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LAW OFFICES OF
M
ICHAEL DIETRICK

Email: dietrick@pacbell.net
Website: mikedietricklaw.com/

General Civil Litigation, Trials, Arbitrations, Injunctions, and Appeals in all California Courts and Federal Courts and administrative agencies: Real Estate Law and Litigation; Business Law, Contracts, and Commercial Litigation; Trusts and Probate Dispute Litigation; Personal Injury and Insurance Law; Divorce, Child Custody, and Family Law.

FIRM PROFILE: Founded in 1985 by Boalt Hall School of Law graduate Michael Dietrick, the firm provides business and commercial law services to individuals and businesses statewide, including trials and appeals in Federal Court, California State Courts, and administrative agencies. The firm also handles trust and probate disputes, personal injury cases, and family law matters, often on behalf of individuals who have business and commercial interests.

Michael Dietrick, admitted 1980 to California State bar and to practice before all California State courts and administrative agencies; admitted 1980 to practice before the U.S. District Court (Northern District of California), Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals; admitted 1985 to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court (Eastern District of California); admitted 1990 to U.S. District Court (Central District of California). Education: Occidental College (B.A., cum laude, honors at graduation, 1971); University of California, Irvine (M.A. 1974, honors included Teaching Assistantship); University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law (J.D., 1978, honors included Teaching Assistantship in Jurisprudence 1978 and Steinhart Fund Award 1976 and 1977 for legal-economic research on subject of foreign direct investment in Mexico). Languages: Spanish. Special Agencies: Labor Commission, Medical Board, Office of Administrative Hearings. Reported Cases: Federated Dept. Stores v. Moitie, 452 U.S. 394 (1981); Heritage Ford v. Baroff (9th Cir. 1997) 105 F.3d 439; Morrison v. Viacom, Inc. (1st DCA 1998) 66 Cal.App.4th 534, 78 Cal.Rptr.2d 133. Transactions: Commercial Real Property Buy-Sell Agreements; Commercial Leases. Practice Areas: Real Estate Law and Litigation; Business Law, Contracts, and Commercial Litigation; Trusts and Probate Dispute Litigation; Personal Injury and Insurance Law; Divorce, Child Custody, and Family Law.

Sample Litigation Cases:

In one case filed in California Superior Court, Michael Dietrick and the firm represented a nurse who had cared full-time for her aged family member on the latter's ranch estate. The aged family member passed away, but a few months before passing he had transferred his checking account and his savings account to his nurse/caregiver because she was his dearest relative. He also had promised her to give her title to his ranch in exchange for her caring for him. The trustees of the aged family member's living trust (another relative and his former CPA) sued on behalf of the trust, and sought to invalidate the nurse's P.O.D. (pass-on-death) title to the checking account and savings account primarily on grounds of alleged elder abuse (negligently and intentionally failing to meet nursing standards, among other claims). Two and one-half years of litigation ensued. Mr. Dietrick's firm associated with another law firm that specialized in medical cases. Finally, after many depositions and many days of mediation sessions, and on the eve of trial, the case settled during a final mediation session with a retired Superior Court judge. The client obtained a successful recovery of seven figures based on the client's many years of devoted care to her aged family member.

 In another case filed in California Superior Court, Michael Dietrick and the firm represented a residential real property buyer who discovered when he moved into his new ranch home that his neighbor claimed a sizable portion of his property and had placed a gazebo and other items on his land. The neighbor contested the client's title based on a legal theory that she owned an alleged prescriptive easement over the client's land. With a survey conducted by a reputable surveyor in hand, Mr. Dietrick succeeded in settling all claims and established the correct boundary line, thus enhancing the value of the client's ranch property.

In another case filed in the Northern District of California Federal District Court, Michael Dietrick and a law firm specializing in criminal defense together filed a federal civil rights class action seeking to prevent the public defender of a local county from continuing a policy of delaying up to 13 days after an indigent defendant's first court appearance (an arraignment) before appearing at a second hearing (to finish the defendant's arraignment) on grounds that the unnecessary delay violates the constitutional right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment and violates the Due Process Clause in that the policy causes serious harm when a person languishes in jail without assistance of counsel to help the client to obtain a bail reduction or release OR (own recognizance) or eligibility for a release on diversion. The case was challenged on grounds testing whether a Sixth Amendment or a Due Process Clause violation exists under these circumstances, and it currently is awaiting a hearing and decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Dietrick has successfully handled contested child custody cases in divorces as well as professional responsibility matters for doctors, nurses, and lawyers. These matters are private and the firm does not publish any details regarding these types of cases.