Business Law & Personal Injury Attorneys in California

Curtis Legal Group

5250 Claremont Avenue Stockton, California 95207 USA

 (209) 472-3462 or (800) 529-3080

www.CurtisLegalGroup.com
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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

Curtis Legal Group is one of Northern California’s oldest law firms serving the area from our offices in Modesto, Sacramento, Stockton, and Patterson. We provide legal services to individuals, families and businesses.

The attorneys at Curtis Legal Group are here to help. We are dedicated to improving the quality of lives for our clients and treat each of our clients with compassion and understanding, while aggressively fighting for their rights. Since its inception in 1953, the firm has earned a reputation as a leading litigation firm representing clients injured in accidents or going through a divorce. Curtis Legal Group has also maintained a strong business practice that includes business planning, employment law, probate, estate planning, and real estate.

As one of the areas oldest and most experienced firms, Curtis Legal Group continues a tradition of maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards while providing quality legal services. The firm seeks to reach legal solutions that are prudent, practical and appropriate through the use of experienced counsel, skilled negotiators and trial practitioners. Curtis Legal Groups team of attorneys is supported by a trained paralegal staff and the latest computerized research tools.

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Business Planning; Breach of Contract; Business Torts; Partnership Disputes; Business Succession; Commercial Real Estate Transactions; Property Ownership; Construction Litigation; Real Estate Litigation and Dispute Resolution; Chapter 7, 11, & 13 Bankruptcy; Non-Compete Clauses; Partnership and Small Business Dispute Litigation; Employer Defense; Family Medical Leave Act; California Family Rights Act; Retaliation Complaints; Unfair Labor Practice Charges; Disability Accommodation Requirements; Employment Law Litigation; Legal Seminars for Employers; Long Term (Dynasty) Trusts; Powers of Attorney; Providing for Minor Children; Advanced Health Care Directive; Property Division; Annulment; Misdemeanors; Infractions; Tax Evasion; Obstruction of Justice; Kidnapping; Stalking; Hate Crimes; Mediation Services; Insurance Litigation; Public Entity Defense; Cerebral Palsy; Elder Abuse.

Practice Areas Description

Curtis Legal Group provides legal representation on the following areas of practice:

- Business Law

We have years of experience in helping clients form and operate their businesses, as well as restructuring, buying, and selling businesses, and when necessary, closing businesses down. We also help with employment and human resources issues, contracts, leases, regulatory compliance, and a broad range of business advice for businesses of all types and sizes.

- Business Formation and Planning

How do you go from a great business idea to a great business? The attorneys at Curtis Legal Group have helped countless businesses start up and go forward to success. There are a number of choices that any forming business has to make. Chief among them is the choice of what kind of business to be. California law allows the formation of five different kinds of business entities: the corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, general partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.

- Business Litigation and Dispute Resolution

If your business is involved in a lawsuit, whether you are being sued or making the choice of whether or not to sue someone else, our business litigators will give you sound advice and counsel through this very complex decision making process. Curtis Legal Group's litigation attorneys are among the best in the business. Our thorough knowledge of the issues helps you make the right choices--from pursuing litigation, if that is in your best interests, to negotiating a settlement, or taking advantage of professional meditation and arbitration if you would be best served by trying to stay out of court.

- Business Succession

You have worked hard to build your business. Many, if not most, small businesses have no succession plan in place to deal with the eventuality that the ownership of the business will change because of retirement, death, divorce, sale or another change in the business. Failure to plan for these events can have disastrous consequences for you, your company, your family, and your employees. At Curtis Legal Group, we have many years of experience helping businesses plan for and work through these transitions, which can include tax, probate, trust, insurance, and other considerations.

- Real Estate Law

The attorneys of the Real Estate Department of the Curtis Legal Group have many years experience in handling every possible aspect of any real estate transaction, as well as litigation. We have extensive experience in real estate law and assist our clients in legal issues associated with purchase and sales agreement disputes, entitlements, development, construction, eminent domain, lender/credit disputes and unlawful detainer actions.

- Real Estate Litigation and Dispute Resolution

In addition to our transactional practice, we are experienced in handling and resolving real estate disputes, including: Eminent domain; Condemnation; Real estate contract disputes; Evictions; Construction defects; Loan workouts and debt restructuring; Foreclosures.

- Real Estate Transactions

The Curtis Legal Group has represented clients on all sides of real estate transactions since our firm was founded. We are one of the area's most experienced and respected real estate law firms. We have vast experience in every aspect of commercial real estate, including: Land acquisition and other land issues; Buy-Sell Agreements; Construction contracts and subcontracts; Project Financing; Property Management; Loan Modifications and Workouts.

- Bankruptcy

Filing for individual or corporate bankruptcy is one of the most difficult decisions that anyone will face. Bankruptcy may or may not be the right choice for you, and the attorneys at the Curtis Legal Group have experience in helping people decide the best course of action for them. Curtis Legal Group is a debt relief agency. This is especially true under the new bankruptcy laws, which have made filing bankruptcy considerably more complicated. Despite what you may have heard, you still do have the right to file for bankruptcy. Federal law will, with some restrictions, allow you to start your financial life anew. The law divides bankruptcy into various chapters, depending on your status: Chapter 7 liquidation or Chapter 13 reorganization for most individuals and Chapter 11 for most businesses and some high-income individuals.

- Civil and Commercial Litigation

Nobody ever wants to be involved as a party in a lawsuit, but there are times when litigation is the only recourse. The business litigators at the Curtis Legal Group have decades of experience advising and representing clients in every aspect of personal and business litigation, working with you to help protect your legal interests in any legal dispute. We represent clients in all state and federal courts in California.

- Contract Disputes

A contract can be any agreement between two or more parties, and can be in either written or oral form to be enforceable in California. All contracts, no matter how complex, have the same three elements: an offer, an acceptance of that offer, and consideration, which means that something of value is exchanged between the parties to the contract.

- Fraud and Related Actions

Under California law, contracts that are entered into because of the fraud of one of the parties are different from simple breaches of contract, and can result in punitive damages and other remedies beyond those that arise from a simple breach. Actual fraud involves the intent to create a contract by deception, while constructive fraud involves misstatements without fraudulent intent.

- Partnership and Other Small Business Dispute Litigation

The opening of a business is a time of celebration. Unfortunately, in many cases, and especially in the recent economy, businesses can run into problems. When a business founders, the breakup can be very much like the end of a marriage. The reasons are endless--ego problems, money, disagreements about the direction of the business, family disputes, and on and on. Whatever the reasons, there are certain legal steps that need to be taken whenever a company begins to break up. Whatever your needs, our attorneys will make sure that the company's liabilities and assets are distributed correctly, and that each client is treated with the respect and personal attention needed in these difficult times.

- Employment Law

No matter what the size of your company, you need to be aware of the employment and labor issues that could affect your business. Curtis Legal Group offers a depth of experience in managing the legal challenges facing employers. Our Employment & Labor Group will provide you with cost-effective advice and representation that always seeks to minimize potential interference with your operations.

- H.R. Advice

The Employment & Labor Law Group at the Curtis Legal Group is one of the area's most experienced and effective employment and labor lawyers, representing employers, large and small. California employment law, in combination with federal employment law, is highly complex and continually changing, and requiring a legal team dedicated to keeping themselves current on the hundreds of laws and regulations involved. The Employment & Labor Law Group can help you through the ever-shifting landscape with sound counsel and advice.

- Employment Law Litigation

The attorneys at the Curtis Legal Group have represented many companies of every size and type, as well as governmental bodies, which have run into legal difficulties with employees. These cases can be extremely expensive and time consuming, especially in these days of electronic discovery, in which your entire computer system may be subpoenaed. You need experienced employment law trial attorneys on your side--not only to increase your chances of winning the case, but also to help keep costs to a minimum.

- Legal Seminars for Employers

As a part of our proactive work in the area of employment law, the Curtis Legal Group conducts seminars for employers on employment law and compliance issues. We advertise these to clients, but, at the same time, are open to your needs and will develop classes that fit the questions that arise in your business on a day-to-day basis.

- Estate Planning

Your family is counting on you to make sure that they are taken care of after you die. Improper estate planning can create a legal nightmare for your loved ones. On the other hand, proper estate planning, as created by the professionals at Curtis Legal Group, can make sure that the estate is transferred quickly and with a minimum of costs. Curtis Legal Group works closely with its estate planning clients to help them identify their personal objectives and create a strategy for asset distribution while minimizing the costs of meeting those objectives. The firm then provides the technical support necessary to carry out the clients' wishes while preserving the assets of the clients' estates. Among the legal services that Curtis Legal Group provides: Living or Revocable Trust; Wills; Long Term (Dynasty) Trusts; Powers of Attorney; Providing for Minor Children; Advanced Health Care Directive; Probate; Asset Protection.

- Family Law

* Divorce

In California, the formal procedure for ending a marriage is known as dissolution of marriage or divorce. In the divorce process, the courts will determine the spouses' rights to property and debts, spousal support, child support and custody rights. In addition, the court will end the marriage and return the spouses to the status of single people. Curtis Legal Group has experience in all of these aspects of Family Law.

* Child Custody & Visitation

If parents are unable to agree on a custody arrangement for their children, then the courts will impose an order which the judge determines to be in the best interest of the children. Before the judge makes an order, parents are required to participate in mediation through the court system. Through the mediation process, parents meet with a court–appointed mediator who tries to assist the parents in resolving their disputes. We guide our clients through this process.

* Child Support

The law requires that parents provide financial support to their children. The State of California has a formula to determine the amount of monthly support one parent needs to pay to the other parent to support the parties' children. This formula relies primarily on each parent's income and the amount of time they have custody of their children. In addition, child support often include orders for parents to share their children's medical or daycare expenses or that one parent provide health care coverage for the children. We have the knowledge and experience to make sure that your interests are protected.

* Spousal Support

Spousal Support (formerly called alimony) is the temporary or permanent payment by one spouse to the other spouse. The intention is to afford the lesser–earning spouse the ability to maintain a reasonable standard of living as established by the marital lifestyle. This area often can often be contested in a dissolution case and we understand the issues that need to be addressed.

* Property Division

California is a community property state, which means that most assets earned or acquired by either party during the marriage are owned equally by each spouse. In a divorce, California law generally requires all community property to be equally divided between the spouses; however, additional factors can affect whether property items are actually divided equally. For example, one spouse may have a right to be reimbursed for any separate property that he or she used to acquire a community property item.

* Legal Separation

The legal separation process is very similar to the divorce process. There are two major differences which distinguish a legal separation from a divorce. First, at the end of a legal separation, the parties are not returned to the status of single people, and therefore, neither of them can remarry. Second, both parties must consent to a legal separation. Notwithstanding those two differences, parties to a legal separation can obtain virtually all of the same orders granted in a divorce, including orders for custody, support, and division of assets and debts.

* Annulment

California law allows for an annulment of a marriage only in very specific situations. If an annulment is granted, for the most part, it is as if the marriage did not occur. If annulment is appropriate for you, we have the experience to guide you through the process.

- Criminal Law

The California Penal Code divides offenses into three categories: Felonies, Misdemeanors, and Infractions. Many crimes are misdemeanors for the first offense and felonies for the second offense. Felonies are the most serious crimes, and are punishable by lengthy prison terms and large fines. Whether you are accused of a white collar crime, a simple misdemeanor, or a felony, being in trouble with the law can be a terrifying experience. If this has happened to you, or if you think it may, you need experienced attorneys to help guide you through what will be the most difficult time of your life. The Criminal Law attorneys at the Curtis Legal Group are experienced in handling a broad spectrum of criminal matters -- ranging from minor traffic offenses to major felonies.

- Mediation Services

Mediation and other alternative dispute resolution techniques, are gaining popularity throughout the legal system, as a way to come to a compromise without the time and expense that litigation can often entail. Mediation is often used in cases where the parties wish to try to settle their issues out of court--either as an adjunct to legal proceedings, or in lieu of formal litigation.

- Insurance Litigation

The trial attorneys at Curtis Legal Group have an active insurance litigation practice in Central and Northern California. In our over 55 years of existence, we have successfully represented thousands of insurance company policyholders and insurance companies themselves against lawsuits. We also defend clients on behalf of third-party insurance administrators and adjusters.

- Public Entity Defense

The Curtis Legal Group has a highly dedicated team of attorneys with considerable experience in the defense of public entities. We have defended many types of public entities, including, among others: City and County councils; School Districts, school boards, and Superintendents; Zoning Boards; Government owned and operated facilities; Cities, Counties, and their agencies and departments; Judges; Boards of Trustees of public entities; Risk and Employee Benefit Pools. We have experience in defending these entities in virtually every type of litigation, including: Employment and Civil Rights issues, discrimination, wrongful termination, and harassment claims; Employee benefits litigation; Dangerous conditions of public property claims, including road design defect claims and allegations of failure to maintain property; General representation of municipalities, counties, and school districts, and General contract litigation.

- Personal Injury

Once you are injured in an accident, everything can change. Whether you slip and fall, are involved in a motorcycle, car or truck accident or a construction accident, you may not know where to turn. For example, you may have difficulty walking. You may have to take time off of work or may need medical procedures that you don’t have the financial means to pay. You may be stressed about how you are going to provide for your family. If you have been injured or hurt in an accident, the Personal Injury attorneys at Curtis Legal Group have the experience to handle your California personal injury case from pre–suit to settlement to trial. We have offices in Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto and can help you navigate the California Court system to obtain the best results from insurance companies for your unique situation.

More Information on Curtis Legal Group

Business Attorney in Stockton, California
Stockton, California Real Estate Lawyers
Bankruptcy Law Firm in Stockton, CA
Stockton, California Employment Attorney
Estate Planning Law Firm in Stockton, CA
Family Lawyers in Stockton, California
Stockton, California Criminal Attorneys
Personal Injury Law Firm in Stockton, CA
Curtis Legal Group News and Publications
Contact Curtis Legal Group

Other Offices

• USA - California, Modesto - Main Office
• USA - California, Sacramento