Julie King

With 30 years’ experience, Julie King practices law with the highest standards of ethics and professionalism. She handles a wide variety of business and estate planning matters including contracts, employment, corporation/LLC/partnership formation, wills and trusts, pet trusts, trademarks, copyrights, landlord tenant, creditor’s rights, annual meeting minutes and corporate records, mergers and acquisitions, and employee training. She served as in-house counsel to major international corporations, including Toshiba America, where she worked for 15 years. She understands businesses in a way many lawyers do not simply because she has experienced the day-to-day interactions first-hand. See the difference a trained in-house counsel can make in your business. Call today!

• Business Law
• Estate Planning
• Trademarks

• Employment Law Counseling (Representing Employers)
• Landlord Tenant (Representing Landlords)
• Business Transactions & Contracts
• Form Corporations & LLCs

• Free Consultation
• Credit Cards Accepted
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  Pierce King, P.C. bills hourly or charges a flat fee, depending on the type of matter. On occasion, Pierce King may enter into an alternative fee arrangement to accommodate clients in special circumstances.

California

Since 1987

Assistant General Counsel

Toshiba America

Current

Julie was an in-house counsel for Toshiba for 15 years and handled a wide variety of matters for the corporation. She helped the Human Resources Dept. with employment matters and policy drafting, the Sales Dept. with contracts, the Finance Dept. with guaranties, and anyone else in the company who needed assistance in any area of law. She would be honored to do the same for you. Call today!

Univ of California at Los Angeles

Undergraduate Degree

Loyola Law School

Law Degree

Woman of Distinction in the Legal Community

Los Angeles Bar Association

Volunteer of the Month (Awarded multiple times.)

Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

Monterey County Business Council

Board of Directors

2017 - Current

Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

Ambassador

2014 - Current

Monterey County Bar Association

Member

2007 - Current

California State Bar # 132813

Member

1987 - Current

Orange County Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Section

Co-Chair

1987 - Current

License to Practice Law

California Bar Association

Q. would it be legal to someone else' s products on my website and have my site name similar to the product name?

2 January 2019

A: The answer is it depends. If the person who owns the product and product name claims trademark rights to the product name and your name is substantially likely to cause confusion in consumers' minds as to who produced the product, then you would be infringing on the other person's trademark rights. For example, if you sold shoes with a "swoosh" similar to Nike's, but not EXACTLY the same as Nike's, the legal question would be whether the person who buys your shoes is likely to think they actually manufactured by Nike. If it is likely that people would think it is a Nike product, then you would be infringing on Nike's rights. The other question is whether you are authorized to sell the other person's products in the first place. In some instances, you don't need a license to sell someone else's products. For example, selling property you own at a garage sale is perfectly fine. But, in other instances, you would be violating the law by selling someone else's property. For example, if you took a movie and intentionally changed a few things to try to make it your own, then sold it as something new. I generally say it is like borrowing someone else's bike, putting a ribbon on the handle bars, then selling the bike AS IF it was your own. I hope this helps!

Q. Writing an agreement with someone in a foreign company.

2 January 2019

A: There are a lot of different types of contracts and each one contains different terms. Is it a master services agreement? A joint development agreement? An employment agreement? Without knowing the type of contract and the terms both sides agreed to, a lawyer cannot advise you. There are just too many options. I tell people all the time that entering into critical business contracts — whether domestic or international — without legal oversight will cost them a lot more money than if they had simply hired a lawyer in the first place. This is just an observation after 30 years of seeing what happens in situations where critical contracts were written by lay people vs lawyers. If your contract is foundational to your business, you should hire a lawyer who can add terms to protect your business.

Q. Looking for a lawyer in my area experienced with working in startups. Will need a letter of agreement. Thank you.

20 December 2018

A: Many lawyers with experience handling business formation issues, such as myself, offer free initial consultations. We are not allowed to respond to direct requests such as yours, but we can say that you may contact whomever you wish! Justia is a wonderful way to find someone. Best wishes! Julie P. King, Esq. PIERCE KING, P.C. Southern California: (949) 689-2012 Central and Northern California: (831) 275-1002 Julie@PierceKingLaw.com

Q. Can a director sue if she has 50% but no profit has been generated and she hasn't purchased anything for the business?

20 December 2018

A: Unfortunately, people can and do file lawsuits that have no merit. So, the answer to the first part of your question is: yes, anyone can file a lawsuit for anything he or she wants. The fact that a company has not generated profit or allocated funds is not important. If a law has been violated, the injured party can successfully sue the company that violated the law and get a judgment, which will be good for 10 years -- and can be renewed after that period ends. As to the dissolution, be sure the dissolution complies with all corporate bylaws and agreements (such as a buy-sell agreement.) Also, before a corporation can be dissolved, it must pay off its debts (including any taxes owed) because someone will have to sign under penalty of perjury that the company has no debt. Best of luck to you!

Q. I would like to start my own virtual currency business in California. How can I go about it.

20 December 2018

A: First, let me say that this is a very specialized area of the law and most lawyers do not practice in it (in part because there are not a lot of clients.) You may find an attorney with experience in this area, but you could also end up having to pay an attorney to research it for you. Second, a lawyer would need to know more information before properly responding to your inquiry and the response would likely be too lengthy to set out in this forum. For example, some cities/counties have separate business licenses and some do not, so a lawyer would need to know in what city and county you will be setting up the business. A lawyer would also need to know if you will be working from your home initially because some jurisdictions require home-based businesses to get a separate license and comply with notice requirements (such as providing notices to all of your neighbors to see if any object to you having a home-based business.) I suggest you search Justia for a lawyer with experience in virtual currency and, if you do not find any, perhaps a Google search will help. I wish your new business and you the best of luck!

Q. Question about "Customer Appreciation Giveaways"

14 December 2018

A: Just avoiding the use of the words “raffle” and “sweepstakes” doesn’t help your situation one way or the other. The law would look at the way the contest operates. If people have to buy something in order to get a chance to win, it’s generally considered a lottery, which only the state can do. That’s why contests almost always say people can fill out a form and enter with NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. You can have people come into your store to fill out a form, so at least you get them to see your products and get a bit of advertising out of it. A lot of people videotape the selection process (the owner literally picking a name out of a jar) then post it on the store’s website, Facebook page, etc. and send a copy of the video via email to their customer lists with the subject line “And the winner is...” to get people to open the email to see if they’ve won. How’s that for some marketing information along with the legal information?!! Best wishes!

Q. What to do if a company if using your name on their "Team" page, but you quit over four months ago?

12 December 2018

A: The President probably sees updating her company’s webpage as a low priority compared to running her company. If you retained a lawyer to send a cease and desist letter, it would raise the priority and the President would likely have the name removed rather than hire a lawyer to fight it.

Q. Is it legal in California to start your business (LLC) in a rented house?

30 November 2018

A: Check your city and county's local ordinances. In many cities and/or counties, you would be required to get a business license that identifies your business as a home-based business. Before such a license will be granted, the city or county may notify all the neighbors around the home, so they have an opportunity to object if they believe the traffic or noise will be a problem. If you are unable to get the business license to work out of your home, you may want to see if there is a local business space to rent on an as-needed basis. Best wishes!

Q. I'm a caretaker of 86 year old man who has his mental capacities intact. His adopted daughter has coerced and lied to

30 January 2018

A: I’m so sorry to hear about that terrible situation. The gentleman can likely get the paperwork voided by saying he signed them due to fraud, undue influence and duress. You should try to find a Senior Legal Center in your area to handle the matter at no charge (called pro bono). If there is none, call your local Bar Association for a recommendation or see if a local law school has a free legal clinic to help in an elder abuse situation. I wish him all the best!