Ventura Business Attorneys
Strauss Law Group
People often say that litigation is just a cost of doing business for any company. While it is true that business litigation is common in today's society, it is not always necessary. The attorneys at Strauss Law Group have over 50 years of combined experience in making sure their clients are protected from unnecessary lawsuits. Whether that means advising on employment-related issues such as overtime pay or workplace harassment, drafting effective business and employment contracts, or engaging in strategic and tactical planning for new or old businesses, Strauss Law Group knows what it takes to avoid the costs of litigation.
However, with extensive trial experience and proven results at every level, Strauss Law Group can and often does engage in the vigorous representation of its clients in business, employment, and real estate disputes. Founder Tony Strauss has litigated cases all over California and even in the United States Supreme Court. Associates Bruce Crary and Michael Strauss are seasoned veterans in litigation, mediation and arbitration, from large class actions to small partner disputes. Together, the attorneys at Strauss Law Group are ready to take on any challenge in or out of court.
Contact Strauss Law Group Today if you need legal assistance with any of the following:
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution
- Business Law
- Business Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Employment Law
- Employment Litigation
- Licensing and Commercial Contracts
- Government Contract Review and Drafting
- Real Estate Law
- Real Estate Litigation
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Mediation
- Arbitration
In addition, Strauss Law Group regularly litigates business disputes. We often appear in court or conduct negotiations regarding business issues like breach of contract, unfair trade practices and theft of company secrets, breach of warranty, corporate or partnership dissolution, OSHA violations, and DFAR compliance.
Strauss Law Group’s attorneys and staff are highly trained and well-respected, and the legal community has come to hold Strauss Law Group in the highest regard. Tony Strauss currently serves as President of the Ventura County Bar Association and Associate Michael Strauss now serves as President of the Barristers of Ventura County. These two, together with Associate Bruce Crary, are actively involved in community outreach programs.If you have any questions about the suitability of Strauss Law Group handling your particular matter, contact us. We look forward to serving you.
If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced Ventura Business attorney, call Strauss Law Group today at 866-760-1589, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule a consultation.
Employment Law:
Employment law is a growing and ever-changing body of state and federal statutes, rules, regulations, ordinances, judicial precedents and administrative rulings touching on the legal rights and obligations of employers and employees, and of their respective affiliated organizations. One or another aspect of employment law affects virtually every facet of commercial activity in the modern marketplace.
Strauss Law Group’s attorneys have been advising on employment law matters since 1979. We regularly draft employee handbooks, injury and illness prevention program (IIPP) policies and employment contracts. We also advise employers who are considering terminating employees. Tony Strauss is recognized throughout the legal community as one of the most knowledgeable employment law attorneys in the state.
Real Estate Litigation:
The most common type of real estate litigation Strauss Law Group sees involves the purchase or sale of real property. Such transactions are fraught with opportunities for fraud and manipulation, whether in the form of fraudulent inducement into bad loans or the failure to disclose all known defects in a house prior to sale. Strauss Law Group has been litigating these and similar real estate issues for decades.
Business Contacts:
Business contracts are written agreements spanning a broad range of the business relationships that occur in the life of a typical company. They can include non-compete agreements, non-piracy agreements, non-disclosure agreements, restrictive covenants, employment agreements, producer agreements, sales representative agreements, consulting agreements, management agreements, franchise agreements, licensing agreements, deferred compensation agreements and independent contractor agreements.
Breach of Fiduciary Duty:
The formation of a "fiduciary relationship" begins when someone places special confidence and trust in another who has substantially superior knowledge and training, and also relies on that person to act in his or her best interest. If this trust is knowingly and voluntarily accepted, a “fiduciary” relationship is said to exist. This places a legal duty on the stronger of the two to act diligently in the best interest of the weaker party and never, under any circumstances to secure any advantage at the weaker party’s expense. There are a limited number of circumstances in business transactions where a fiduciary relationship comes into play. Courts tend to rigorously enforce fiduciary duties, and in the event of a willful breach often award punitive damages as well as compensatory damages. Some common examples of fiduciary relationships are a trustee-beneficiary relationship, a doctor-patient relationship, a lawyer-client relationship and a corporate officer-stockholder relationship.
Licensing and Commercial Contracts:
Business services attorneys counsel clients in a wide range of commercial and intellectual property (IP) transactions. They provide assistance in structuring, drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial and IP agreements related to the development, acquisition and commercialization of technology, IP, goods or services. The types of agreements involved in these transactions include:
- Website terms of use and other privacy policies
- Software license, maintenance and support, source code escrow, end user license, patent and other technology license agreements
- Development agreements
- Purchase and supply agreements
- Manufacturing agreements
- Distribution, reseller, value-added reseller (VAR) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreements
- Referral, marketing agreements
- Employment, consulting, technical services and outsourcing agreements
- Joint venture, strategic partner, technology transfer agreements
- E-commerce and Internet-related agreements (including web-based hosting agreements, application service provider (ASP) agreements, web site development, privacy policies and website terms of use)
- Non-disclosure agreements
Litigation and Dispute Resolution:
Commercial disputes often become legal disputes, the resolution of which typically proceeds along an escalating scale of confrontation ranging from informal settlement negotiation to hardball litigation. An effective business litigation attorney must have complete mastery of this complex and challenging field of law, but more than that, he or she must also have the patience and personal skills to operate on an informal level, and the aggressive forensic ability and tenacity to claim victory in the courtroom.
Contract Remedies:
Contracts are the very stuff upon which the marketplace is founded, and they provide the basis for a large share of business litigation. The remedies for breach of contract include money damages and injunctive relief expressly directing one of the parties to perform a contractual obligation. This remedy involves a form of injunction called a “specific performance” decree. The remedy of specific performance is often called an “extraordinary” equitable remedy, in that courts will not grant specific performance except in a sharply limited number of circumstances. Punitive damages are not an available remedy in a contract lawsuit.
Business Litigation:
Business litigation is the area of law that provides assistance in the preparation and presentation of a lawsuit or other resort to the courts to determine a legal question or matter in business situations. Business can be any activity or enterprise entered into for profit, usually a company, a corporation, partnership or any such formal organization. Business lawyers advise and represent businesses and financial institutions in such areas as business torts, class actions, complex contracts, financial forensics, government investigations, international dispute resolution, professional relations, real estate disputes, securities and antitrust, technology and intellectual property, professional malpractice, shareholder and corporate governance and telecommunications. Business lawyers place an emphasis on achieving or defending against pre-judgment remedies, including pre-judgment orders for writs of possession, attachments, temporary restraining orders, and injunctions, as well as arbitration or mediation settlements and monetary compensation resulting from lawsuits. Transactional business lawyers represent clients in matters relating to, but not limited to, organizational, operational and contractual documents for corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, commercial transactions, mergers, real estate acquisitions, leasing and development and commercial financing.
Alternative Dispute Resolution:
Business disputes can be resolved traditionally, by way of litigation. This involves the filing of a lawsuit in court that is then answered by the defendant. Over a period of months and sometimes even years, a lawsuit makes its way through the system, ultimately to be decided by a judge sitting alone, or by a jury, presided over by a judge. It is an expensive, tedious and time-consuming process. The modern trend in the economic world is away from the courthouse in favor of one or the other of two less formal, less expensive, faster and more efficient methods of conflict resolution, called "mediation" and "arbitration".
Mediation:
Mediation is one form of Alternative Dispute Resolution that is gaining in popularity in business litigation matters. In this process the parties jointly select a mediator, usually a lawyer known by both sides to be honest and fair and, more importantly, known to have experience with the type of issues involved in the mediation. Each side submits written factual summaries to the mediator, together with any legal citations that seem appropriate.
Arbitration:
Arbitration is a method of Alternative Dispute Resolution. In this process, the parties jointly select a lawyer to act as arbitrator. The idea is to choose someone with an outstanding reputation for personal and professional integrity, with heavy litigation experience involving cases similar to the one in which the parties are currently involved. The parties may select either "binding" or "non-binding" arbitration. Some lawyers discourage their clients from participating in "non-binding" arbitration, seeing futility in the expense and inconvenience of a process that may prove a waste of time. Other attorneys discourage their clients from participating in "binding" arbitration, so that their options are preserved in the event of an unreasonable adverse ruling by the arbitrator.
Arbitration is more like a trial than is Mediation. For one thing, in binding arbitration the arbitrator's decision is virtually the same as a judgment. In both types, however, the arbitrator actually renders a decision, as opposed to simply making a recommendation. Each side submits an arbitration brief, containing a summary of relevant facts, a list of the legal issues thought relevant, and reference to the applicable law. There is a hearing in the nature of a trial, but much less formal. It is usually held at the arbitrator's office. Sworn testimony may be offered, subject to cross-examination. The attorneys usually join in a stipulation agreeing that certain specified facts are not in dispute.
The rules of evidence are less rigorously applied in arbitration hearings than in trials. Sometimes the arbitrator announces a decision at the end of the hearing, but more often, the case is taken under submission by the arbitrator, the decision being communicated by letter to both sides within a week or two. The arbitration process takes a lot of pressure off the court system, and it has proven itself as an effective alternative method for the resolution of disputes.
If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced Ventura Business attorney, call Strauss Law Group today at 866-760-1589, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule a consultation.
Practice Areas and Legal Definitions
If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced Ventura Business attorney, call Strauss Law Group today at 866-760-1589, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule a consultation.
ADDRESS OF THE FIRM:
Strauss Law Group
1484 E Main St., 2nd FL
Ventura, CA 93001
Phone: 866-760-1589
Hours: M-F, 8:00AM-5:00PM
MEMBERS OF THE FIRM:
Attorney Anthony R. Strauss
Tony Strauss, the founder of Strauss Law Group, has been practicing law in Southern and Central California since 1977, and he began his litigation practice in 1979. Since then, he has been representing businesses, public entities, and individuals in business, real estate, and employment law and litigation matters. He has put together a team of attorneys and staff at Strauss Law Group to continue to provide the highest level of service. Together, the attorneys at Strauss Law Group have over 50 years of experience in business, employment, and real estate law and litigation.
Tony currently serves as President of the Ventura County Bar Association. In addition, he is a Commissioner on the City of Ventura Cultural Affairs Commission. He also serves on the boards of numerous civic organizations, including the San Buenaventura Foundation for the Arts, the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation, and the Ventura Music Festival Association, of which he is a past president.
- Jurisdictions Attorney is Licensed in: United States Supreme Court; California; United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; United States District Court for the Southern, Central, and Northern Districts of California
- Colleges Attended and Degree Received: University of California, Hastings College of Law, J.D.; University of California, Santa Barbara, B.A.
Attorney Bruce P. Crary
Bruce has over 17 years of experience in labor and employment law, including a wide range of transactional matters, personnel management issues, management training and litigation. Bruce's practice also includes business and real estate litigation matters and he has drafted and advised on many federal government contracts.
Bruce is a member of the Ventura County Bar Association and the CPA-Law Society. he also sits on the board of directors for Jodi House, a nonprofit corporation established to provide services to adults in Santa Barbara County who have acquired brain injuries.
- Jurisdictions Attorney is Licensed in: California; Georgia; District of Columbia; United States District Courts for the Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California
- Colleges Attended and Degree Received: Southern Methodist University, J.D.; Pomona College, B.A.
Attorney Michael A. Strauss
Michael Strauss focuses his practice on employment and business litigation. He has extensive knowledge of employment law as it relates to federal government contractors. Michael has also litigated multiple class action lawsuits on behalf of employees who were denied compensation. In addition to his litigation practice, Michael regularly drafts employee handbooks and employment contracts.
Michael is currently President of the Barristers of the Ventura County Bar Association. Michael is also on the board of directors of the Ventura County Bar Association and its Lawyer Referral and Information Service chapter. Michael also sits on the editorial board of Citations, the Ventura County Bar Association’s legal magazine, to which he is an occasional contributor.
- Jurisdictions Attorney is Licensed in: California; United States District Court for the Central District of California
- Colleges Attended and Degree Received: Wake Forest University School of Law, J.D.; University of California, Berkeley, B.A.
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Parents must step inRe: your Nov. 16 article, “Gifted and ignored”:With the cuts in Gifted And Talented Education funding and No Child Left Behind ’s pressure to focus on below-proficiency students, the unfortunate reality is that parents of gifted students cannot realistically expect that schools will meet their children’s needs.Fortunately, there are many options to help parents provide ...
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