Criminal Law

• Misdemeanors
  (e) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

Business and Corporate Law

• Limited Liability Companies
• Trade Secrets
• Unfair Competition
  A. These cases are about money. At least superficially the cases are being brought under a California statute, called the "Unfair Competition Law." This law permits state and local district attorneys or any person, or corporation, to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the general public to prevent continuing violations of the law. Such plaintiffs are sometimes referred to as "private attorneys general." The complaints CEWC has filed allege that each of the repair shops violated one or more of the laws or Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) regulations that govern the auto repair service business. But, what these cases are about is getting shop owners to pay money to be left alone.
• Antitrust
  The basic federal law prohibiting "price fixing" is the Sherman Antitrust Act. The basic California antitrust law is the Cartwright Act. Price fixing is generally defined as any combination, contract, agreement or arrangement, express or implied, the purpose and effect of which is the fixing, raising, depressing, pegging, or stabilizing the price of a product or service. It does not matter whether the parties involved are producers, wholesalers or retailers.

Employment Law

• Wrongful Termination
  The PMPA deals only with wrongful termination or non-renewal of the franchise and franchise relationship. The Franchisor can only terminate or non-renew the franchise and franchise relationship for specific reasons stated in the PMPA and only after providing proper notice specifying the reason(s) for termination or non-renewal. The Act does not protect against breaches of the franchise agreement or guarantee that the terms at renewal of the franchise agreement will remain the same as under the prior franchise agreement. As stated by the Supreme Court – “…a franchisee faced with objectionable new terms must decide whether challenging those terms is worth risking the nonrenewal of the franchise relationship, if the franchisee rejects the terms and the franchisor seeks nonrenewal, the franchisee runs the risk that a court will ultimately determine that the proposed terms were lawful under the PMPA. See §2802(b)(3)(A).” Pp. 18-19. The risk is great – advice should be sought.
• Employment Contract

Property Law

• Construction Litigation
• Real Estate Transactions
  Juris Doctor Cum Laude, Law Review Editor-in-Chief, Western State University College of Law 1979; B.A., Cal State University Long Beach, 1972; Admitted to practice before California trial, appellate and supreme courts, California federal courts, US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Areas of concentration include business and franchise sales, commercial and real estate transactions, commercial leasing, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, estate planning, wills, trusts, probate, trade associations and mutual benefit corporations, retailing, and franchise relations.
• Easement

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Juris Doctor Western State University College of Law, 1986; Bachelor of Science in Law, A.A., University of Toledo, Ohio, 1982; Paratrooper, U.S. Army, 1973-1977. Admitted to practice before California trial, appellate and supreme courts, California federal courts, and the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Areas of concentration include general business, franchise, environmental, residential & commercial real estate, construction litigation, business counseling, administrative proceedings, computer hardware and software development, distribution, copyright infringement investigation and litigation, personal injury and employment termination, trial practice, and estate planning.

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Is a professional, full service law firm focused on representing small and medium sized California businesses. Our attorneys provide a wide array of legal counsel including business, litigation, real estate, probate, estate planning and much more.
• Wills
• Trusts
• Probate

Finance Law

• Tax Law
  Juris Doctor, CPA, Pepperdine University School of Law, 1977; Bachelor of Science, University of California, Davis, 1973; Certified Public Accountant; California Society of Certified Public Accountants; Admitted to practice, United States Tax Courts; California trial, appeal and Supreme Court. Areas of concentration include tax and estate planning and trial practice, corporate and business planning, IRS administrative proceedings and appeals; corporate and personal tax planning and return preparation.