Practice Areas

Business Formation and Business transactions

Formation

Skaja, Daniels, Lister & Permito, LLP counsels our clients in the areas of corporate formation. We will determine the appropriate business structure for your situation such as:

• Sole proprietorship
• General partnership
• Limited liability partnership (LLP)
• Limited liability company (LLC)
• Corporation

We will advise you in the management, liability, transferability, and tax aspects of each of these forms of business.

Transactions and Counseling

We counsel clients in the areas of corporate structuring, contract negotiation, employment matters, commercial real estate transactions and leases and business litigation.

Our firm also has extensive experience with the California Contractor's State Licensing Board. We can assist you with license transfers and maintaining your license with the CSLB.

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Business Litigation

Skaja, Daniels, Lister & Permito, LLP handles a diverse array of business litigation matter. Examples of the kinds of litigation matters our firm handles are the following:

• Contract disputes
• Employment disputes
• Corporate or partnership problems
• Real estate disputes
• Land use
• Labor and employment claims
• Personal injury
• Unfair business practice litigation

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Civil Litigation

Skaja, Daniels, Lister & Permito, LLP successfully represents individuals or businesses who are involved in legal disputes with other parties. Such disputes typically fall under what is known as civil litigation which entails the use of courts, mediators or arbitrators. 

For plaintiffs involved in a civil litigation matter, the objective is to right a wrong, honor an agreement, or obtain compensation for an injury.  Defendants in a civil litigation matter will want to aggressively protect their rights in opposing the plaintiff’s claim.

Our firm represents plaintiffs and defendants as individuals, partnerships, shareholders and corporations in the following types of cases:

• Business related litigation
• Fraud
• Breach of contract
• Dissolution or breakup of a business
• Unfair business practices
• Business disputes
• Trade secrets
• Non-compete covenants
• Breach of warranties
• Mechanics’ liens
• Employment litigation

Personal litigation

• Personal injury
• Product liability
• Medical malpractice

Injunctions

• Preliminary and permanent injunctions

Real estate and construction litigation

• Real estate litigation
• Landlord-tenant litigation
• Construction defects
• Premises liability

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Environmental Law

We provide customized counseling on permitting, compliance, risk avoidance, crisis management, and litigation matters. Practice areas include:

• Environmental land-use planning (CEQA, NEPA, local planning, and land-use controls)
• Natural resource regulation (Fish and Wildlife, wetlands, water resources, 404 matters)
• Pollution control (air quality, noise, solid waste, hazmat, and hazwaste)
• Sustainable or “Green” Building law.  The LEED rating system is the nationally recognized benchmark for design, construction and operation of high-performance and sustainable buildings.

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Estate Planning

Skaja, Daniels, Lister & Permito, LLP provides a full range of legal services in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration, incapacity planning, guardianships, and conservatorships.

Our firm has significant expertise in the preparation of estate planning documents. We assist our clients in determining their goals and objectives, and provide them with customized estate plans that are designed to meet their desires and objectives. These documents may include:

• Last Will and Testament
• Revocable and Irrevocable Trust
• Durable Power of Attorney for Property Management
• Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
• Directive to Physician
• Deed re-titling, as may be necessary

Others areas of expertise include:

• Special Needs Trusts for developmentally and mentally disabled individuals
• Will and Trust Contests
• Interpretation of Estate Planning Documents
• Accounting Controversies
• Creditor’s Claims
• Disputes concerning the Characterization of Property

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Family Law

We counsel clients in all aspects of family law issues.

Areas of Practice include:

• Spousal support
• Child support
• Child custody
• Pre- & post- nuptial agreements
• Paternity and adoption matters
• Property division and valuation
• Dissolution of marriage
• Legal separation
• Domestic partnerships

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Guardianship and Conservatorship

When a minor or an adult becomes incapacitated (or incompetent) due to an accident, disability, disease, or old age, it may be necessary to appoint a guardian or conservator to care for them. This enables someone to make important decisions for a minor or incapacitated person, including those involving property, finances, or child care. Conservators and guardians are appointed by the court. Our office will see you through the appointment process, the duties and obligations of a guardian or conservator and the annual status hearing with the court.

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Landlord/Tenant

Planning and careful drafting of landlord-tenant contracts is imperative to prevent costly litigation and landlord-tenant disputes. Our office will assist you in determining the best type of tenancy for your situation, whether commercial or residential.   We will draft the appropriate contracts,  lease agreements,  or rental agreements to meet your specific needs.

Disputes are not always avoidable.  Should a dispute arise, our firm is extremely diversified in all aspects of landlord-tenants disputes and resolution of such disputes.

Landlord-tenants disputed may arise at any stage of a landlord-tenant relationship.  Typical disputes may be:

At the beginning of the tenancy:

• terms of the rental agreement
• rental amount
• security deposit
• delivery of the premises.

During the tenancy:

• warranty regarding the condition of the unit
• rental increases
• use of premises
• assignment and subleases
• breach of lease

At the termination of the tenant:

• Method of eviction
• unlawful detainers

Post foreclosure

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Personal Injury

Our firm successfully represented clients people who have been injured in automobile accidents or injured as a result of defective or dangerous products or dangerous conditions of property.  Clients may include those who have suffered minor injuries, to people who have suffered catastrophic injuries, or the loss of a loved one.  Our firm will works on a contingency fee basis, which means unless there is a recovery, no legal fees are owed.

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Probate and Trust Admin

Probate

Probate is often a foreign task for many administrators. Skaja, Daniels, Lister & Permito, LLP offers a compassionate approach with a commitment to fulfilling the specific estate plans of the decedent. Through probate, we enforce and validate the terms of a will, while transferring assets to the intended beneficiaries. We see the administrator through the entire probate process including gathering and maintaining estate assets, accounting for all assets and debts, collecting debts and paying the estate's bills, and distributing estate assets.

Trust Administration

As a successor trustee of a trust, you have duties and obligations you must fulfill. Our firm will see you through the trust administration from beginning to end.

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Real Estate

Our firm has substantial expertise in all areas of real estate transactional and litigation work.  We provide services to parties such as investors, retail, commercial and residential owners.

Practice areas include:

• Acquisitions, sales and exchanges
• Construction contracts, claims and disputes
• Construction defects
• Leasing
• Quite title and partition actions
• Title, boundary, easements and right-of-way disputes