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Tracey Rangel Cruz
phone: (805) 965-0752
e-mail: cruz@cruzmcmurray.com
Ms. Cruz is the founding member of Cruz & McMurray, LLP and a native of Santa Barbara. She has eleven years experience as a trial lawyer, and has practiced in the states of Louisiana and California. Ms. Cruz has had extensive trial and court room experience during her legal career. Since 1995, Ms. Cruz has tried over 90 jury trials and 80 court trials, for a combined record of over 170 trials.
Current Practice
Ms. Cruz's practice focuses on family law cases, where she is known for her dedicated representation of clients undergoing family law transitions. Ms. Cruz handles all types of family law matters, including dissolution of marriage, child custody, child support, spousal support, property division, post-judgment modifications of orders, mediations, and pre-marital agreements. As a trial lawyer, Ms. Cruz offers her clients the benefit of her years of court room experience, as well her detail-oriented, thorough and compassionate approach to her cases. In addition to family law, Ms. Cruz also accepts a limited number of criminal law and personal injury cases.
Prior Experience and Training
Prior to starting Cruz & McMurray, LLP, Ms. Cruz worked in government service and private practice. Ms. Cruz began her legal career in 1995 as a prosecutor in the New Orleans District Attorney’s Office in New Orleans, Louisiana. While there, she prosecuted virtually thousands of cases, and tried serious criminal offenses, including: First Degree Murder; Second Degree Murder; Manslaughter/Vehicular Manslaughter; Armed Robbery; Carjacking; Attempted Murder of a Police Officer; Attempted Murder; Rape; Child Molestation; Burglary; Narcotics Distribution; Narcotics Possession; Theft; Domestic Violence and Fraud/Embezzlement. After a period of supervising other attorneys in the felony trial division, Ms. Cruz was promoted to the elite New Orleans District Attorney's Violent Offender’s Strike Force Unit, where her caseload consisted of a select group of more complex serious offender cases, multiple co-defendant cases, large-volume narcotics distribution and murder cases.
In California, Ms. Cruz worked as a Deputy District Attorney in the Ventura District Attorney’s Office, where she was assigned to the Sexual Assault and Family Protection Unit. While there, Ms. Cruz handled a select caseload of sex crimes and domestic violence cases.
In addition to her government service, Ms. Cruz has extensive civil law experience. She has represented clients in civil cases, including the defense of a major retailer in all courts in Southern California. As a civil attorney, Ms. Cruz has significant experience with conducting arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences and jury trials. She is well versed in cases involving negligence, personal injury, premises liability, American’s With Disabilities law, construction cases and business disputes. Additionally, as a licensed real estate broker, Ms. Cruz is knowledgeable about landlord-tenant matters, leases and the sale or purchasing of residential properties.
Education
Ms. Cruz received her bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA. She then attended the UCLA School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate. While in law school she was a participant in the UCLA Moot Court Honors Program. In addition, she was Vice President of the UCLA Chapter of the La Raza Law Students Association, and was a staff member on the UCLA Women’s Law Journal. Ms. Cruz also spent one year as a visiting student at the Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Memberships
Ms. Cruz is a member of the American Bar Association; Santa Barbara Bar Association; Santa Barbara Women's Lawyer's Association; California Association of Realtors; Santa Barbara Board of Realtors; and the National Association of Realtors.