Attorneys should be careful when entering into business transactions with friends that have also been clients, as Rule 3-300 of the Rules of Professional Conduct provides that a member of the State Bar shall not enter into a business transaction with a client unless certain requirements have been satisfied.

California Code of Civil Procedure section 998 has generated a lot of published appellate opinions over the years.

Consult with an experienced estate planning attorney before creating your own estate plan documents, as costly unintended consequences may arise.

A brief legal consultation before signing a contract can save money and headaches later.

Spending a few hundred dollars for an attorney to review a proposed agreement of any sort is a good business practice as it can save thousands of dollars and headaches in the long run before the transaction and the relationship have soured.

An added pressure to businesses can be the cost of responding to a subpoena requiring the production of documents. While many assume that only parties can be subpoenaed, a third party, also known as a non-party, can be subject to this power as well.