Max Discher

Max Discher is an associate attorney at Rothrock Legal, working on the firm's trust, estate, and elder financial abuse cases. He came to litigation from public interest law, and he is a graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, where he and Arthur were classmates.

For seven years he was a staff attorney, and later senior staff attorney, at Homebase, a San Francisco nonprofit that helps communities end homelessness. He advised San Francisco, Napa, and Clark County, Nevada on federal housing funding rules and homelessness policy, and presented that work at national conferences. Before that he interned in criminal defense in Redwood City, with asylum seekers in Melbourne, and at a law firm in Budapest.

Max earned his B.A. in French Language and Literature at Morehouse College and his J.D. at Santa Clara University School of Law, with a certificate in public international law. He is a member of the State Bar of California, and his State Bar profile lists elder law, trusts and estates, and wills and probate as his practice areas. He speaks French.

Max grew up in Redwood City and still lives there. The City Council appointed him a commissioner on its Housing and Human Concerns Committee after two years on the Police Advisory Committee. He sits on the executive board of Maker Nexus, a nonprofit makerspace in Sunnyvale, trains with his community's emergency response team, and in 2019 the BART Police gave him their Good Samaritan Award for an act of bravery. He has said he prides himself on “a relentless pursuit of compromise,” which turns out to be a useful habit in a family fight over a trust.