If you rent out a property as a landlord or rent a property as a tenant in California, the issue of late fees often arises. How much can a landlord legally charge in late fees? While there is no cut and dry answer to this question, there is some case law to which we can Read more about What Is An Appropriate Late Charge for Delinquent Rent Payments in California?[…]

Everyone concedes that only licensed lawyers can practice law, but that statement begs an important question:  what does it mean to “practice law”?  The question is not an academic one, as the California legal marketplace fills with non-lawyers providing services that only lawyers used to provide.  “Legal document assistants,” for example, now help people fill Read more about The Unauthorized Practice of Law In California, and The Jobs Reserved For Lawyers[…]

An earlier post established that only active members of the California State Bar have a general right to “practice law” in that state, and that the “practice of law” included many activities far removed from the courtroom.  Among other things, the “practice of law” includes the drafting of wills and contracts, the conducting of legal Read more about The Unauthorized Practice of Law in California: What Non-Lawyers Can Lawfully Do For Others.[…]

It happens in a majority of our cases. Right after a favorable settlement or ruling, we receive a call or an E-mail from an excited lead counsel. At some point after the blow-by-blow description of what happened and the expression of thanks for our help, counsel blurts out “They didn’t see it coming.” In response, Read more about Our Work and the Element of Surprise[…]