Our People
Mark Rubin
I’m Mark Rubin. I have been a lawyer for more than 40 years. My primary practice areas have always included business and real estate matters, probate and estate and incapacity planning (including trust and estate litigation), and ethics and professional responsibility aka the law of lawyering. (More recently, as part-time General Counsel for Pima Medical Institute—a private, allied health, vocational school—I have learned much about education law.) I have been in Tucson for 60+ years. I graduated from Beloit College and from the U of A College of Law.
Leigh Bernstein
Hi there! I’m Leigh. I’ve been practicing law for more than 25 years. Early on I handled mental health and juvenile cases. For most of the last 20 years I have limited my practice to elder law matters, which includes probate—decedent’s estates, guardianships / conservatorships, and trust matters—and estate and incapacity planning. I graduated from the U of A College of Law; earlier, I got my bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and an M.A. in Philosophy from New York University.
Problem Solving
Leigh and Mark have served clients for more than 65 years. In the world of elder law, we see lots of upset and strong feelings. Mark likens many disputes, after mom and dad are demented or dead, to sibling divorces.
Always, we focus on identifying the problem and the desired / best solution. If we think we can get to a positive solution, we’re available and think we can add value. Contrariwise, if we see a protracted battle on the horizon, with fees exceeding what everyone is fighting about, we will pass.
A few more thoughts. First, Leigh’s a wizard when someone needs a guardian or conservator, quickly. She knows how to do emergency cases, and gets the job done almost every time.
Second, we shine in complex cases which involve business or real estate assets. Mark’s experience as a business and real estate lawyer adds real value, as does our focus on solving problems.
At the end of the day, we can say this about our problem-solving philosophy:
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We put our clients first, ahead of our fees.
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We’re not shy about telling people we don’t think we can help them, because what they will pay us exceeds what we think we can recover. If we think we can accomplish our clients’ goals and make the economics work, we’re delighted to be involved. And if we don’t think we can get to a sensible, desirable outcome? We’ll pass.
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We try really hard to offer our services in a competent, friendly manner. We enjoy our work, like our clients, and look forward to showing up every day, to make the world a little easier for those among us who need help!
Our Canine Corps
Serious concerns about leaving dogs home alone every day aside, we believe our crew matters greatly in our practice. We live in the era of service dogs. Some—seemingly a minority—don’t buy the whole notion. In our world, though, we think the dogs relax our clients. Seeing “the Lawyer” stresses most people, and if we can do anything to dial down the anxiety, we’re all for it.
Then there’s us, our staff, and the dogs. They nuzzle. They warm the feet. They beg for treats. They need to be walked. Having them in the office helps the humans at Rubin & Bernstein maintain a level of calm, as we take on our clients’ challenges.
The names? June was June Carter when Leigh got her. Leigh named Ozzie—who is, as it happens, June’s son—after Ozzie Smith, the great St. Louis Cardinals shortstop. (The name fits, both because Corgis are short, and because Ozzie the dog does some major league air acrobatics when he’s chasing Frisbees.) Max is named after Mark’s grandfather, who was also an attorney.
June left us and this corporeal world on July 2, 2021. Ozzie followed her on February 9, 2022. We miss them both every day! We did, however, staff up the Corgi division with Miss Daphne Moon and Mr. Clarence Martin/ Both of them arrived in the spring of 2022. They're young and green, still, but they amuse and delight us. They love sleeping on cool air returns, mooching for pieces of string cheese sticks, and tormenting their department head.