Law Offices of William V. Pernik

Attorney William V. Pernik

Bar Admissions:

• California

Education:

• University of San Francisco School of Law, San Francisco, California
  
  • Honors: cum laude
  • J.D.

Languages Spoken:

• English
• Spanish

Attorney Roland Soltesz

Bar Admissions:

• California

Education:

• San Joaquin College of Law
  • J.D., 2003

Professional Memberships and Achievements:

• Monterey County Bar Association
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• California Public Defenders Association    
• Tulare County Bar Association
• Government Lawyers Association of Tulare County

Languages Spoken:

• English
• Spanish

Attorney Sarah Schumacher

Biography:

Sarah Schumacher has been a criminal defense attorney for the past 11 years. She served as a public defender in Kern, Monterey, and Santa Cruz Counties before joining the Law Offices of William V. Pernik. Over the course of her career, Sarah has handled a wide variety of felony, misdemeanor, and juvenile cases, including murder cases, serious and violent felonies, domestic violence cases, gang cases, sex offenses, theft offenses, firearms offenses, drug offenses, and DUIs. Additionally, she has experience in mitigation and post-conviction work, including youthful offender sentencings, murder and attempted murder resentencings, DA-initiated resentencings, and resentencings on remittitur. In her public defender career, Sarah tried more than thirty cases to a jury, obtaining a number of high profile acquittals in full or in part, resulting in her clients achieving verdicts of not guilty that have saved her clients from serious consequences such as mandatory sex offender registration and life sentences in prison. In particular, Sarah enjoys working with clients who are overcoming challenges such as mental illness and addiction. Sarah balances compassion outside the courtroom with zealous advocacy inside the courtroom. Sarah graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2011. Sarah lives in Gilroy with her husband, daughter, two dogs, and a chinchilla.

Attorney Dustin Ercolano

Biography:

Dustin Ercolano was born into a military household. While he spent a portion of his childhood in Fort Ord housing in Monterey, he spent his most of his childhood abroad—living in a total of eight duty stations including Japan and the Philippines—before returning to California to attend college and law school at the University of San Francisco. He graduated in the top 5% of his class, received the CALI Award in his Legal Research and Writing class, and served his community through USF’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Clinic and Racial Justice Clinic. Through his participation in the latter, Dustin’s work helped overturn a 2012 wrongful conviction out of New Orleans, Louisiana that resulted in a 60-year sentence in prison. Dustin went on to represent USF on its National Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Team and served as an editor for the USF Law Review publication.

Dustin obtained professional experience through internships at the Contra Costa Public Defender’s Office, Marin County Public Defender’s Office, and Office of the State Public Defender. After passing the California Bar Exam, Dustin worked as a volunteer attorney for Marin County Public Defender’s Office before connecting with one of his law school’s proud alumni, William Pernik, and agreeing to return to Monterey. Dustin has been working as an associate attorney for the Law Offices of William V. Pernik since the start of 2022 and has already demonstrated his fighting spirit by taking up writs against judicial decisions that failed to uphold the law as written and intended. 

Feeling strong personal ties to the military community, Dustin has a close interest in advising veterans and active-duty service members of their legal options and advocating for the diversion of charges against this demographic into treatment courts for eventual dismissal. Dustin is impassioned by the prospect of providing empathic and wholistic legal representation to his clients to ensure that more than just their immediate legal issues are being met.

Attorney Alana Wilson

Biography:

Alana Wilson is a Bay Area native who graduated cum laude from Saint Mary’s College of California before attaining her law degree from Santa Clara University, School of Law. Throughout law school, Alana developed a passion for criminal defense and participated in various clinics and internships to feed her interests, including the Northern California Innocence Project, expungement clinics, and internships at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office, and Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office. Additionally, Alana volunteered with Fresh Lifelines for Youth to educate high school students on their constitutional rights, and she served as a board member on the Criminal Law Society during her time in law school. She demonstrated academic excellence in the field by receiving the CALI Award for achieving the highest score in her Criminal Procedure course, and as a recipient of the BT Collins academic scholarship, an award given to a law student who demonstrates a strong commitment to the service of others.

Immediately upon passing the California Bar Exam, Alana joined the firm as an associate attorney. Alana appreciates that our team recognizes each client’s individualized needs and carefully strategizes to provide zealous advocacy for each and every person represented by our firm. Alana is particularly drawn to cases involving mental health issues, cases with juvenile or youthful offenders, and cases involving domestic disputes. Alana has been an attorney with the Law Offices of William Pernik since 2021 and recently began working at our San Jose office.

In her free time, Alana enjoys spending time with family and friends, supporting Bay Area sports teams (Go Valkyries!), traveling, and playing with her puppy, Chase.