Broker Risk Management provides Residential Brokers and Agents with a variety of Risk Management tools and services to reduce the risk of claim and loss while enhancing the professional practices, education and understanding of the California residential real estate practitioner.

Real estate is serious business, small issues easily cascade into larger issues for you, your client and your agency.  Preventing problems saves you and your clientele time, energy and money.

Bill Jansen

Bill Jansen is a partner in the law firm of Broker Risk Management, LLP, a firm he founded in 2002 to provide risk management services to real estate brokers and agents throughout California.  Mr. Jansen was joined in June, 2017 by Vickie Naidorf as a law partner.

Broker Risk Management, LLP provides its clients with

  1. A legal hotline for detailed transaction and escrow advice.
  2. Legal updates and seminars on current topics, laws, forms and practice issues.
  3. Review of policies and regulatory compliance.
  4. Forms review and drafting.

Previously, Mr. Jansen was a founder and principal of Soma Living Real Estate where he acted as broker of record, chief legal officer and member of the executive team.

Prior to Soma Living, for twenty-three years Mr. Jansen was an executive and broker with the Pacific Union family of companies overseeing risk management, claims and the integrity of the real estate transactions of the various brokerage operations in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.

Mr. Jansen was the 1986 President of the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® and for fifteen years (1980-88, 92-97) served on the Board of Directors of that organization.  In addition, he has served for more than 30 years on the Board of Directors of the California Association of REALTORS® (CAR).

He has served on and chaired numerous REALTOR® committees at the state and local level. He is completing his second three-year appointment to CAR’s Strategic Planning and Finance Committee, and has been a member of the Legal Affairs Forum for more than 25 years, having chaired the Forum twice. In 2006, the California Association of REALTORS® honored Mr. Jansen by electing him to serve as a Director-for-Life. He has also earned the Certified Residential Broker (CRB) designation from the Real Estate Brokerage Managers’ Council.

In 2010, Mr. Jansen served on the California Department of Real Estate’s “Broker Supervision Task Force” which made recommendations to the Commissioner for possible legislative improvements or changes to DRE policy and related regulations, a number of which were implemented.

Mr. Jansen has been a Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) instructor in “Broker Practice” and a contributing author to the CEB publication “Real Property Sales Transactions.”  He has been a speaker and panel member on numerous occasions for CAR’s Legal Affairs Forum, the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Alameda County Bar Association, The State Bar of California and the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service (JAMS).  

Mr. Jansen received a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota’s School of Law.  He is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and California and American Bar Associations.

Shannon Jones

Shannon B. Jones has been representing real estate agents and brokerages for 33 years.  She currently represents close to 17,000 agents.  She is a partner in Broker Risk Management, LLP, which provides risk management services to real estate brokerages and agents.

Ms. Jones has been named a Super Lawyer for three years in a row in the area of real estate.  She has vast experience in litigation, including handling thousands of depositions, mediations, arbitrations, numerous court trials, jury trials, and has argued matters before the appellate court.  She has also successfully defensed Department of Real Estate hearings.  Ms. Jones published the best-selling real estate book, “A Real Estate Agent’s Practical Guide to Avoiding Litigation.”

Ms. Jones has a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and a Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California.  She is a Department of Real Estate and Graduate Real Estate Institute approved instructor.  She has written and published numerous articles in various publications.  She regularly speaks before the California Association of Realtors and local associations.

Vickie Naidorf, Of Counsel

Vickie Naidorf is best known as the Vice President and Brokerage Counsel for Coldwell Banker NRT Northern California where she helped protect approximately 5000 Sales Associates in 65 Northern California branch offices from Tahoe to Carmel.  However, after 31 years of being an employee Vickie recently decided to become an entrepreneur; she joined forces with her long-time friend and colleague, Bill Jansen.  Bill and Vickie have formed a new partnership called Broker Risk Management, LLP where they will provide legal services for Brokers throughout California to help avoid claims, lawsuits and BRE investigations.  Their current clients include Alain Pinel Realtors, Lyon, Pacific Union and some Better Homes, Keller Williams and REMAX offices.

Bill and Vickie have long worked together to create local Advisories and Contract documents for several Associations of Realtors including Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin.  Vickie is the author of most of the in-house transaction forms and procedures that continue to be used by Coldwell Banker many of which have been adopted by CAR such as the Market Conditions Advisory.

Vickie has had the unique distinction of being the only person who is currently on the 3 Major Purchase Contract Forms Committees for CAR, the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® and PRDs.  Vickie was the person who originated much of the language that is used every day in California residential transaction forms and she works with Santa Clara County Attorney David Hamerslough on many forms projects.

Bill, Dave and Vickie are frequent guest speakers at various Associations of REALTORS® and California State Bar presentations because of their vast real estate law expertise, their extensive knowledge of relevant real estate forms and the practical transaction advice that they can provide.

Vickie graduated from the prestigious University of Southern California Law School where she was on the team that won the USC Moot Court Championship and the California State Moot Court Championship in 1977.  She began her career in Century City as an insurance defense counsel representing various licensed professionals including REALTORS®, architects and doctors.  After moving to Northern California in 1983 she worked for Ticor Title Insurance Company until she was hired by Coldwell Banker to handle claims, litigation and help manage risk.

Vickie was a cited contributor to a law review article on California Real Estate Disclosure Laws and is a cited authority in House Selling for Dummies. She is proud to have successfully launched 2 adult children.  In her spare time, Vickie writes mystery novels so that she can delight in killing off people who irritate her without fear of incarceration or reprisal but (so far) her fictional stories have yet to be published.  Her first novel is entitled Death Takes a Listing and a REALTOR® is the heroine!