|
|
|
Josef Cowan | Civil Litigation Construction Law Firm Los Angeles
Lawyer News |
2013/10/25 14:48
|
Josef Cowan founded our firm over 20 years ago. The following are some questions and answers that discuss his unique qualities and why so many individuals and businesses trust our firm with their legal and business needs.
Q. Why did you become a lawyer?A. I’m the youngest of 6 kids raised by a single mother. We didn’t have much money, so I started working in the construction industry at a very young age. In fact, I started a construction business when I was 17 years old, and that company is still in existence and has over 400 employees. The construction industry involves a huge number of legal issues in a wide variety of different areas. I always found the legal issues fascinating and believed that a solid understanding of the law and ability to resolve complex issues is a huge advantage in business.
Q. What inspired you to found the Cowan Law Group?A. When I originally went to law school, I intended to use my legal training to help me with the construction business I started. However, I found I have a real passion for helping individuals and small to medium-sized companies resolve their legal and business problems in ways that make good business sense.
Q. How is the Cowan Law group different from other law firms?A. There are far too many firms that provide little to no value to their clients, and many that create more problems than they resolve. In many instances, the attorneys are good, smart people, but they don’t have the background or business savvy necessary to provide truly strategic, cost-effective legal solutions to their clients. This is a real problem because a good attorney who understands not just the legal issues, but also his client’s business challenges and objectives, is a tremendous resource and strategic advantage. With that in mind, I created the Cowan Law Group, whose main mission is to provide legal services that are smart, creative, and practical.
Q. So what makes you a good lawyer and advisor?A. I have benefitted greatly from a first class college and legal education. What I believe is even more important, however, is my life experience. Starting at a very young age, I have had to overcome many challenges both personally and in business. As a lawyer and advisor, these experiences have been invaluable because, through them, I have developed an ability to look at problems and challenges and know how to navigate through them in ways that are smart and effective.
But what is most telling is what my clients say. Over the course of my legal career, I have successfully resolved over $700 million of legal disputes in many different areas, including general business, real estate, construction, employment, and trade secret litigation, and I have handled a large number of business transactions. My clients often tell me that I provide counseling that is practical and mindful of business priorities, and that I handle it all well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Attorneys
Lawyer News |
2013/10/25 14:47
|
Los Angeles Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Claims Attorneys
Newport Beach Disability insurance, life insurance, annuity, health insurance attorneys can help you resolve your claims and disputes involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act f 1974, also commonly known as ERISA. McKennon Law Group's main attorney Robert J. McKennon as recognized and awarded the "2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Labor & Employment” by American Lawyer Media and Martindale Hubbell, leading providers of news and rating information to the legal industry.
ERISA is a very complex area of the law and it is important you have an attorney who understands it. ERISA claims are the most common cases litigated in Federal Court, a court in which most lawyers are uncomfortable. ERISA involves mandatory administrative appeals and strict deadlines and it is crucial that you know your rights and that you hire an attorney early in the process after your claim has been denied and before your appeal is administered. Our experience in litigating ERISA cases are the top in the nation and in the Orange County regio. We will be the aggressive advocate for your case to obtain maximum success involving all manners of insurance disputes.
We have over 25 years of experience litigating ERISA cases involving life, health, disability and pension claims. Call or email us to schedule a free consultation. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Appeals court rejects secret Delaware arbitration
Press Release |
2013/10/25 13:29
|
A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling declaring that a Delaware law allowing chancery judges to oversee secret arbitration in high-stakes business disputes is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-to-1 Wednesday to uphold a federal judge's ruling in favor of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, which challenged the law.
DelCOG, backed by The Associated Press, The New York Times and several other major news organizations, claimed in its lawsuit that the secret arbitration conducted by Delaware's Chancery Court violated the First Amendment rights of citizens to attend judicial proceedings and access court records.
Attorneys for the state argued that secret arbitration made the Chancery Court more efficient and generated revenue for Delaware, corporate home to thousands of companies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NY court upholds conviction of California financer
Headline Topics |
2013/10/23 11:14
|
A New York appeals court has upheld the conviction of a California finance researcher who used code words like "recipes," "cooks" and "sugar" to disguise an insider trading scheme.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Wednesday rejected various arguments made by Winifred Jiau.
She was convicted in June 2011 of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
The Fremont, Calif., resident is serving a four-year prison sentence. She is scheduled to be released in June.
The appeals court rejected her request for a new trial. She had argued that the government was wrong to use as evidence recordings that were made because a worker could not hear well. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
High court weighs Mich. ban on affirmative action
Headline Court News |
2013/10/14 13:22
|
After the Supreme Court ruled a decade ago that race could be a factor in college admissions in a Michigan case, affirmative action opponents persuaded the state's voters to outlaw any consideration of race.
Now, the high court is weighing whether that change to Michigan's constitution is itself discriminatory.
It is a proposition that even the lawyer for civil rights groups in favor of affirmative action acknowledges a tough sell, at first glance.
"How can a provision that is designed to end discrimination in fact discriminate?" said Mark Rosenbaum of the American Civil Liberties Union. Yet that is the difficult argument Rosenbaum will make on Tuesday to a court that has grown more skeptical about taking race into account in education since its Michigan decision in 2003.
A victory for Rosenbaum's side would imperil similar voter-approved initiatives that banned affirmative action in education in California and Washington state. A few other states have adopted laws or issued executive orders to bar race-conscious admissions policies. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sands asks Nev. court to overturn documents ruling
Headline Court News |
2013/10/11 10:23
|
Nevada's highest court is weighing arguments put forward by casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. and disgruntled former Sands executive Steven Jacobs.
The two have been embroiled in a court battle since Jacobs filed a wrongful termination suit in 2010 and accused Sands of a multitude of misdeeds, including doing business with known gangsters and making inappropriate payments to an attorney who was also a Macau lawmaker.
On Wednesday, Jacobs' attorneys asked the Nevada Supreme Court to overturn a decision by a district judge throwing out his defamation suit against Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson.
Sands asked the court to overturn decisions made by the same district judge regarding disclosure of evidence.
After Jacobs filed his suit, Adelson told the Wall Street Journal that his former employee was fired for cause. Adelson added that Jacobs was attempting to explain the termination "by using outright lies and fabrications."
Jacobs, who worked in Macau for the Sands subsidiary Sands China Ltd., responded by amending his original suit to accuse Adelson of knowingly spreading harmful falsehoods. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spanish court convicts 53 in corruption trial
Political View |
2013/10/07 10:16
|
A Spanish court convicted 53 people Friday in the country's biggest-ever corruption trial, which lasted two years and centered on widespread real estate fraud and bribery in the southern jet-set resort town of Marbella.
The defendants in the trial, which ended last year, included former town hall officials, lawyers and business representatives. The judge took several months to decide on the sentences — 40 other people were acquitted and two accused died while the case was being prepared.
Under a highly complex scheme in the mid-1990s, city funds were widely misappropriated, and public officials and business representatives divvied up under-the table kickbacks for planning permissions and construction of hotels, residential complexes and urban infrastructure. Much of the money was then laundered with the help of lawyers.
Marbella, located on Spain's southern coast, was a magnet for jet set and society figures from across the world during the 1970s and 1980s.
The man who prosecutors said was the mastermind of the fraud, former Marbella urban planning adviser Juan Antonio Roca, got the biggest sentence — 11 years — for money laundering, bribery and fraud. He also was fined 240 million euros ($326 million).
Roca has been in jail since 2006 when he was first arrested as the case broke. Back then, he was considered one of the richest people in Spain with his assets including ranches, fighting bulls, thoroughbred horses, art, expensive cars and boats.
The scheme began when late Atletico Madrid soccer club owner Jesus Gil y Gil was mayor of Marbella between 1991 and 2002. Roca began working for Marbella town hall under Gil and claimed during the trial that he was just following the mayor's orders. |
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
