OUR TEAM
The strength of Peninsula Bay Trust Company, can be found in the people who operate our company and the team they have built. Below are our founding team members.
Paul J. Barulich is a co-founder, as well as the chairman & CEO of Peninsula Bay Trust Company. Having founded Barulich, Dugoni, & Suttmann Law Group, Inc. (BDS Law), in 1989, Paul is a California-licensed attorney with more than 30 years of experience representing high-net-worth clients, earning their trust, and achieving their estate planning goals. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and has been listed as a Super LawyerTM for each year of publication, reaching the top 100 in Northern California since 2005. A certified specialist in his practice, Paul has lectured and written on topics of trustee fiduciary duties and standards of care, is an author of citable legal authorities, has served as an expert witness on issues of trustee fiduciary duties, and has effected changes to the statutory laws of California concerning trusts — which exposed the need for PenBay. Trusts and estates have been the core competence of Paul’s practice at BDS Law, where he continues to serve his clients and team as a shareholder and director.
Paul attended Golden Gate University School of Law, and he received his bachelor’s degree from University of California, Berkeley.
PAUL J. BARULICH, Esq.
Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO
Mikkela Sweet is a co-founder, director, and the President of Peninsula Bay Trust Company, Inc., managing all aspects of business operations and overseeing all client and trust administration, as its Chief Trust & Fiduciary Officer. She is an experienced fiduciary management professional with a demonstrated history of achieving results for high-net-worth individuals and families and their businesses. Before starting PenBay, Mikkela was the Vice President and Senior Trust Officer for the Northern California Region of Fiduciary Trust Company International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton. Having received her juris doctor (J.D.) and tax law certificate from the University of San Francisco School of Law, Mikkela possesses a strong skill set anchored around trust administration, taxation, estate planning, and business succession planning. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in political science and African American studies, and she holds the professional designation of certified trust and financial advisor from the American Bankers Association. Most recently, Mikkela was recognized as a member of the 2022 Class of the American Bankers Association 40 under 40-list.
MIKKELA R. SWEET, Esq., CTFA
Co-Founder, President & Chief Trust & Fiduciary Officer
Chelsea J. Suttmann is a co-founder and director, as well as chief general counsel of Peninsula Bay Trust Company. Chelsea is also a shareholder and managing director at Barulich Dugoni & Suttmann Law Group, Inc., where her law practice focuses on estate planning for clients with high net worth, estate, and trust administration, and working with business owners, specifically inter-family business succession planning. She has appeared in many notable publications and presently serves as the practice area leader for the estate administration department.
Chelsea was admitted to the California State Bar and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in 2012, and the Michigan State Bar in 2015. She received her B.A. in English language and literature at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and she earned her J.D. in 2012 from Santa Clara University School of Law. While at Santa Clara, she was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served on the Santa Clara Law Review as the technical editor.
CHELSEA J. SUTTMAN, Esq.
Co-Founder, Director & Chief General Counsel