Law Office of Elliott J. Dixon

Appellate.
Lead Attorney coordinating 5 law firms on the prevailing side of the "Sonoma County case," California Association of Professional Employees, AFL-CIO v. State of California, SF No 23902, 2/15/79, 23 Cal 3rd 296, 152 Cal. Rptr. 903, 591 P 2nd 1, which struck down California Government Code Section 16280 and 16280.5 based on California Constitution Article I, Section 9 and gained $2 billion in pay raises for 1 million California municipal employees in 3,000 jurisdictions. After Proposition 13, the legislature attempted to balance the state budget by denying pay raises to municipal employees. Original Jurisdiction at California Supreme Court which decided for the employees unanimously.
 

Car Accident [Personal Injury or "PI"] cases.
Settled or won at trial over 100 auto accident cases. Recently settled an intersection accident case for $850,000.
Results vary depending on the facts of each case.

DUI: "Drunk Driver" cases. 
Defended over 100 individuals charged with "Driving Under the Influence."
Designed and copyrighted a chart used to determine the estimated "BAC" [Blood Alcohol Content] of a driver. It saves lives by enabling individuals to estimate whether they are safe to drive before getting behind the wheel. Card was designed in response to a California Supreme Court decision that drivers DO have notice that they violate the BAC standards because anyone can carry a card in their wallet with which they can estimate BAC by counting their drinks. Get a free DUI card by contacting this office.

Change the Law!
One of the first to gain paternity for the husband by "paternity by estoppel." [Husband relied to his detriment on wife’s statement that he was the father. So she won’t be allowed now -in a custody battle- to prove that he’s not]. Changed state interpretation of Preposition 9 "In the matter of Opinion Requested by Elliott J. Dixon, Attorney and Counselor at Law" (2FPPC Opinions 70, no. 75-187). [Allowed lobbyists to perform services for legislators]. A third change (see “Appellate” above) won two billion dollars. [Knocked 2 sections out of California’s Government code.]
 

You CAN fight City Hall!
Negotiated over $10 million in pay raises, salary, and fringe benefits from the City of Los Angeles.
 

Real Estate Litigation.
Owns "To-It Realty," which represents individuals and companies buying or selling real estate, are Mortgage Brokers who provide financing and perform Loan Modification services to save real estate from foreclosure or simply restructure real estate loans with more favorable rates, lower monthly payments, etc.
Teaches college real estate classes in selling, financing, managing, escrow, appraisal, loan brokerage, etc.
Real estate litigation includes fee disputes, breach of contract, specific performance, construction defects. etc.

Estate Planning.
Provided thousands of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, health care directives, etc. to individuals, couples, families, roommates, civil unions, and friends, structuring their relationships and planning their affairs. Commissioned by the State of California Department of Real Estate, California Community Colleges Real Estate Education Center to write Avoiding Probate- Holding Title and Living Trusts, (85 pages) copyrighted by the State of California in 1991 and updated annually, which was made available to all of California's >100 community colleges as one of the classes for state licensed real estate salespersons and brokers to renew their licenses. The book concludes that most people should keep their property-at least their real property-in a trust.

Founding Businesses and Forming Corporations.
Has helped found hundreds of companies, including corporations, partnerships, LLCs, sole proprietorships, associations, etc. Besides drafting contracts, partnership agreements, corporation articles and bylaws, LLCs, etc., counsels the parties on which entity to use, and strategies for success and maximizing profits. Remains available if problems develop in running the business.

Business Transactions.
Negotiation, drafting, interpretation, management, and litigation of Contracts.
 

Probate: What to do when someone dies.
Has handled the estates of hundreds of individuals who passed away. Probate, a long and expensive court process, may be necessary if the estate is large, complicated, there are disagreements, and the assets are not in trust. Small estates and those with major assets in trusts may avoid probate and so be faster and cheaper.
 

Family Law: Divorces.
Counsels couples before marriage.
Drafts prenuptial agreements if requested or may assist in structuring the financial relationship between roommates, same-sex couples, civil unions, etc.
If it doesn't work out, he has a Masters in Psychology and can provide marriage counseling.
And if that doesn't work out, he has 35 years of experience in handling dissolutions [divorces] or annulments of marriage or other relationships.
 

Labor Relations.
Advised and represented management of the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for a decade.
Advised and represented labor unions for a decade.
Formed first joint council of unions representing City of Los Angeles employees.
First to bargain, first through mediation, first to win at fact-finding.
Now serves as mediator or arbitrator of impasses between labor and management.
 

Mediation and Arbitration.
Former or present: LA County Bar Association and Long Beach Bar Association Attorney-Client Relations [fee] Arbitrator. Long Beach Superior Court Small Claims and Traffic Court Pro Tem Judge. Long Beach Family Law Superior Court Pro Tem Judge.
 

Negotiation: a faster, cheaper alternative to litigation.
Authored a book on negotiation and has taught thousands of attorneys and other professionals in seminars on negotiation in California and Washington.