Services

Chatow Law handles business litigation matters exclusively and helps business owners, shareholders, partner and LLC members when things go wrong. With 20+ years of real-world business experience prior to starting Chatow Law in 2013, we understand your legal options from a business perspective that may be lacking at other firms. We can help pursue a resolution that protects your business interests and maximizes your return on the legal dollars you spend.

When you or your business have been financially harmed you may have a strong lawsuit, but not enough funds to fight it. If you have a strong shareholder, partnership, business breach of contract, or breach of fiduciary duty claim with at least $100,000 in hard, provable damages and a defendant with resources to pay if you win, we may consider taking your case on a contingency basis. You’ll pay expenses as we go, but you won’t pay attorney fees unless and until we recover a settlement or judgment on your behalf. Contact us today for a free consultation and quote.

Whether you’ve made an oral business agreement on your word and a handshake or a entered into a comprehensive written contract, a breach of contract in your business can have serious consequences, including financial losses, reputational damage, and disrupted operations. If someone has violated the terms of your contract, it’s important to take action to protect your rights and enforce your agreement. We have a successful track record of representing clients in breach of contract litigation, and can provide the skilled advocacy you need to resolve your dispute and move forward with your business. Contact us today to learn more and schedule a consultation.

LLC membership disputes can be complex and frustrating, particularly when operating agreements are inadequately drafted or conflict with California LLC laws. If you’re currently dealing with a dispute involving another member of your LLC, it’s crucial to understand your rights and options under both your operating agreement and the law. We can help you protect your interests. Contact us today to discuss how we can assist you with your LLC membership dispute.

If the person you originally thought was your partner has instead become your worst nightmare, we can help. With more than 20 years experience in the business world, and years of experience litigating against rogue partners, we understand what you’re dealing with. Business partnership disputes are difficult, but if a business partner is taking improper distributions, removing your access to business accounts and records, or stealing the business trade name for their own venture, you can take immediate steps to lessen the pain. When you are ready to draw a line and take a stand, we’ll be there for you. Call us today for an initial consultation..

Running a business is hard enough even without disputes.  Business disputes are complicated enough even when the relationships involved are only professional.  But a business dispute between family members is even harder and more complicated, and often the functions of both family and business will grind to a halt.

If you are a minority shareholder and the majority shareholders draining the company with personal expenses disguised as “business costs”,, paying themselves unjusitifiable salaries, taking disproportionate distributions, or acting to their own benefit while harming you financially, you may have legal remedies. We can help you take action to stop the bad behavior and take back what’s yours. You can also potentially force the company to dissolve and distribute the proceeds from a sale or have the majority shareholders buyout your minority interest. Contact us today to learn how you can stop the majority shareholders in your company from getting away with their misconduct.

What happens when you wake up and the “dream” business you bought isn’t what it was supposed to be? No matter how much due diligence you did or how carefully you drafted the stock or asset purchase agreement, problems can still arise. Business sale fraud happens more often than most people realize. Stop blaming yourself, and start taking action. You may have legal remedies including rescission of the business purchase agreement or damages for the lost in value between the purchase price and the actual value of the business today. If you’ve been defrauded in a business purchase, don’t let yourself be the victim. Call us today to learn about your legal options and how we can help get you back to a better place.

Most businesses require the formation of at least a few fiduciary relationships, including between, business partners, shareholders, bankers, attorneys, and more.  Each of these parties is legally bound to put your company’s best interests above its own, but law and human nature do not always mix.  When business partners fail to live up to their duty to act in a company’s best interests, litigation is a common result.  If your California business has suffered from – or might suffer from – a breach of fiduciary duty, Chatow Law may be able to help.

If a business principal’s email gets hacked, or a phishing attempt exposes vital business data, relationships with vendors, customers, and partners can suffer. Multiple parties may suffer losses as hackers insert themselves into payment processes, stealing money and hurting reputations in the process. Often holding the hackers accountable is not an option, either because they are too difficult to find, or because they are outside of the US.  Because neither legitimate party wants to absorb the loss, litigation usually follows a breach of a business’s email.

If a contract exists between two or more parties, and a third party interferes with any other party’s fulfillment of that contract, the third party can be held liable.  Often that interference was created in the hopes of gaining an unfair advantage over another party.  Chatow Law can help litigate interference with contracts, whether your California business has been at the receiving end of that interference or you’ve been accused of interfering with a contract.

If a contract exists between two or more parties, and a third party interferes with any other party’s fulfillment of that contract, the third party can be held liable.  Often that interference was created in the hopes of gaining an unfair advantage over another party.  Chatow Law can help litigate interference with contracts, whether your California business has been at the receiving end of that interference or you’ve been accused of interfering with a contract.

Some disgruntled former employees won’t see your side, won’t reevaluate their opions, and won’t let go.  Their reasons may be personal, but for you they can become professional: your finances, reputation, schedule, work-life balance, and your business can be damaged.  Whether you need a cease-and-desist letter or litigation or some measures in-between, Mark Chatow may be able to help.

If it’s no longer feasible to try to work out disputes internally, a business litigation attorney can help evaluate your options and develop a reasonable, practical, and strategic approach to your business conflicts.

We help businesses collect on business-to-business debts, especially in cases where the debt is very large. Examples of commercial collections cases we handle include:

• A business gets sold, but one of the partners isn’t paid.
• One business provides another with goods or services and isn’t paid for them.
• The business signs a promissory note that it later fails to honor.
• The business leases a commercial property and fails to pay rent.

If your business has been affected by a significant failure to pay, we can help you get individual consumers to pay what they owe you.  Not only is it more likely that we’ll recover the debts, but it’s also likely we can do so more quickly than you could on your own.

Borrowers who take out a business loan and sign a business promissory note have a contractual obligation to make their payments and to adhere to the terms of the loan.

We can help with all of the most common supplier disputes, including substandard products, materials that fail to meet contractual specifications, selivery delays, missing deliveries, payment disputes, and pricing discrepancies.

If a competing business is engaging in unfair business practices and those practices are hurting your business, you can pursue litigation to correct the problem.