Areas We Serve: Attorney for Los Angeles County and Orange County

Every matter this office handles is tied to a place: the intersection where the crash happened, the county where the trustee recorded the deed, the courthouse assigned to the rental property, the city where the decedent lived. Fred Yadegar practices in Los Angeles County and Orange County, two counties with roughly thirteen million residents between them and separate superior court systems, and he appears in both.

Why the county matters

The county decides which court hears the case, which recorder holds the property records, and which local ordinances sit on top of state law. A surplus-funds dispute, for example, is deposited with the superior court of the county where the trustee’s sale took place (Civ. Code §2924j), so an Orange County sale is decided in Orange County even if the former owner has since moved to Los Angeles. An eviction case is heard at the courthouse that serves the rental property, and inside the City of Los Angeles, rent stabilization and just-cause rules add requirements that most Orange County cities do not have. A claim against a public entity must be presented within six months (Gov. Code §911.2), and the agency that receives it differs from city to city. A probate is opened where the person lived, which may not be where the family lives now. None of this changes what the office does; it changes where, and sometimes how quickly.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County has close to ten million residents and a court system to match. Larger injury lawsuits are generally filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown, while eviction and limited civil cases go to the district courthouse nearest the property, among them Van Nuys, Pasadena, Long Beach, Torrance, Compton, Norwalk, and Santa Monica. Property records, including the Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale that starts a surplus-funds claim, are kept by the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk.

The office serves the whole county: the San Fernando Valley from Burbank and Glendale to Van Nuys and Santa Clarita, the San Gabriel Valley from Pasadena to El Monte, West Covina, and Pomona, the Westside from Santa Monica to Culver City and Inglewood, the South Bay and Harbor from Torrance to Long Beach, the Gateway cities of Downey, Norwalk, Whittier, and Compton, and the Antelope Valley cities of Lancaster and Palmdale. Details are on the Los Angeles County page.

Orange County

Orange County adds more than three million residents and its own superior court. Most civil matters are heard at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, probate at the Costa Mesa Justice Complex, and unlawful detainer and limited civil cases at the justice center serving the property: Harbor in Newport Beach, North in Fullerton, or West in Westminster. Fred also appears at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange. Trustee’s deeds and other property records are filed with the Clerk-Recorder in Santa Ana.

The office covers the county from the northern cities of Fullerton, Buena Park, La Habra, Placentia, Yorba Linda, and Anaheim, through Santa Ana, Orange, Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, and Tustin in the center, to Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel in the south, and Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and San Clemente along the coast. See the Orange County page.

What stays the same in both counties

State law does not change at the county line. Most injury claims must be filed within two years (Code Civ. Proc. §335.1), and California’s pure comparative negligence rule reduces a recovery by your share of fault without eliminating it. A surplus-funds claim is due 30 days after the trustee mails notice (Civ. Code §2924j). A tenant has 10 court days to respond to an unlawful detainer summons (Code Civ. Proc. §1167), and the Tenant Protection Act’s just-cause rules cover most tenancies past twelve months in both counties (Civ. Code §1946.2). The fee terms are the same too: injury and surplus-funds matters are on contingency in either county. If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid.

Meeting Fred

First conversations are usually by phone or video, scheduled within a business day. In-person meetings happen where it is convenient for you rather than at a fixed office, and when an injury rules out travel, Fred comes to the home or the hospital. Fred Yadegar has been licensed by the State Bar of California since 2006, license #244184, and both counties are home ground for the practice rather than an occasional destination. Start on the contact page.