Practice Areas
Civil Litigation
Chielpegian·Cobb has a broad and varied civil litigation practice. Our firm represents individuals and families in wrongful death and personal injury matters. Chielpegian·Cobb also represents individuals, small businesses and large entities in a variety of commercial disputes, including but not limited to breach of contract actions, unfair competition claims, employment disputes, dissolution proceedings and the like.
Chielpegian·Cobb recognizes that lawsuits, whether from the plaintiff’s or defendant’s perspective, are stressful, time-consuming and expensive. It is this understanding which guides Chielpegian·Cobb lawyers during all phases of a dispute, claim or action - before a complaint is filed, during the early stages of litigation, as trial approaches and during trial itself. When possible, Chielpegian·Cobb pursues and often obtains informal resolutions of disputes, allowing its clients to return their energy and focus to their personal lives and/or business pursuits without the stress, time, expense and risk of ongoing litigation. Of course, some matters cannot be resolved informally. It is for this reason that Chielpegian·Cobb treats every case as though it will be tried. Chielpegian·Cobb lawyers diligently prepare their cases through necessary (but never excessive) legal research, written and deposition discovery, motion practice, employment of expert consultants and witnesses, and the like.
Chielpegian·Cobb is driven by one objective: getting its clients the best possible result in the most efficient possible manner.
Estate Planning
In its most basic sense, estate planning is the process of ensuring that your property passes in accordance with your wishes upon death. While this seems simple enough, the estate planning process often raises complicated family, asset, tax, creditor and business and farm succession planning issues. While some issues are easier to address than others, Chielpegian·Cobb has extensive experience in identifying and advising its clients about the various estate planning issues and counseling its clients in order to develop and structure a comprehensive estate plan to carry out a person’s lifetime and postmortem wishes.
Probate and Trust Administration
Upon a person’s death, some action is generally required to administer the decedent’s assets and to ultimately pass title to the assets to loved ones through a probate proceeding, trust administration or other summary procedure. Chielpegian·Cobb is experienced in efficiently administering a decedent’s assets (whether simple or complex) and counseling, advising, and guiding personal representatives, trustees and beneficiaries through the various administration, legal, tax, and creditor issues that frequently arise during the administration of a decedent’s assets.
While Chielpegian·Cobb’s goal is to avoid and minimize disputes during the administration process, sometimes disputes do arise that must be litigated and resolved through the court process. Chielpegian·Cobb has successfully represented personal representatives, trustees and beneficiaries in various matters related to the right and title to assets, ownership disputes, breach of fiduciary duties of the personal representative or trustee, accountings, interpretation of testamentary instruments and other similar disputes that arise during the administration process.
Business and Real Estate Transactions
Here in the San Joaquin Valley, many if not most businesses are family-owned. Whether a simple “mom-and-pop” store or a complex operation involving hundreds of employees, Chielpegian·Cobb has the skill and experience to not only solve problems, but to help prevent them from occurring in the first place. Chielpegian·Cobb is itself a family-owned business; its attorneys understand first-hand the issues that can arise, such as management decisions and business succession.
Both Michael Chielpegian and Lee Cobb practiced business law at large San Francisco Bay Area law firms prior to joining Chielpegian·Cobb. Accordingly, they have worked on transactions such as initial public offerings, venture capital financings, and employee stock ownership plans (“ESOP”). This expertise is unique for a firm of Chielpegian·Cobb’s size and location.
Chielpegian·Cobb has extensive experience in real estate transactions such as purchases and sales, leases and financing deals.