COVER STORY Babich Buccola Wood Campora, LLP. The Res Ipsa Loquitur band is comprised of Daniel Schneiderman on bass, Hank Greenblatt, rhythm guitar, Robbie Nelsen, drums, Bale, vocals and guitar, Jason Sigel, rhythm guitar, and Rose Livaich, vocals. Everyone in the band is an attorney with the exception of Babich, who is an administrative assistant and Joe Babich’s daughter. In addition, a law clerk, soon-to-be attorney, Marshall Way, plays a mean sax and keyboards, while talented pro musician Terry Allwein is the band’s lead guitarist and music guru. Res Ipsa Loquitur plays with enthusiasm at firm parties and charitable events. Besides classic cover tunes, the band performs “Bale” originals about the practice of personal injury law and the people behind the scenes which resonate with lawyers and staff at his firm. “The band is lucky to have such great support from the firm,” says Bale, “and we draw upon the people there for musical inspiration.” For example, Bale composed “The Runner” about Oscar Sandoval, who delivers documents to court for filing, and “The Hunter” about the firm’s Office Manager, Debbie Hunter. Bale has fronted several bands as the lead singer, performing for many years in Flagstaff and Phoenix, Arizona. He started performing in high school as a singer in a garage band, and even played at the prom in his junior year. For six years, he fronted “Buster,” a popular Northern California bar band that regularly performed 48 weekends in a year! Bale describes music as a “powerful medium,” and cites Van Morrison as the musician who most influenced his musical style.
Robert (Robbie) Nelsen Another attorney at Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora, LLP, Robbie Nelsen, plays drums with Res Ipsa Loquitur. Nelsen grew up in Placer County, and attended Rocklin High
Robbie Nelsen
School, where he played in the jazz band, performing at the Reno and Monterey Jazz Festivals. While attending Sacramento State, Nelsen took a two-year hiatus from school to hit the road with a rock and roll band called “Shortie.” His band, which played originals, toured in a van all over the country from Alaska to Maine and Florida. They played alternative rock in major cities in places like the House of Blues and CBGB’s, the birthplace of punk music, in New York City. Eventually they were picked up by a label appropriately called “Earache.” Two years of touring as a rock star convinced Nelsen to “sell out” and return to Sacramento to finish college and attend law school. Now he enjoys playing with Res Ipsa Loquitur at firm functions. Nelsen still loves old rock and roll, and cites Stewart Copeland, multi-instrumentalist and composer best known as the drummer for the band The Police, as a major influence.
Ken Celli When he was just 12 years old, Ken Celli’s sister gave him an acoustic guitar. Celli, who grew up in Southern California, was fortunate to attend Oakwood Middle School, where many Los Angeles entertainers’ children attended. Many of these students were already good musicians, so Celli learned by playing what his classmates and others showed him.
In high school at Catalina Island, he learned jazz chords and started jamming; and he continued to play jazz guitar while attending UCLA. After law school, Celli got married and didn’t play for quite a while, although he married into a very musical family, and his wife, Barbara Celli, is a singer with a beautiful voice. Starting his legal career in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1988, Celli then relocated to Marin Country in 1990, where he started his own general practice, with an emphasis on criminal defense, copyright, and trademark. He moved to Sacramento in 2003, to work as Senior Staff Counsel for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In 2006, Celli transferred to the California Energy Commission, where he still presides over siting and compliance hearings, serves as a hearing advisor to the commissioners, and writes decisions for committees. After moving to Sacramento, Celli rediscovered music when he started attending the Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite around 1997. Celli did not connect with his aptitude for the mandolin until 2007, when he began to go to “adult” music camps, such as California Coastal Music Camp and the Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz. He quickly picked up mandolin and is a now an adept player, welcome at any jam. Celli continues to jam with other musicians in Sacramento, and even inspires a group of folks at the Energy Commission to get together and play music together at their lunch hour. Celli played mandolin with a Sacramento Bluegrass Band called “Sweet By and By” for a couple of years, before joining his most recent band, “Le Hot Club de Carmichael,” which plays Django style swing music in supper clubs and other gigs. Celli’s influences are David Grisman and George Harrison, and he loves all styles of music from jug band and
www.sacbar.org | March/April 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER
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