About Me

My Document Shredder

Hi. My name is Elissa Warantz. I’ve been a California lawyer for 25 years, specializing in general business law and litigation. I now have my own law firm in Orange County, where I provide legal advice and mentoring for small businesses. I advise clients how to start a business, form a corporation, negotiate an agreement, comply with regulations, understand trademark and copyright law, deal with employees, obtain leases and licenses, buy insurance, write contracts, avoid legal disputes (and handle those they can’t avoid) and generally deal with legal issues as they come up. (See the Contact Me page for more information).  I am also a volunteer management counselor with the SBA’s resource partner, SCORE, where I do face-to-face counseling, cyber-counseling, and workshop presentations on internet law and other legal issues for small business. In my spare time, I like to take Peanut for long walks on the beach.

Before starting my law firm, I worked for 18 years as an Assistant General Counsel and then Director-West Coast Legal for ConocoPhillips Company and its predecessors. Before that, I worked as a commercial litigator for Pillsbury Winthrop, a large San Francisco law firm. These experiences taught me that, to be an effective lawyer, I needed to have a thorough understanding of my clients’ businesses and a practical, down-to-earth approach. I learned I am most effective (and happiest in my work) when I can be a sort of legal mentor, partnering with my clients to help them achieve their business goals. I like to think this works best for the clients as well.

I started this blog because I wanted to try to answer some of the questions I repeatedly get asked by SCORE clients and my own. I also wanted to offer some general (non-legal) advice, based on my experience, about how to become a better (and maybe even happier!) consumer of legal services and advice. I hope the information and opinions provided here do just that. I’d love to hear back from you, either way.

And of course no legal blog would be complete without a . . .

Disclaimer: This blog does not contain legal advice and is not intended to provide legal advice. This blog is intended only to provide general, non-specific legal information. It does not cover all the issues related to the topics discussed. Also, your situation may involve specific facts that would cause the outcome of any legal issue to be different from the issues and situations discussed here, so you should not rely on the contents of this blog in making a decision or taking any particular course of action. This blog is based generally on U.S. law and the laws of the state of California. You should consult an attorney familiar with the issues and laws of your country or state. This blog does not create any attorney-client relationship and is not a solicitation.

Copyright © 2010-2011, Elissa Warantz. All Rights Reserved.

No portion of this blog may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated or otherwise used without the express written approval of the author.