Long-form answers to the questions California business owners actually face.
Each guide is a working reference — not a marketing puff piece. Bookmark the ones that match the situation in front of you.
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California Judgment Enforcement
Turning a paper judgment into actual collection.
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California Business Owner Disputes
Partnership and LLC member disputes — and how to resolve them.
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Should You File a Lawsuit?
A candid framework for the cost-benefit decision.
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California Civil Litigation Process
What actually happens, from filing through trial.
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California LLC Formation Checklist
What to do before, during, and after forming your LLC.
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California Alter Ego — The 14 Factors
When the corporate veil gets pierced, and how to avoid it.
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Judgment Debtor Exams & Turnover Orders
Forcing the debtor to disclose assets — and ordering them turned over.
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California UVTA — Fraudulent Transfers
Unwinding asset transfers designed to defeat collection.
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California LLC Member Buyouts (§17707.03)
The statutory buyout that resolves member-dissolution petitions.
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California Employment Law for Employers
Classification, wage and hour, FEHA, leave, termination, and PAGA — and the documentation that decides which side wins.
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California Outside General Counsel
When in-house lawyering doesn't make sense — and how the Foundation, Partner, and Embedded tiers fit California businesses.
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California Buy-Sell Agreements
Triggers, valuation, funding, transfer restrictions — and the drafting choices that decide whether the agreement holds up in court.
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California LLC Operating Agreements
What §17701.10 requires, the provisions that decide every dispute, and the drafting choices that separate real operating agreements from templates.
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California Independent Contractor Agreements
Drafting contractor agreements around California's ABC test and AB 5 — the provisions that support proper classification and survive a DLSE audit.
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California Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
Trade-secret protection, employee NDAs after Edwards, and the drafting choices that hold up at injunction — instead of the agreements that are theater.
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California PAGA Defense Playbook
The first 65 days, standing under the 2024 reform, manageability after Estrada, settlement strategy, and class-action coordination.
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Responding to a California DLSE Wage Claim
The Berman hearing framework, the first 30 days, conciliation strategy, de novo appeal under §98.2, and the PAGA expansion path.
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California Wage & Hour Class Action Defense
Class certification as the deciding moment, pre-cert discovery strategy, the arbitration play after Viking River and Adolph, settlement structure, PAGA coordination.
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California Statutes of Limitations
Every deadline that matters — contract, tort, real property, statutory, FEHA, Labor Code, UCL — plus tolling doctrines and the discovery rule.
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California Demand Letters
What demand letters should say (and shouldn't), mandatory pre-litigation notice categories, response strategy, and the §998 offer of compromise parallel.
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California Anti-SLAPP Motions
CCP §425.16, the two-step test, protected-activity categories, fee-shifting, timing, and the tactical considerations that determine whether anti-SLAPP fits.
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Buying a Business in California
Asset vs. stock structure, due diligence framework, LOI traps, the definitive purchase agreement, reps and warranties, indemnification, earnouts, and the California-specific issues that catch first-time acquirers.
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Selling a Business in California
Pre-sale prep, valuation framework, NDA management, the LOI from the seller's seat, definitive-agreement push-back, working capital adjustments, and the §1202 / §338(h)(10) / §16601 framework for California sellers.
Read the guideReading the guide is step one.
When the matter behind the reading is real, the next step is a discovery call or a case-evaluation form — depending on whether the work is transactional or litigation.