Roseville, CA estate planning & probate attorney R. Keenan Davis talks about his service to the community and his scholarly work. He shares that he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Coral Society for six years. The Sacramento Coral Society, a distinguished choral group of 180 singers, is led by two accomplished Ph.D. musicians, both former professors at Sacramento State University. He describes the society as a cultural jewel of Sacramento. Under their direction, the group has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, in concert halls across San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Europe, and even on the Great Wall of China. The choir presents four concerts annually, each widely recognized for its artistic excellence and cultural significance.

In addition to his work with the Coral Society, he served as president of the American Corporate Counsel Association during his tenure as a corporate lawyer, prior to transitioning into estate planning law.

He also considers raising his eight children in Davis, California, a significant form of community engagement. He actively supported their activities—baseball, soccer, field hockey, musical recitals, school plays, and other events—describing his role as “chief cheerleader.” While demanding, he reflects on this period as immensely rewarding, emphasizing the joy and fulfillment it brought to his family life.

He contributed to legal education through a program at UC Davis Law School called Orientation to U.S. Law, a joint initiative with UC Extension. The program, developed by Professor Beth Greenwood, addresses the needs of international lawyers seeking advanced legal degrees in the United States. Many of these students, coming from civil law jurisdictions, found standard graduate courses challenging due to unfamiliar legal terminology and the Anglo-American legal system. He was recruited to teach in this program because of his extensive experience working with foreign lawyers. Over 15 years, he lectured to students from Asia, Europe, and South America, fostering engaging debates and cross-cultural discussions about different legal systems. He notes that while the program was designed to educate these lawyers, he personally gained profound insights from their questions and perspectives, describing the experience as one of the most rewarding of his career.