Attorneys at MARTIN & VANEGAS, APC understand the importance of establishing a separate legal entity to isolate the business' liabilities from their owners personal assets. We are experienced with entity formation, regulatory compliance, shareholder and member operating agreements and the purchase or sale of business entities. We provide our small business clients with the individual attention and speicalized legal advice to ensure optimum security at a reasonable cost. We have assisted our clients with forming corporations and limited liability companies and nonprofit organizations. We also provide general business counsel, including negotiating vendor or client contracts and non-disclosure agreements. We advise small businesses on avoiding legal risks such as the requirement to properly maintain corporate formalities and prepare the documentation for this purpose.

Our attorneys handle a variety of personal injury cases, from auto accidents to wrongful death to premise and product liability. A variety of common law torts allow parties to recover damages for economic, physical, or emotional injuries. These torts include negligence, assault, battery, false arrest and false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and defamation, slander, and libel.

Attorneys at MARTIN & VANEGAS, APC are experienced with litigating personal injury cases against private individuals, private entities, and governmental entities, including navigating the complex web of the California Tort Claims Act and the limitations on immunity provided to California governmental entities.

Arbitration, mediation, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution provide for the resolution of legal disputes outside of the court system. Courts frequently order parties involved in litigation to attempt to resolve their dispute in private mediation or arbitration or Court-sponsored alternative dispute resolution processes, including settlement conferences and binding judicial arbitration. Arbitration is a process by which the parties submit their dispute to one or more neutral arbitrators for a formal decision as to which party prevails in the legal dispute.

Arbitration can be binding or non-binding. Usually, the decision reached by an arbitrator in a binding arbitration proceeding cannot be appealed to the Courts and is a final legal order which awards monetary damages or other relief to the prevailing party (i.e. the arbitration award). Non-binding arbitration does not result in a final, legally-enforceable decision or order. Mediation differs from arbitration in that the neutral third-party mediator does not make a decision about which party prevails in the legal dispute. Rather, a mediator works with both parties to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their legal positions and to negotiate a settlement of the case.

Contracts may require the parties to arbitrate their disputes and to give up their right to a civil trial by jury. Some laws encourage or require parties to arbitrate or mediate disputes prior to going to court. For example, the Davis Stirling Act encourages homeowners to attempt alternative dispute resolution with their Homeowners Associations prior to filing suit by preventing homeowners who fail to attempt alternative dispute resolution from recovering attorneys fees from the Association.

A valid arbitration provision in an employment contract can prevent an employee from filing a lawsuit for wrongful termination, and other violations of the law, in court. Arbitration provisions appear not only in the employment context, but also in commercial contracts and leases, consumer purchase agreements, and collective bargaining agreements between management and unions/labor.

An arbitration clause establishes an agreement between the parties to a contract that the parties will arbitrate any legal disputes about the contract by utilizing the services of Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS) , the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the National Arbitration Forum (NAF), or another private provider of alternate dispute resolution services. Each arbitration provider follows preestablished rules relating to employment, commercial, and other disputes, and offers the parties professional case management.

Attorneys at MARTIN & VANEGAS, APC assist employees in determining whether or not arbitration clauses are valid. Courts have struck down some arbitration clauses signed by employees because the arbitration clause is unconscionable and favors the employer over the employee. Our law offices represent employees in arbitration proceedings, from the first filing of a complaint with the arbitration provider to the process of discovery and depositions to the final hearing before an arbitrator, wherein the parties offer evidence and testimony to support their case.

Our Firm's founder, John F. Martin, also offers his services as a mediator. John volunteers as a Settlement Commissioner for the Alameda County Superior Court’s Speedy End to Litigation (SETL) program, and is a member of the Alameda County Bar Association’s fee arbitration panel and of the Contra Costa County Superior Court EASE mediator panel.

Administrative law governs the administration and regulation of government agencies and their rulemaking activities. The primary purpose of these government agencies is to protect the public interest. Administrative bodies — such as the Medical Board of California, the Board of Registered Nursing, the Board of Pharmacy, the Federal Department of Labor, the Federal Communications Commission, and many more — create administrative regulation and enforce licensing statutes and regulations.

MARTIN & VANEGAS, APC attorneys represent individuals and businesses who appear before these regulatory agencies.

Administrative law covers a wide variety of issues, such as professional licensing or regulatory compliance. If you are involved in a compliance issue with a federal, state, or local regulatory agency or governmental unit, you would benefit from working with a lawyer to navigate this complicated are of law. Attorneys at MARTIN & VANEGAS, APC may assist you from the inception of an investigation against your professional license and bring you to a state of compliance with regulatory requirements. We work regularly with doctors, nurses, pharmacists, business owners, contractors, and other professionals who are facing possible license suspension or revocation.

Other Areas of Practice