial litigation, property disputes, eminent domain, inverse condemnation, environmental litigation, land use, construction defect, products liability, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, breach of contract, AAA arbitrations, social security disability, and election law.  He is an instructor with the San Diego Inns of Court.  He became Of Counsel to Ward & Hagen in 2006. Ralph lives in Rancho Penasquitos with his wife and two children, where he keeps busy as a member of the PQ Town Council, a board member of his church, and as a scoutmaster with his sons' scout troop.

Email Ralph: rpeters@wardhagen.com

Jeffrey D. Paape - Senior Associate

Jeffrey D. Paape graduated from Western Sierra Law School in San Diego in 1985. He recieved the West Publishing Company's Hornbook Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievment and was a member of the Delta Theta Pi Law Fraternity. Before joining Ward & Hagen LLP, Jeff's practice included civil litigation, business torts, real estate, construction defect and legal malpractice litigation.

Jeff brings decades of experience to Ward & Hagen LLP having participated in over 30 trials, including a court trial in which the judge awarded the Plaintiff $6,843,501 and another trial in which the Plaintiff was awarded $5,344,853. In 2000, Jeff successfully tried a fourteen home single family construction defect case against the Developer of a Blossom Valley Development which resulted in a jury verdict and judgment in the amount of $774,652. In 2004, Jeff achieved a $3,835,000. settlement for a multi unit condominium project in Rancho Bernardo. Also in 2004, Jeff obtained an $875,331.94 settlement for one home in a construction defect case. From 1998 to 2008, Jeff obtained settlements in excess of $25,000,000 throughout California. Jeff has worked on hundreds of single family construction defect cases as well as numerous condominium construction defect cases.

Jeff has served as a speaker at the Lorman Education Services Seminar "Creative Strategies for Handling Construction Defect Claims in California." The seminars focused on Anatomy of a Construction Defect, Protecting the Project, Senate Bill 800, The Construction Defect Case, Mediation and Presenting the Contruction Defect Trial. Jeff has also authored articles on the construction defects found in homes and has appeared on the "The Home Show" radio program on KSDO Radio, San Diego, discussing construction defect issues in California.

Jeff focuses his practice on single family, multi-family (condominiums), commercial building construction defect cases, real estate, business and all major areas of litigation.

Professional Associations: San Diego County Bar Association, Consumer Attorneys of California, State Bar of California (1989).

Email Jeff: jpaape@wardhagen.com

Jacob D. Bell - Associate

Jacob D. Bell has been with Ward & Hagen LLP since the firm's inception. Jacob's primary area of practice has been the management of complex construction defect litigation. He has overseen discovery for several multi-million dollar insurance bad faith actions. Jacob recently spent two months running litigation support for the firm at a jury trial in Imperial County at which the firm received a verdict of over $7,500,000 for the client.

Jacob received his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego, School of Law in 2006 and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of California, San Diego in 2002. He resides in Encinitas and volunteers with the Encinitas Community Resource Center.

Email Jacob: jbell@wardhagen.com

Steve M. Nuñez – Of Counsel

Steve M. Nuñez graduated with honors from the University of California, Riverside in 1992, and went to law school at Columbia University in New York City, graduating in 1995. While at Columbia Steve received a Human Rights Internship to work with a human rights organization in Mexico City.

Steve spent nearly a decade in civil litigation throughout Southern California representing people and small businesses in personal injury, construction defect, real estate disputes, insurance disputes and homeowner association disputes. In 2003 and 2004, Steve had the opportunity to represent victims of the September 11th tragedy before the Victim's Compensation Fund in New York City. Steve successfully doubled the awards of both victims, a feat for which he received the President's Star Award from the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, and recognition from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

His practice focuses on the resolution, mediation, arbitration or trial of people's disputes arising from injuries or deaths in various forms of accidents, people's dispute regarding real estate transactions, people's disputes with their homeowners associations. Steve is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, and Old Mission Rotary. He also sits on the Site Counsel of his son's elementary school.

Email Steve: snunez@wardhagen.com

Kirk Yake – Of Counsel

Kirk D. Yake has been representing homeowners' associations in construction defect matters for sixteen years. His practice has also included representation of HOAs as general counsel, individual homeowners in construction defect matters, and individuals and corporations in miscellaneous civil litigation matters. Kirk's construction defect experience has included claims involving landslides, soils settlement, water intrusion, dryrot and mold claims. All of these have been accompanied by, and oftentimes resolved by, mediation or negotiation, but Mr. Yake has successfully taken these cases to trial when necessary, resulting in satisfactory results for his clients. In addition to client representation in litigation, Mr. Yake serves as a mediator on the mediation panel of National Conflict Resolution Center at www.ncrconline.com and on the mediator panel of the San Diego Superior Court.

Mr. Yake has been active in multiple Southern California chapters of Community Associations Institute (CAI) over the years, and has been recognized for his contributions, including Author of the Year, Outstanding Committee Member, as a member of the Board of Directors for the San Diego Chapter, and as a member and panelist for the Orange County CAI mediation committee panel.

Email Kirk: kyake@wardhagen.com