About Gurbob Singh
Gurbob Singh Somal built his legal foundation on a mix of business and tax education. He earned a B.S. in finance and economics from California State University, Sacramento, then a J.D. from Lincoln University. He later pursued an LL.M. in Taxation at Golden Gate University School of Law, a degree that shaped much of his subsequent practice.
Somal's academic background laid out a practical path. The finance and economics training gave him context for debtor and creditor dynamics. The J.D. provided courtroom and advocacy training. The LL.M. added technical tax knowledge often needed in complex insolvency and tax disputes. Those credentials appear throughout his case work.
He is licensed to practice in California and appears regularly in federal forums that handle business and tax controversies. Listed jurisdictions include the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California and the U.S. Tax Court. That mix of admissions allows him to handle matters that cross state, federal bankruptcy, and tax lines.
Over the years Somal has managed matters for both individuals and business clients. He handles chapter 7 and chapter 13 consumer matters and represents corporate and partnership debtors, creditors, and trustees in chapter 11 reorganizations. He also represents taxpayers in disputes before the U.S. Tax Court and advises on tax consequences that arise from insolvency and restructuring. He approaches cases by sorting the legal issues from the financial ones, then addressing each in the appropriate forum.
Colleagues describe him as methodical in preparing filings and steady in hearings. He has navigated contested plan confirmations, claims objections, and adversary proceedings that raise tax questions. In practice he blends knowledge of tax law with the procedural tools of bankruptcy litigation, drafting motions, conducting discovery, and arguing at hearings when required.
Somal operates from The Somal Law Office, where he represents clients out of that practice platform. He consults on relief from automatic stay, preference actions, tax dispute defense, and questions about dischargeability. He also advises on tax reporting and planning issues that come up during insolvency. He currently concentrates his practice on bankruptcy and tax matters.
