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Triumph Legal This page is intended to educate about various law related subjects and is curated by Luis M. Montes

07/23/2026

This is the first of a series of posts explaining some prevalent problems that businesses encounter. Experience shows that these oversights occur at businesses, no matter the size, no matter the revenue quantity.
-As a business and corporate lawyer serving small business, I see the following partial list oversights that lead to anxiety, and sometimes to lawsuits.
-In this series, each of the following will be discussed in a topical way to inform, NOT to provide legal advice. As we always state, if you have a legal problem, consult with your attorney, because your situation is unlikely to fit this informative article.

The List: 1. Unclear or missing agreements,
2. Not keeping corporate formalities,
3. Choosing the improper business structure,
4. Unwritten owner responsibilities,
5. Avoiding hiring professional service providers,
6. Missing or inadequate HR manuals or guidelines.

We will touch base on these challenges and suggest practical ways to prevent or lessen the risk they bring. Keep in touch.

12/02/2025

We continue with Mechanic's Liens - some important deadlines: The Project start date and Preliminary 20 (TWENTY) day notice, Notice of COMPLETION. It is important to note, it is better to be a bit early, than a minute late with these notices, they are tricky, and full of landmines.
PROJECT START DATE: FIRST DAY IS DAY ZERO: The project starts the day you start providing "services." It is recommended that a project log be kept. This date controls the days between start and DATE of completion.
Preliminary 20-Day Notice (Preliminary Notice); Provided to the owner, General Contractor, project lender by CERTIFIED MAIL, REGISTERED MAIL OR EXPRESS MAIL, or the construction contract says.
Who gives it? For simplicity and brevity, anybody who provides labor, service, materials with in 20 days of START date, or if provided late, for the past 20 days of when it was served. The "GC" may be excused, since the project owner is in contract with the GC, but not if the contract says otherwise.

This article is certainly NOT meant to be legal advise, but to educate on the importance of the Calif Mechanics Lien Deadlines. Or, a lot of rights and payment can be at risk!
Notice of completion on the next post

Mechanics Lien continued: This is a tricky procedure with notices, releases, non-responsibility notices and attached dea...
06/11/2024

Mechanics Lien continued:
This is a tricky procedure with notices, releases, non-responsibility notices and attached deadlines that are STRICTLY enforced by the court and more importantly by anyone opposing the lien and the right to get paid.
We will only address private construction and not Public Works Project.

First, who has right to a Construction Lien in California-Construction and Mechanics Lien are generally interchangeable terms. Pretty much any person or entity that provides labor, material or a service on a project. These may include:
Laborers, sub-contractors, material suppliers, equipment providers, direct contractors (having a direct contract with the owner of the project, and Architects and Engineers)

Note: An unlicensed person or entity may NOT file a Mechanics Lien, nor can they seek ANY kind of remedy for anything on an unpaid project in California.

Next post - we cover some important deadlines, that must be met for protecting payment rights.

01/10/2024

Getting paid on your construction project - the powerful, yet confusing Mechanic's Lien.
The right to a construction mechanic's lien is a California Constitutional right and further clarified or not, in the Civil Code. Of course, the contractor MUST be licensed in California under the State Contractor's Law.
A lien is technically intricate and in the next post I'' provide an example of the double negative and timing issues to even make a lien valid.

04/22/2023

Missing or inadequate Deadlock Provisions in Corporate entity governing documents can sink a company.

First, when people managing or leading a company are in a strong disagreement conflicts arise. Operations are very likely to abruptly stop. Or more commonly lawyers are hired to untie the conflicting knot.
It an expensive, but not a pretty picture. But a well drafted deadlock provision(s) are crucial to any business's operating agreement or bylaws, as it establishes a framework for resolving disputes between stakeholders. And it may just untie the conflicting logger head between stakeholders, or not.
A well-drafted deadlock provision can help avoid prolonged disputes, preserve the interests of stakeholders, and ensure the continuity of the business's operations.
The next post will briefly discuss several legal avenues to resolve the dispute, formally. Later, I will discuss various provisions.

01/11/2023

Remember that when it comes to providing exceptional client services, you need to engage clients regularly, obtain their feedback willingly, and focus on marketing insights that can drive your firm forward. The more available you are to your clients, the more likely they are to have a positive experience working with you during a difficult time in their lives. Partial quote from Attorney's at Work top 20 articles of 2022.
That the challenge, or as some say the way!

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