CASE STUDIES

pamela y. price, attorney at law

1) BUSINESS FORMATION

Ms. Green approached me with a vision to start and develop five businesses, each with a different focus, but all intended to become cooperative businesses eventually owned by the employees. Her goal was to create economic opportunities for formerly incarcerated residents who have been shut out of the job market. My team and I listened to her goals and were able to recommend the best business structure for each of the small businesses and explain why we made each recommendation. Ultimately she authorized us to create five S Corporations and we did, registering each of them with the Secretary of State, and creating the official corporate documentation for each corporation.

2) REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION

Mr. Donald purchased a plot of land from a close friend and the friend agreed to accept a promissory note and payments over time. The original transaction was handled by a title company. When Mr. Donald paid the full amount of the note, he contacted me to to assist in obtaining and recording a deed of reconveyance. We worked with the two friends to prepare a Substitution of Trustee and Deed of reconveyance which Mr. Donald recorded to complete the sale of the property.

3) WEBSITE VIOLATION

Mr. James received a lawsuit claiming that his restaurant’s business website was not accessible to visually-impaired or legally blind patrons. The lawsuit was brought under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act by a visually-impaired plaintiff who lived hundreds of miles outside of Mr. James’ service area, and could not possibly order food for takeout or delivery from Mr. James’ restaurant. Upon a review of the law that applied to the claims and Mr. James’ website, we were able to successfully deflect the claim and obtain a dismissal of the lawsuit.

4) INSURANCE CLAIM

Mr. Johnson, a longtime business client, contacted us about a demand for payment from his group insurance company claiming that the business was liable for certain special claims assessments for a period of time when Mr. Johnson’s business was part of the group. The insurance claimant appeared to have mismanaged the premium payments of its group members and incurred significant administrative fees that it passed onto its members. We reviewed the insurance company’s financial records and investigated their actions and management decisions. Ultimately, we were able to settle the claim for significantly less than the amount the insurance company originally claimed it was entitled to receive.