- Criminal DefenseWhile in law school, Mr. Gutman received the American Jurisprudence Award for achieving the highest marks in Criminal Law, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, and Legal Skills.
- Restraining OrderThe litigation team has successfully represented private and government clients in a variety of lawsuits ranging from claims involving trust and estate litigation, inverse condemnation, breach of contract, real estate disputes, debt collections, and many others. Worden Williams has a track record of victories ranging from multimillion dollar cases to small cash judgments to injunctions and restraining orders. The team takes great pride in its settlement and negotiation skills but where necessary they aggressively litigate to judgment or verdict. Civil litigation matters handled by Worden Williams include the following...
- Corporate LawJason R. Schingler regularly advises clients on all aspects of estate planning. He represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries through every phase of estate and trust administration. He also has significant experience in a broad range of business matters, including entity formation, contract preparation, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance and compliance.
- Mergers and AcquisitionsWorden Williams serves as an extension of the business team, and its attorneys are available to assist clients with the full spectrum of legal issues, such as: preparation and negotiation of business contracts and leases, compliance with local land use and regulatory requirements, license compliance, trademark and copyright filings, protecting trade secrets, handling personnel matters, mergers and acquisitions, real property transactions, insurance disputes, preventing and defending litigation, and providing general counsel on day-to-day issues that arise.
- Business FormationThe business and corporate attorneys at Worden Williams guide their clients through the business formation process, starting with selection of the appropriate business entity, such as a limited liability company, corporation, non-profit or partnership. The firm will prepare and submit all of the necessary business filings with governmental agencies including: registrations, fictitious business name statements, licenses, and notices. The firm will prepare the initial business operating documents, including bylaws, operating agreements, minutes, initial resolutions, and employment policies. In addition, the firm will advise on state and federal tax laws and regulations as they apply to your particular business needs. When required, the firm also will assist the client with land use and business permitting requirements.
- Business DisputesMr. Brechtel’s litigation experience includes actions to resolve boundary, ownership, easement, real estate, homeowner association, landlord and contract disputes. Mr. Brechtel has also litigated numerous complex land use and environmental cases. For example, he successfully defended legal challenges to environmental impact reports for a 150-acre coastal wetlands restoration project in the San Dieguito River Valley in north San Diego and a mixed use development in the Whispering Palms community of Ranch Santa Fe. On the other hand, Mr. Brechtel successfully prosecuted a legal challenge to an EIR for a proposed golf course development within habitat of the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep.
- Business Transactions
- Trade Secrets
- Employment Discrimination
- Employment Litigation
- Real Estate LitigationWorden Williams provides legal services to real estate professionals and individual property owners and buyers. Worden Williams assists with complex transactions and issues that require specialized knowledge, such as easement agreements, covenants, local zoning regulations, development rights, and opinions regarding the legal responsibilities between neighboring property owners. Services range from preparation of preliminary real estate documents to representation of parties in legal disputes arising from failed real estate transactions. Real estate matters handled by Worden Williams include...
- Construction Litigation
- Real Estate Transactions
- Easement
- Land Use and ZoningMr. Brechtel has lectured and written on a variety of government, land use, and environmental law topics, including CEQA, the California Coastal Act, Endangered Species Act, Common Issues Between Adjacent Property Owners, Zoning and Land Use Law in California, and Public Trails. He is a member of the State and Local Government Law Section of the American Bar Association, and the Environmental Law and Public Law Sections of the California State Bar Association.
- Property Damage
- Personal InjuryAs a litigation paralegal, Ms. Brechtel is responsible for discovery management, document control and organization in complex civil litigation cases including defense of public entities, construction defect, personal injury, employment discrimination - both plaintiff and defense. She handles all aspects of discovery, witness preparation, document review, deposition summarization, subpoena management, file organization, and evidence control. She provides efficient access to documents and information, while working closely with the supervising attorney.
- Estate PlanningThe estate planning team at Worden Williams offers a personal approach to the estate planning process. Our attorneys understand that a comprehensive estate plan begins with identifying each client's unique goals and offering the necessary legal, tax and business advice to achieve those goals.
- WillsWorden Williams handles every aspect of estate and trust litigation, including will and trust contests and disputes, questions about interests in an estate or trust, breach of fiduciary duties issues, claims to recover property belonging to an estate or trust, accounting disputes, and any judicial proceedings that may arise in the process of estate and trust administration.
- TrustsWorden Williams offers a full range of estate and trust administration services. The primary goal in estate and trust administration is to assist the decedent's chosen fiduciary, whether an executor or trustee, in carrying out an individual's wishes, while assuring that the fiduciary is not exposed to liability for failing to comply with various state and federal laws.
- Power of AttorneyOur team advises clients on all aspects of estate planning, including the preparation of living trusts, wills, durable powers of attorney and advance health care directives. We provide advice on all federal and state tax related issues, including estate, gift, income, generation-skipping, and property tax. In addition to traditional estate planning, we work with our clients to take advantage of the more sophisticated wealth preservation techniques available including irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILIT), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT), split-interest charitable trusts (CRAT and CRUT) and qualified personal residence trusts (QPRT).
- ProbateJason is certified by the State Bar of California as an Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law specialist. He has been selected for inclusion in "
- Tax Law