Alexander Rich assisted a client with closing the sale of a commercial property that was waylaid by a title defect.  The client’s father had included the property in his estate plan, but the grant deed that transferred title into his trust had failed to include the legal description for one of the property’s two parcels. ...Read More

Alexander Rich successfully negotiated a settlement agreement to conclude a probate that involved an action to recover moneys taken from the decedent by a child. The child accompanied the parent to a local bank, where more than $200,000 was withdrawn over the course of several months. Had the decedent had an estate plan that included...Read More

Brian Carter successfully opposed a demurrer by a tenant in the firm’s client’s unlawful detainer case. Tenant held over after the expiration of the lease’s fixed term, and then demurred to the UD complaint on the grounds that no notice to quit had preceded the filing of the complaint. However, no notice to quit is...Read More

Brian Carter settled at mediation a lawsuit against the firm’s client regarding an alleged violation of a covenant to not lease space to a business that would compete with plaintiffs’ restaurant. Plaintiff restaurant owners contended that a gas station convenience store fast food restaurant and a Starbucks would compete with plaintiffs’ diner, which serves breakfast...Read More

Brian Carter and Margarita Rice successfully sought, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 473, an order vacating the defaults of three clients in a dispute between neighbors over the location of a pier along the parties’ common boundary in Clear Lake. The defaults were the result of a misunderstanding and faulty communications between an insurance...Read More

The firm concluded an interesting and successful representation of clients whose neighbor had engaged in what clearly appeared to be an unpermitted and unlawful cannabis cultivation activity, which activity compromised and interfered with the firm’s clients’ ability to safely and fully use a driveway that provided access to both properties.  The firm’s clients were the...Read More

Brian Carter and the firm successfully concluded, by settlement agreement, a long saga of a case arising out of oral dealings with a developer that purchased real property adjoining the firm’s clients’ property in Ukiah.  One of the most poignant lessons to be learned from this case is that if a developer ever approaches you...Read More

Brian Carter successfully negotiated a settlement agreement that resolved a long-running dispute between neighbors in a mountainous, residential area of Mendocino County, which dispute boils down to a dispute over water from a spring (which feeds a blue line stream). The recent multi-year drought has exacerbated tensions among neighbors in such areas, and when there...Read More

The firm successfully obtained a dismissal with prejudice from the plaintiffs in a case in which plaintiffs had sued the firm’s clients for a plethora of causes of action arising from an alleged partnership agreement related to cannabis cultivation.  Plaintiffs had asserted a cause of action for quiet title to real property that belonged to...Read More