Business and Commercial Law

We advise clients on entity formation, capital investment, benefit plans, sales and acquisitions, business contracts, and dissolution of business entities.  Services include counseling clients on operational issues such as employee benefits, employee handbooks, sexual harassment, drugs, work place violence, and employee discipline and termination.

Civil Litigation

We have skilled litigators, with over 20 years experience in the firm's major practice areas.  The firm is known for its careful preparation and analysis of legal issues, its forceful courtroom advocacy, and high degree of success.

Real Estate

We provide experienced counsel with regard to the acquisition, disposition, financing, development, construction, management, leasing, and operation of real property.  The firm is skilled in document drafting, and maintains close working relationships with local real estate brokers, title insurance companies, escrow companies, and appraisers in order to close sales expeditiously.

Estate Planning 

We have over forty (40) years’ experience in estate planning, and in drafting, implementing and reviewing wills and trusts of all types, including individual and family trusts, credit shelter trusts, life insurance trusts, special needs trusts, business trusts, and charitable trusts.  Estate planning meetings are conducted by our estate attorneys, who take the time to listen to our clients’ needs and requirements, and explain how Wills and Trusts function so that they can decide which is best for them.  After the first meeting, the attorney drafts the estate planning documents, and then reviews them with clients in detail at the second meeting before they are signed. 

For most estate planning clients we will prepare Pourover Wills (special Wills used with trusts), a Trust, advance health care directives, financial powers of attorney and deeds transferring real property into the new trust.  We also provide counsel on issues relating to elderly persons, such as qualification for federal and state benefits, transfer of estate assets, and treatment at long-term care facilities.

PROBATE & Conservatorship

We have attorneys who have long experience in probating estates, primarily in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.  Probate in California takes time, but while an estate is in probate the Executor can pay all bills, collect monies owed to the estate, pay a family allowance and sell real property.  At the conclusion of probate we may counsel the Executor on distribution of the estate assets.  If the estate is under $150,000 we may use small estate affidavits to provide speedy distributions without probate.  

In addition to drafting trusts, we counsel clients who wish to amend or have their trusts reviewed and updated.  We provide advice to successor trustees with regard to proper administration of trust assets.  If one or more assets were not all titled into the trust we may be able to avoid probate and transfer the assets into the trust with just one court hearing if it can be shown that the trustors intended the assets to be in the trust.  We also provide counsel to trustees or beneficiaries regarding trust administration disputes.  Our firm will seek amicable settlements if possible, or our experienced litigators will bring the case to trial if the parties cannot resolve their issues.

We prepare and file all types of conservatorship, and guardianship proceedings.  Both are paperwork intensive and require careful attention to detail.  A conservatorship may be avoided if the proposed conservatee has signed advance health care directives and a financial powers when they were competent, and named persons to make health care and financial decisions for them.

Family Law

Clients in need of legal services relating to dissolution of marriage, legal separation, child custody, and support are served by the firm.