Our Team

Ellen Hammond

Receptionist and Admin Assistant

Ellen joined the Law Offices of Joel A. Harris on July 22, 1996, the day Joel’s daughter Amy was born, and has been the face and voice of the practice ever since. When you call or come into our offices, she’s the first person you meet. Ellen is always there to help our clients and they’ve all grown to love her like family!

Ellen was born and raised in Antioch and continues to live there today with her husband and Skoshi, a 5lb Mini Deer Chihuahua. When she isn’t keeping the office in order and helping clients, she loves to cook and organize office BBQs for her co-workers.

Marina Ware

Probate Paralegal

Marina Ware is a lifelong resident of Contra Costa County. She grew up in Oakley, and attended public schools in Brentwood, Oakley and Antioch. Marina is a graduate of Saint Mary’s College, where she received a Paralegal Certificate and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration.

She first started working with Joel in 1990, when they were both employed with a small law firm in Antioch. At that time, Marina was a new paralegal, and Joel was a fresh law school graduate awaiting bar results. Marina eventually left the firm and moved on to broaden her legal experience, holding positions at a number of Bay Area law firms and company legal departments.

She has over 25 years of legal experience in a multitude of areas which include: corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, securities, litigation, bankruptcy and probate. On a number of occasions, she has contemplated leaving the field of law, but she thrives on the problem solving and the intellectual components of her job. The thing she loves best about her job is her colleagues and all the interesting people that she meets. Her career has traveled full circle, and she started working with Joel again in 2013.

In her leisure time, she enjoys spending time with her family, going to the beach, volunteering for her son’s Boy Scout troop, serving on the committee board for her children’s swim team and caring for her cats.