Having practiced real estate law in Southern California over the past 30 years, I have represented a variety of clients in real estate fraud cases. These clients, both plaintiffs and defendants, have run the gamut from individuals, families, investors, homebuilders and developers. Buyers of both residential and commercial properties oftentimes complain that they were unaware
In our era of e-mails and electronically- stored information (“ESI”), all companies must have a plan for storing and preserving ESI, particularly when faced with litigation. The risks of not having a well-established legal hold plan can be severe, including creating undue leverage for the opposition, in- creased settlement costs, greater risk of sanctions and
Your parent(s) set up a living trust and named you as the “successor” trustee. That’s the easy part. The hard part comes after the parent/settlor’s death, when you are now faced with administering the trust, preparing an estate tax return, selling and reinvesting assets per the Uniform Prudent Investor Act, paying debts, prosecuting claims, obtaining
FACTS: Custom Home Builders, a general contractor, built a single-family residence in Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles pursuant to a written construction contract with Premier Homes, the developer. The residence was not built specifically for plaintiff Burch, but instead was built to be marketed to the general public. After the construction was completed and
If Mr. Smith has a judgment entered against him, and he decides you create an irrevocable trust, the greater will be your chances of success. In California, Probate Code §15304 (the “self-settled trust rule”) provides that an irrevocable trust in which the settlor is also a beneficiary is invalid against the settlor’s creditors, at least to
You have been served with a summons and complaint by an unhappy customer, business competitor, neighbor, guest injured on your premises, or some total stranger. You believe the lawsuit is frivolous and that the court will eventually rule in your favor. However, until then, you are worried about paying expensive legal bills. As insurance coverage