Tredway, Lumsdaine and Doyle LLP

Every year, each TLD office sponsors families in local communities to contribute our share of holiday cheer. This year, we have continued the tradition of extending our hands and opening our hearts.

Long Beach Adopted Family

The Long Beach office of TLD was fortunate enough to be able to adopt a family assigned by St. Mary’s Medical Center: two girls, ages 2 and 8, and one boy, age 6.  St. Mary Medical Center is a 389-bed hospital offering award-winning services to the people of beautiful Long Beach, California. Starting in 1923, St. Mary’s began creating a culture of caring and innovation that you see prevails today.  The Long Beach office generously provided toys for all 3 children and a $160 cash donation for the family to purchase groceries for the holidays.  Lorraine Bornstein delivered the gifts to the hospital on November 30th.

Irvine Adopted Family

The Irvine office adopted the Garcia family: Crescencio (dad), Domitila (mother), and three girls, Monica (age 6), Gabriela (age 12), and Sandra (age 15). The family was struggling due to Dad’s hours being cut at work. They asked for only the necessities, but everyone in the Irvine office contributed $20, Mark Doyle gave a $50 gift card winnings from the TLD firm-wide Halloween contest, and other people brought in gently used items the family could use (coats, sweaters, etc.).  Jena Rivera brought in a beautiful quilt, extra toys, and Dianne Liebbrecht contributed extra gifts.  The firm purchased gifts, and gave them $120 gift card to Albertsons and the $50 dollar AMex card. Jena Rivera dropped off the boxes last Thursday.

Downey Adopted Family

The Downey office’s family came to us from Exchange Club Center. This is a family who has had more than their share of difficulty and despair. Rosalie is a 26-year-old who took custody of her nieces and nephew approximately six months ago. The children, Lawrence, Katrina and Adrina were being raised for many years by their grandmother, Norma. Sadly, Norma passed away due to long-term health problems. Prior to her death, Norma had asked Rosalie to make the commitment to take custody of the three children; she agreed despite knowing this would pose great challenges, to say the least, as Rosalie has two young children of her own, one of which is special needs. Rosalie has yet to receive any governmental financial assistance for taking guardianship of the three children and the family is surviving on the income of Rosalie’s boyfriend, father of her children.  Their wish list consisted of clothes and a few fun items (dolls, cd’s, ect.). The kids each received atleast 4 items on their list. In addition, they were given $100 gift certificate to Albertsons. Gifts were delivered last Friday by Joseph Santana.

TLD is committed to the well-being of their communities.  If you are interested in contributing time or otherwise to TLD’s charitable outreach programs, do not hesitate to contact us.  We and our communities welcome helping hands.

The dream of every American is to own real estate.  Taking ownership of real property should be a time of joy and pride.  To achieve this goal, often times, people own property jointly or as tenants in common.  Others leave a single piece of property to several children, e.g., the family home to the two brothers. What happens then, if a person owns property with another person, and one wants to sell it but the other wants to keep it?  What happens if co-owners no longer agree on ownership matters, such as investing in remodeling, or fixing the roof?

The ideal resolution would be that one co-owner purchases the other co-owner’s share of the property.  The parties agree on a price, and one buys the other out.  This way, both parties are happy: one has received the value of the property in monetary compensation, the other continues to keep the property and enjoy the benefits of ownership and rising value.

Unfortunately, the setting of the price usually can not be agreed upon.  Or, one party may not be able to obtain financing.  Whatever the complications, turning to the legal system is often necessary to split up or sell the property.   The court will make orders dealing with ownership.  This is called a partition action.

There are three methods of partition:  (1) a physical division of the property; (2) a sale of the property and a division of the proceeds; and (3) a partition by appraisal whereby one cotenant acquires the interests of the other cotenant based on a court ordered and supervised appraisal.  (Cal. Civ. Proc. § 873.210-980.)

Because of the costs associated with partition actions, owners of property should hire an attorney who has handled such actions in the past.  TLD attorneys are well-versed in real estate matters, especially partition actions, and can serve land owners expeditiously and economically.

This month, our firm was successful in a motion to strike and dismiss a lawsuit brought by a disgruntled parent against our client, a little league consisting of children and families. The parent filed a class action lawsuit against the little league, and was represented on a pro bono basis by a multi-national firm based out of downtown Los Angeles. We are pleased to have achieved a rare procedural victory for a deserving client. Our firm is committed to serving our communities; if you have suggestions on how we may further these efforts, we welcome them.

Recently, our firm represented a young lady who purchased four tires from a local tire shop. Three days later, one of the tires failed, causing the young lady’s vehicle to roll over on the 710 freeway. The failing tire was nine years old.

Consumers must be wary of purchasing tires, but especially from facilities that sell used tires. Aside from the manufacturer and age , it is impossible to determine the source of a used tire, how the previous owner used the tire, and the extent of exposure of the tire to the elements. Often, used tires appear to look brand new, but have defects that are not apparent to the naked eye.

Furthermore, used tire retailers can repair tires and re-sell them. There is no requirement that such information be recorded or disclosed. Depending on the actions of retailers, retailers can be held to the strict liability standard of manufacturers in the event that they sell an unsafe tire to a consumer.

Luckily, this young lady has significantly recovered from her catastrophic injuries, and obtained a substantial settlement to compensate her and cover her medical expenses. We are passionate about helping consumers achieve the ends of justice.  If you have any concerns or questions about consumer rights, contact us.