Justia Legal Services & Lawyers Directory

In 1998, Ms. Lauby received her Bachelor of Science degree in Social Policy from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. As a student, Ms. Lauby interned at the Chicago Department of Human Services. There, she participated in various aspects of the policy making process including research and analysis regarding the local impact of the federal transition from Aid to Families with Dependent Children to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. In addition to her academic pursuits, she also pitched for the Wildcatsâ Varsity Softball team.

After college, Ms. Lauby joined the Chicago office of the prestigious, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, as a case assistant on the tobacco litigation team. There, she learned the ins and outs of complex litigation and traveled to Seattle, Washington and Kansas City, Missouri to provide trial support.

In 2000, Ms. Lauby returned to her native Southern California and transferred to the Kirkland & Ellis office in Los Angeles where she continued to work until 2003. While still at Kirkland, Ms. Lauby decided to take the next step in her legal career and simultaneously attended law school.

After moving to the Inland Empire, Ms. Lauby became a law clerk for Fernandez & Lauby, marking the beginning of her in-depth exposure to the practice of construction and insurance litigation.

Ms. Lauby received her Juris Doctor degree in 2005 from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, California. As a first year student she was recognized as a finalist in the Moot Court writing competition.

After going through her own divorce, Ms. Lauby became interested in family law. She has cultivated a philosophy that encourages parties to reduce costs, stress and harm to children by taking control of the outcome of their case though mutual negotiation rather than litigation. While litigation is sometimes unavoidable, Ms. Lauby believes that it should be a matter of last resort.

Edward A. Fernandez has over 25 years' experience in general civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury, premises liability, construction (both injury and defect) and business litigation. He has tried, arbitrated and mediated hundreds of cases throughout Southern and Central California. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California San Diego in 1979 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego in 1982. More recently, he completed the Pepperdine University School of Law/Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution Mediating the Litigated Case program. Mr. Fernandez also recently attended "Impasse Is A Fallacy" a 14-hour Advanced Mediators' Forum with Lee Jay Berman, Doug Noll, and Tim Corcoran of the American Institute of Mediation. He is licensed to practice in the State of California and before the United States District Court and is currently a member of the California Bar Association, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Riverside Bar Association, The Los Angeles County Bar Association, The American Inns of Court [Leo A. Deegan Chapter], and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel.

Mr. Fernandez is the recipient of the 2008 Defense Attorney of the Year Award presented by The International Association of Special Investigation Units, Southern California Chapter. He is a former director for Southern California Insurance Professionals and in addition to doing private mediations, also serves as a mediator for the Riverside Consolidated Courts and the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two. From a personal standpoint, he is married and has five children. He and his family live in Riverside and he has been actively involved in the AYSO Soccer Program where he served as a Board Member, Referee Administrator, Coach and Referee. He is an instrument-rated private pilot and enjoys activities such as flying, skiing and playing golf.

Grant’s Law Firm, is a business oriented law firm composed of experienced attorneys delivering aggressive and innovative services in a cost-effective manner. While we offer the kind of work product, expected from a large law firm, we retain small firm efficiency and focus on personalized service to individuals, businesses and business owners throughout Orange County, Riverside County, and Los Angeles County, California.

Our business lawyers craft creative and efficient solutions to various legal problems, no matter how complex the issues may be. In doing so, we seek to build long term relationships with our clients, so that we can contribute to the overall success of their business.

Working personally with you and your business

Our lawyers practice in a variety of specialized legal areas, including:

Business Law: (sometimes known as Commercial Law) is the body of law that governs business, corporate law, and commercial transactions. We provide practical legal advice in negotiating and documenting business transactions and agreements for individuals, business owners and entrepreneurs.

Business Formation: We assist clients in selecting the appropriate organizational form for their new business endeavor, and document the selection by formalizing it with the appropriate State entity, whether it’s a corporation, a limited liability company (LLC), or a partnership.
We also help those clients acquire the appropriate business licenses, permits, and tax registrations so they can conduct business.

Employment Law: Helping business owners and start-ups with their day-to-day employment related issues, resolving employment disputes, and drafting clear and concise executive and key employee contracts, handbooks, policies, confidentiality agreement, and invention assignment agreements.

Entertainment: We advise on, draft and negotiate contracts for music recording, music and book publishing, and movie and television production packaging deals.

Franchise Law: We represent companies on a regional and national level, from first-time franchisors to multi-unit systems. Our law firm provides comprehensive services from development, operation and expansion to termination, non-renewals and contractual disputes.

Intellectual Property (IP) Law: We assure client ideas, whether protected by patents, trademarks, domain names, copyrights, trade secrets, and/or trade dress, are up to date and current to continuously guard against any infringement and counterfeiting.

Patent: We represent clients in the prosecution and protection of utility and design patents. We will research prior art, prepare all filings, respond to requests and office actions from the Patent Office, and handle all appeals. We also handle all litigation to enforce or defend patents.

Trademark: We assist in the selection of trademarks, conduct trademark clearance searches, prosecute trademark applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), maintain and monitor our clients’ trademark registrations and litigate trademark infringement and related actions.

Trade Dress: Refers to the packaging, bottling or labeling of a product, which focuses on the appearance of a manufactured item. We can help register the Trade dress of your product, in a process that is similar to trademark registration.

Trade Secret: Guard the intensive work you have invested while developing your business know-how, customer lists, market intelligence and business plans over the years. We can help you protect those secrets.

Copyright: Protects your creative work by properly registering copyrights for your websites, writings, marketing materials, music or developed software. These represent your competitive advantage in the market place. We will protect your rights against those who violate your copyright.

Domain Names: We advise and represent clients in connection with their use of IP on the Internet — authorized or otherwise — blogging, social networking, web compliance, privacy statements, terms of use, disclaimers, and the application of the doctrine of fair use.

International Protection: In a global economy based upon instantaneous communication, securing intellectual property protection worldwide has never been more important. We offer assistance to our clients in pursuing all forms of intellectual property protection in foreign countries and especially in neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico. We coordinate with foreign specialty firms practicing before foreign tribunals and agencies, to secure, defend and exploit our client’s IP rights, worldwide.

International Clients: We offer assistance to our foreign associates and foreign attorneys who seek protection for their International Clients U.S. Patents and International Client U.S. Trademarks. Our office serves as a US associate for foreign law firms seeking to file patents and/or trademark in the United States. We coordinate with those foreign attorneys to ensure all of their intellectual property needs are met for our foreign clients.

Licensing: Our intellectual property attorneys have vast experience crafting licensing agreements that protect businesses intellectual property while optimizing revenue. We have drafted and negotiated numerous franchise licenses, patent licenses, and trademark licenses.

Contract Negotiation, Development and Litigation: Our attorneys have the experience to review and advise you on any negotiable instruments including all types of contracts, agreements, memoranda of understanding and letters of intent related to intellectual property and technology. We can help you develop contractual agreements that protect you and your business. If you find your business in conflict, our contract litigation attorneys are experienced in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and civil procedures, including pre-litigation analysis and investigation.

Civil Litigation: Our litigation attorneys are equipped to litigate in California and federal courts regarding business, commercial, employment, and intellectual property disputes involving trade secret theft, confidentiality violations, IP counterfeiting, non-compete agreements, trademark and unfair competition litigation, patent litigation, copyright litigation, and litigation matters.

At Grant’s Law Firm, we value the relationships we have created with our clients in handling their various legal issues. Contact an Orange County, Riverside County, or Los Angeles County attorney for an initial consultation.

Jeff Grotke has successfully litigated in family law, including successfully defending against a claim of marital fraud, and has prevailed at trial in a claim of marital fraud and abuse of an elderly person. He has extensive experience with loan modifications, including post-foreclosure defense, bankruptcy actions, and other loan modification litigation. Personal injury cases are also about one-third of his practice, including auto-collision cases.

Tracy Owens is an Associate in the Gresham Savage Real Estate & Land Use Practice Group. Ms. Owens assists clients with all aspects of commercial, industrial and residential development, including land use applications, zone changes, subdivisions, common interest developments, environmental compliance issues, and governmental approvals of projects. Ms. Owens has experience with projects affecting sensitive or endangered species, wetlands and cultural resources, and assists businesses and developers in complying with air and water quality regulation, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Ms. Owens is also experienced in title analysis and resolution of title problems, as well as other transactions related to the purchase and sale of real property.

Ms. Owens is one of only 50 attorneys in California who is fully accredited through the Green Building Certification Institute as a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP). The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. State and local governments across the country are adopting LEED for public-owned and public-funded buildings, as well as offering incentives for privately-owned projects that achieve LEED certification. As a LEED AP, Ms. Owens has the knowledge and skill to successfully navigate clients through the LEED certification process, as well as the complex issues that can arise in any commercial or residential green building project. Ms. Owens combines this unique knowledge with her skill as an attorney to identify and resolve permitting, insurance, taxation and professional liability issues, ensure careful drafting of green building project agreements and resolve disputes.

Joseph L. Richardson graduated from the University of Redlands in political science, cum laude, and from Northwestern University School of Law with a Juris Doctorate Degree. While at Northwestern, he participated in moot court, served as SBA class representative for two years, and took business school courses at Kellogg School of Management, including a course through which he completed research with classmates in Ghana.

Mr. Richardson has 10 years of experience as a civil litigation attorney. Earlier in his career, he specialized in personal injury and wrongful death litigation.
For the last several years, he has primarily represented individuals and corporations in tort, contract, labor and employment matters, and also also advises on contract and corporation formation issues.
Mr. Richardson has extensive experience with all aspects of litigation, including discovery, depositions, law and motion, and alternative dispute resolution. He has successfully tried several cases to verdict and handled binding arbitrations. He regularly uses his legal background for presentations in keynote and seminar formats on general liability issues, and also presents to college campuses on the legal ramifications of Greek hazing.

Mr. Richardson is admitted to practice before all California courts and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He is peer review rated by Martindale-Hubble and is a member of the San Bernardino County Bar Association, the Redlands Chamber of Commerce and Business Networking International.