Frank Kopcinski

Frank was born in Los Angeles and raised in Joshua Tree, California. He has practiced law in Imperial, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Luis Obispo Counties in California, as well as in several counties in Iowa. He gained legal experience while attending UCLA School of Law by administering Bet Tzedek’s Spanish-Language Conservatorship Clinic and assisting with an appeal to the Supreme Court of Argentina in a children’s rights case. After law school, he started his career as a licensed attorney at California Rural Legal Assistance’s (CRLA’s) Coachella office. There, he represented clients in wage and hour cases and civil litigation involving mobile home park closures and habitability issues. Then, he worked for the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, where he processed hundreds of housing, employment, and public accommodation-based civil rights complaints through investigation and mediation. Frank later started his own solo law practice based in Des Moines, Iowa where he represented clients in landlord/tenant disputes, misdemeanor criminal proceedings, affirmative immigration applications, child custody proceedings, civil rights and employment litigation, and administrative hearings.

Frank moved to the Central Coast in 2018, to take a position as the Directing Attorney at CRLA’s San Luis Obispo County office. There, he oversaw several full-time staff members, including five staff attorneys. During his four-year tenure at CRLA San Luis Obispo, he oversaw federal and state court litigation and was also responsible for administering the office’s Fair Housing Initiative Program, a program sponsored by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) with the objective of providing legal representation in cases involving housing discrimination. As part of the program, he represented clients in HUD and California Civil Rights Department complaints. He also worked on and supervised hundreds of landlord/tenant disputes, which included representation of clients in unlawful detainer proceedings and pre-eviction settlement negotiations in various housing contexts. Additionally, he litigated California state court claims involving employee housing issues ranch hands experienced in rural San Luis Obispo County.  

Frank is also an avid runner and placed 4th place in his age group in the November 2022 Wine County Run 10k. He also enjoys skateboarding, learning languages, creative writing, and playing music (primarily guitar and accordion).  He resides with his beautiful wife and son in Paso Robles.

PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT  

• Orfalea College of Business, California Polytechnic State University – Part-Time Lecturer of BUS 404 —Governmental and Societal Influences on Business (2023)

• University of California, Riverside Extension – Transformational Leadership Executive Program – Board Member

BAR ADMISSIONS 

• The State Bar of California (2014 – Present)
• United States Central District of California (2020 – Present)
• State Bar of Iowa (Inactive)
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (Inactive)

LANGUAGES

• Fluency in Spanish and English, written and spoken

EDUCATION 

• University of California Los Angeles, School of Law (J.D., 2013)

• University of Santa Barbara (B.A. Spanish and Sociology, Summa Cum Laude, 2007)