Copeland Law Firm, APC » Specialties
Our firm's practice areas cover a broad range of cases. Select from the specific areas below to learn more about our experience.
Legal Specialties
Most businesses do not realize how vulnerable their practices make them to adverse results in a lawsuit. By spending relatively little money, a business can limit its liability and exposure to lawsuits by having our firm tailor contracts and documents to its needs as well as review how your business documents its activities in order to better tailor its records in your favor in the event a lawsuit does arise.
The firm handles a variety of disputes on behalf of businesses and their owners. Whether enforcing a contract, obtaining money owed or seizing property, the firm has extensive experience. The firm begins by observing your business to understand its problems and proceeds in the most economic fashion to protect your business. The firm maintains a strong policy to minimize your legal costs so that there is minimal disruption to your ongoing work — the goal is to keep your business running and lay a foundation for a lasting relationship.
The firm has formed many corporations, limited liability corporations and limited liability partnerships for its clients. The firm also updates corporate minutes. Keeping up-to-date corporate records is important to maintain the legal separation between corporations and their shareholders.
The firm handles both public works and private works contract disputes from recording mechanics liens and stop notices to filing government code claims and initiating litigation or arbitration on behalf of contractors, subcontractors and owners. The firm’s clientele include materials suppliers, prime contractors, owners and multiple subcontractor trades (landscaping, electrical, mechanical/HVAC, plumbing, framing, roofing, concrete/paving, survey, shoring, grading, drilling). The firm has prosecuted heavy construction cases including bridges, dams, reservoirs, large diameter pipelines, airports, pump stations, large scale commercial and public buildings, hospitals, highways, bridges, parks, schools, subway and station construction and waste treatment facilities. The firm has also prosecuted private construction cases including homes, tenant improvements and retail. Whether seeking money due on a contract, enforcing backcharges and liquidated damages, or handling delays, disruptions, inefficiencies, escalation costs and differing site conditions, the firm will help enforce your rights.
The firm has extensive experience both defending and prosecuting construction defect disputes. The firm has obtained insurance coverage and defense costs for contractors and has obtained money for owners. The firm’s experience includes toxic mold cases.
The firm drafts many contracts and other documents for businesses. Contracts drafted by the firm include owner-prime contractor contracts, prime-subcontractor contracts, distribution agreements, internet privacy agreements, marketing contracts, sales contracts, purchase orders, employment contracts, independent contractor agreements and many other contracts. The firm also drafts other legal documents including wills and trusts.
The firm specializes in all types of food manufacturing and food labeling issues. Whether your company has a new food product with questions as to what information is allowed or disallowed on the label, or whether you are seeking help with nondisclosure agreements or other contracts common to the food manufacturing industry (such as broker agreements, distribution agreements, contract packaging agreements, etc.), the firm can guide your product toward final development and ultimate product launch.
Every business spends thousands of dollars annually for insurance. Let that money be well spent. If you are a defendant in a lawsuit or arbitration, your insurance may cover your costs of defense (including your attorney fees and expert witness fees) as well as any damages awarded against you. Insurance companies rarely volunteer that their policies cover these fees. Many of the firm’s clients have tendered lawsuits to their insurance carriers only to be declined. The firm has been retained on numerous occasions to negotiate coverage with those carriers. The firm has routinely obtained both coverage of its client’s defense and coverage for damages awarded against them even though their insurance carriers declined coverage initially.
The firm focuses its experience in its litigation practice. Whether contractual based arbitration, jury trials or court trials, the firm has vast experience trying cases with values up to $22,000,000. The firm’s litigation practice has involved cases with dozens of witnesses, over 500,000 pages of evidence and multiple forensic experts, including scheduling, scientists, accountants and doctors. While not all cases are that complex, the firm realizes that every lawsuit is important to the client. Because of that, the firm dedicates the resources needed by each case. Not every client wants to litigate, thus the firm has settled many of its client’s cases to the client’s advantage. Settlement experience includes mediation, alternative dispute resolution, one-on-one settlement negotiation and appraisal.
Most businesses do not realize how vulnerable their practices make them to adverse results in a lawsuit. By spending relatively little money, a business can limit its liability and exposure to lawsuits by having our firm tailor contracts and documents to its needs as well as review how your business documents its activities in order to better tailor its records in your favor in the event a lawsuit does arise.
The firm handles all types of injury cases, from auto accidents to industrial accidents and mass torts. Simply contact the firm to determine the merits of your case.
Public Works Contractors have many disputes with the State of California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement as well as local agencies, including the City of Los Angeles Office of Contract Compliance. The firm has successfully helped contractors avoid debarment, reduce and eliminate wage assessments and penalties. The firm has also helped resolve privately enforced wage disputes with effected workers.
Our real estate practice handles various transactions and disputes, including all steps in the acquisition, sale, and exchange of property, lease drafting and negotiation, real estate development, financing, real estate investment agreements, land use regulations and the negotiation/challenges of governmental imposition on land development.