Doug died peacefully on the evening of August 1st, 2025, surrounded by his wife, Liz Netermeyer Sears and children Aaron and Ashley. He is now at rest after a long illness.
Doug – a giant in Northern California litigation community – was born on June 29, 1944, in Oakland, California. He and his family soon moved to Oroville, where he grew up hunting and fishing with his father. He was a standout athlete in high school and established life-long friendships, including one of his best friends Steve Leonard – the son of an attorney who would inspire Doug’s career choice. After high school, he was recruited to play basketball at University of San Francisco. Upon graduation, he had a choice between the MBA program at UCLA and law school at the University of San Francisco. After a year, a close friend recruited him to transfer to McGeorge School of Law, where he graduated and took the Bar Exam in 1970.
In February of 1971, Doug accepted a position with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. He quickly became a star prosecutor, becoming the youngest Deputy DA to successfully try a first-degree murder case. He went on to become the supervisor of the Major Crimes Unit and won twelve first degree murder cases. In March of 1975, he joined the civil defense firm of McDonald & Donohue, where he practiced until he joined Henry “Hank” Matheny and Tony Poidmore to form “Matheny Poidmore & Sears” – a firm that went on to become the present day “Matheny, Sears, Linkert & Jaime.”
During his decades leading this firm, Doug became a towering figure in the civil litigation community. Over the years, he tried all manner of cases with high exposure. As in golf, his favorite “club in the bag” was his driver. He was fearless and delivered closing arguments that terrified co-defense counsel but won huge victories for all defendants, as was the case in a “road-rage”/products liability case he tried for several months in Stockton. During that trial, he drove home to his beloved Colfax retreat every night. His energy was remarkable.
As a testament to his talents, Doug was elected President of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada (ADC) in 2005; A copy of “From Humble Beginnings – Doug Sears’ Country Road to ADC Presidency” is included in the link. He was elected into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), an honorary organization of accomplished trial lawyers. He was AV Rated by Martindale Hubbel for many years and was a Super Lawyer.
As massive as his professional accomplishment are, they pale in comparison to Doug, the man.
I met Doug in September of 1979 while awaiting my Bar Exam results. He has been my dear friend, mentor, and partner for 46 years. He is the reason why I applied for a position here and the reason why I stayed. He has been a mentor and dear friend to Matt Jaime since he was a law clerk. Doug was a beloved mentor to Jeff Levine, who continued to represent Doug’s clients upon his retirement. There are others in the firm who have known and loved Doug for decades. He is the kind of man who would do anything for you. Funny. Bombastic. Just wonderful to be around. The world is a lesser place.
Goodbye my dear friend.
August 5, 2025
Rick Linkert