Law Firm Overview

I am an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and have been practicing law for approximately twenty-five years in California . For the last twenty years, I have had my own practice. Prior to starting my own law practice, I practiced law with the Los Angeles law firm of De Castro, West, Chodorow & Burns, a firm specializing in business and commercial transactions, taxation, securities, real estate and estate planning, where I was one of their principal transactional and securities attorneys. I also have a B.S. in economics and an M.B.A. (concentration in finance) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; prior to attending law school I was a banker in the commercial finance and real estate division of State Street Bank and Trust of Boston. I have served as a judge pro tem for the San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County Municipal Courts. I also have served as a fee dispute arbitrator for the Los Angeles Bar Association. I also had been an instructor on business law in the Chaffey College Small Business Management Certificate Program and an adjunct professor of law at the La Verne University College of Law. Currently, I am a part time instructor in law at the University of Phoenix .

I am a transactional attorney rather than a litigator. My practice is a commercial transactions practice emphasizing the business, personal and estate planning legal needs of small- and medium- sized businesses and their owners, professionals and entrepreneurs, including high-technology entities. A significant portion of my practice is devoted to acting as general counsel, officially or unofficially, for a number of my business clients, in which capacity I frequently negotiate and prepare a broad range of commercial agreements (e.g., licensing, joint venture, confidentiality, severance, strategic alliance, technology partnership, shareholder, distribution or employment agreements), resolve business disputes as they arise, provide legal and business advice on a broad range of legal issues, review contracts, handle employment matters, negotiate and document debt and equity financings and supervise pending litigation. Entities I represent are involved in multimedia and internet activities, software development, nuclear power, clothing manufacturing, graphic arts and construction. Another significant segment of my practice involves representing clients with respect to the formation, organization, acquisition, sale, development, financing, management and estate planning needs of privately and family held businesses, whether conducted or organized as corporations, limited liability companies or partnerships. Another portion of my practice is devoted to representing clients in real estate transactions, for example, negotiating and documenting the purchase and sale of developed and undeveloped real property, preparing and reviewing leases of all levels of complexity, andestablishing limited liability companies, partnerships, joint ventures and other entities for the acquisition of real estate. In addition to my background in general commercial and real estate law, I have substantial experience in estate planning, partnerships, limited liability entities, corporations, business start-ups, professional corporations,  venture capital, acquisitions, mergers, taxation, financial planning and business counseling.

A significant portion of my practice comprises acting as part time general counsel for small and medium sized businesses that require regular transactional legal advice and services but do not require or can't afford the services of fulltime in-house counsel. In the capacity as part time general counsel, I provide routine business services such as contract review and preparation, preparing corporate legal documents, maintaining the business entity and providing general legal advice on issues ranging from dispute resolution, employment concerns, intellectual property and other legal issues customarily associated with operating a business, as well as more sophisticated services as assisting with acquistions and divestitures and equity and loan financings. These services can be provided under a variety of financial arrangements ranging from traditional hourly billing to monthly retainers.

Areas of Practice

• Business & Commercial Law
• Business Organizations
• Contracts
• Employment Law -- Employer
• Real Estate Law
• Mergers and Acquisitions

Pro Bono Activities

• Director, Pomona Valley Habitant for Humanity
• Law Instructor, University of Phoenix

West Practice Categories

Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures, Business & Commercial Law, Commercial Leasing, Contracts, Joint Ventures, Secured Transactions, Transactions, Business Organizations, Business Successions, Closely Held Businesses, Dissolution, Formation & Business Planning, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships, Reorganizations, Internet, Employment Contracts -- Employer, Estate Planning, Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and Appointment, Trusts, Wills, Intellectual Property Law, Copyrights, Technology Licensing, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate Law, Commercial Real Estate, Residential Real Estate, Science & Technology Law, Computer Law, Electronic Commerce, High Technology