TRUST DISPUTES AND WILL CONTESTS
Mark Malachowski has over eighteen years of litigation experience in Northern California Superior and Federal Courts. His practice focuses on Trust Disputes, Will Contests, and Trust Administration. Proven results support his courtroom experience. The Law Offices of Malachowski & Associates litigates erroneous claims, whether they arise from family members, caregivers, or non-family opportunists. We specialize in a diverse range of legal services, making us uniquely qualified to protect the rights of beneficiaries and the intent of Settlors and Trustors.
ESTATE PLANNING
You spent your life creating a legacy that you can be proud of, one that will help and protect your family throughout their lifetime. There comes the point in everyone’s life when an established legacy must be protected and secured through legal means. Malachowski & Associates helps you form a customized and personalized Estate Plan. Individualized Estate Planning enables you to preserve the future harmony and overall strength of your family when you are no longer with them. We work hard to protect your assets while ensuring that beneficiaries receive precisely what the creator of the legacy intends.
REAL PROPERTY
Real Property Litigation
Inheritance, divorce, and partnership disputes may often lead to the partition of Real Property, the filing of a Les Pendens or the litigation of claims in Law and Motion or Trial Court. Disputes about Grant Deeds, Quit Claim Deeds, Joint Tenancy and Real Property conveyance by trust and wills can arise due to fraud, forgery, elder abuse or undue influence. Malachowski & Associates aggressively litigates competing claims in both probate and civil court.
Commercial Real Property
The purchase or lease of Real Property can be complicated. Care must be taken to ensure that the contractual terms are desirable and that taxes do not take a massive bite out of a commercial Real Property sale.
Capital Gains on Property Sales
By using a 1031 Exchange during the sale of Real Property, you can avoid capital gains and state taxes. You will have a maximum of 45 days after escrow closes to “identify” potential replacement properties. You can identify a total of three or, alternatively, as many as you want, but the total value may not exceed two times your 1031 funds with Accommodator. Malachowski & Associates helps you examine and determine your best possible options.
EMPLOYMENT LAW
Whether you have a commission dispute or you need a review of your severance agreement, Malachowski & Associates is committed to safeguarding your rights.
Severance Agreements
Severance agreements compensate employees for work performed as an employee. However, the severance agreement you are about to sign may release your employer from liability for wrongful discharge and discrimination because severance agreements almost always require a former employee to sign a release and give up all rights against the employer. Signing a severance agreement without getting legal counsel can result in lost compensation and could also hurt your career.
In fact, most severance agreements contain a clause advising discharged employees to seek legal advice before signing a severance agreement. Your employer may attempt to use a severance agreement to impose non-compete or non-solicitation clauses and confidentiality provisions that could harm your career or prevent you from starting your own business. Other components of a severance agreement can include provisions for health care coverage and other benefits, compensation for unexercised stock options or deferred commissions, pension benefits, the timing and terms and departure, unemployment insurance, and taxation aspects.
Let us review your employment history for possible claims for violations of labor and discrimination laws and review of your severance agreement to determine how best to protect your rights and secure that you are treated fairly. We explore your employment status, your career goals, and your financial situation and map a strategy to obtain the severance package that best meets your needs.
Malachowski & Associates will assist you in negotiating enhanced severance benefits where the former employer’s offer does not fairly reflect your work performance and the length of employment or the valuable legal rights you are being asked to release.
CIVIL LITIGATION
Malachowski & Associates has a proven track record of aggressive advocacy and successful business lawsuits. Often, we obtain successful settlements before a litigation matter actually goes to court, which saves our clients both time and unnecessary expenses.
Strategic Litigation Planning
We work closely with you at the offset, developing a dynamic plan through a close examination of your case and by establishing set goals. We will examine the strength of the claim or defense, the availability of evidence, settlement options, and the anticipated cost of litigation, as well as the value of an acceptable settlement.
If you are considering initiating or facing a civil lawsuit, please call Malachowski & Associates for a free consultation. We are ready to thoroughly and effectively evaluate the civil suit you are preparing to respond to or planning to file.
Civil Litigation includes Breach of Contract and Breach of Fiduciary Duties.
BUSINESS LAW
Start-up and Growth Businesses
We take a business approach to law that lends itself to assisting emerging, start-up and growth companies. We consider the viewpoints of prospective investors, brokers, investment advisors and investment fund managers to make business happen.
Investment Counsel
Malachowski & Associates advises businesses including investor groups, foreign and domestic corporations, and small businesses. We provide counseling in forming various business structures including DBAs, LLCs, S-corps, and C-corps. We assist our clients in business formation tactics and strategies through all phases, from formation through operation, expansion, merger, and acquisition (stock purchases, portfolio buyouts, proxy fights) to dissolution.
General Business Law
We handle all types of general business concerns including buying and selling a business, real estate, leases, employment agreements, contractor agreements, and termination and severance agreements. We prepare LLC operating agreements, partnership agreements, joint venture agreements, strategic alliance agreements, non-disclosure agreements, non-competition agreements, and non-solicitation agreements. Malachowski & Associates provides legal services to foreign businesses that wish to conduct operations in California. For example, it may be advantageous for an international company, which markets products in San Francisco or Los Angeles, to form a legal entity in the State of California for manufacturing, marketing, and distribution.
Whether you are a publicly traded corporation or privately held company, we provide legal services to achieve the results you are seeking. In all of our litigation engagements, we advance our client’s position thoroughly and strategically to meet client goals. Services we provide include Business organization; purchase document negotiation and drafting; Business formation tactics and strategies; Limited Liability Companies (LLCs); Corporations; Limited Partnerships; Corporate compliance; Buying and selling a business.