A New Name, a 50-Year Legacy: The Story Behind Mirador Law
Some firms change their name and lose what made them worth knowing. Mirador Law did the opposite. The rebrand honors more than five decades of East Bay legal advocacy while sharpening the firm’s focus on what comes next: personal injury representation for clients across Alameda County and the Tri-Valley.
Where It All Began: 1973 and the Founding Vision
In 1973, attorneys Jules Bonjour and Michael Thorman opened the doors to what would become one of the East Bay’s most respected law firms. At a time when community-focused legal advocacy was far from the norm, they committed to fighting for clients who needed experienced, principled representation in the courtroom and in the community they called home.
For decades, the firm built a reputation that stretched across Alameda County. As Christopher Lamiero, a former Alameda County prosecutor, has put it, if you had to name one thing that defined the firm from its earliest days, it was integrity.
That reputation wasn’t given. Bonjour has described building it “brick by brick,” a lifetime of careful work that could be undone in a single day without the right foundation.
A Legacy Recognized Beyond the Firm’s Own Walls
The firm’s standing in the East Bay legal community was never self-declared. It was reflected in how colleagues, opposing counsel, and co-counsel described working with the partners.
Lamiero, who has referred cases to the firm throughout his career, has been direct: every attorney at the firm he has encountered has been ethically solid and beyond reproach. He has told colleagues that when a representation came from the firm, they should pay close attention to the issues being raised.
Pleasanton-based attorney Dorian Peters, who has worked alongside Megan Burns and Emily Dahm, has echoed that view. He described the firm’s professionalism and collegiality as a defining trait.
Notable results reinforced that reputation in court. In 2019, the firm secured a jury verdict of over $900,000 for a client in a slip and fall lawsuit against Safeway Stores. The jury found Safeway 100% at fault and awarded more than $665,000 in past and future pain and suffering damages alone. That result spoke directly to the firm’s ability to take complex injury cases to trial and win.
From Trial Lawyers to Personal Injury Advocates
The founders understood something that shapes Mirador Law’s identity today: real trial skill is transferable. In Bonjour’s view, the ability to prepare and try a case is what makes a lawyer successful, regardless of the subject matter. Attorneys who cut their teeth in high-stakes trial work bring a courtroom readiness that serves personal injury clients extraordinarily well.
That is the background Burns and Dahm brought with them. Both came up as San Francisco public defenders, a role that produces attorneys who are comfortable in the trenches and unwilling to take shortcuts.
Craig Peters, a personal injury attorney and partner at Altair Law in San Francisco, knew Dahm and Burns from their time in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. He described their defining quality as grit: the willingness to put real work into every case and run down every lead. That same grit is now the engine behind Mirador Law’s personal injury practice.
A New Generation Steps Forward
When Burns and Dahm took the helm, they faced the question every successor generation must answer: how do you honor what came before while creating space for what comes next?
Their answer was Mirador Law.
The word “mirador” refers to a lookout point with a commanding view of the landscape. It captures both the firm’s heritage and its forward vision. From a mirador, you can see where you have been and where you are going. That dual perspective defines the firm’s identity today: deeply rooted in East Bay legal tradition, and clearly focused on what the next chapter demands.
Both Dahm and Burns have spoken candidly about the weight of that transition. Dahm described the trust Bonjour and Thorman placed in them as a genuine honor, something they do not take lightly. Burns noted that being entrusted with a 50-year legacy as two women trial lawyers in California is not a small thing, and that it speaks to who Bonjour and Thorman have always been as people.
Bonjour, for his part, said that Burns and Dahm have done everything he and Thorman could ask to carry the firm’s reputation forward.
The Same Values, a Sharpened Focus
Mirador Law’s practice today is dedicated to personal injury representation for clients across Fremont, Pleasanton, Oakland, and the broader Alameda County and Tri-Valley region. Whether a case involves a serious vehicle collision, a slip and fall, or injuries caused by someone else’s negligence, the firm brings the same trial-tested advocacy that built the Bonjour Thorman legacy.
What has deepened is the experience behind that work. The firm’s reputation for never making misrepresentations, the quality Chris Lamiero identified as its defining characteristic, remains the standard. So does the grit Craig Peters described: treating clients like family and fighting hard when the outcome of a case will shape the next chapter of someone’s life.
Why the Rebrand Matters to East Bay Clients
A firm’s name signals its values and direction. For clients searching for a personal injury attorney in the East Bay, the Mirador Law name carries something that cannot be manufactured: a history.
The founding principles of Bonjour Thorman, including dedicated advocacy and skilled courtroom representation, live on in Mirador Law. What is different is focus. Under Burns and Dahm’s leadership, the firm is channeling that trial-ready tradition into a personal injury practice built for the clients of the East Bay today.
A Legacy Worth Carrying Forward
Jules Bonjour and Michael Thorman built something lasting in 1973. Megan Burns and Emily Dahm are carrying it forward with clear eyes and a sharpened sense of purpose, focused on the injury clients of Alameda County and the Tri-Valley who need a firm that knows how to prepare a case and take it to trial.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in the East Bay, Mirador Law is ready to hear your case.