Brandon Pelayo
Brandon Pelayo is the Intake Supervisor at Arias Sanguinetti Trial Lawyers, based in the firm’s Southern California office. As part of the team responsible for welcoming prospective clients to the firm, Brandon helps ensure that individuals reaching out for legal assistance are met with professionalism, empathy, and care from their very first interaction.
His interest in the legal field began in college, where his study of political science grew out of a natural curiosity about how systems work. He was drawn to understanding government, law, and the structures that shape people’s lives. Through conversations with legal professionals, he became increasingly interested in how the law could be used not simply to understand those systems, but to make a tangible difference in someone’s circumstances. After graduating, he intentionally sought work in law firms to learn firsthand how legal teams could help change someone’s outcome after a difficult event.
His connection to personal injury law also became personal after a car accident involving his family. Helping them navigate insurance issues and an unfamiliar claims process gave Brandon firsthand insight into how quickly an unexpected event can disrupt everyday life and how meaningful the right support can be.
Brandon began his legal career handling administrative responsibilities before gaining experience with lien negotiations and eventually finding his way into intake. Although speaking with people about serious and often painful circumstances was initially outside his comfort zone, he quickly discovered an ability to listen to what someone was experiencing, identify the immediate challenges in front of them, and begin connecting them with potential solutions. That ability to “connect the dots” transformed intake into work he found personally meaningful.
His professional background also includes years in hospitality and customer service, and Brandon sees a direct connection between that work and legal intake. For many prospective clients, the intake professional may be their first or primary interaction with a law firm. Brandon approaches that responsibility with the belief that the quality of that experience matters. He focuses on making people comfortable, gathering the information the legal team needs, and ensuring that every person is treated with genuine attention and respect.
That approach is especially important when conversations involve grief, loss, or traumatic experiences. Brandon is thoughtful about how he asks questions and gathers information without making people feel judged, defensive, or unnecessarily triggered. He understands that effective intake requires knowing not only what questions need to be asked, but how to ask them in a way that allows people to feel safe enough to answer.
A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in Political Science, Brandon holds a bilingual certification in English and Spanish. Outside of work, his personality is considerably less serious than the circumstances he often encounters professionally. He enjoys riding his motorcycle, reading, socializing with friends, dancing with his girlfriend, and karaoke.