Resources
Client resources
Practical groundwork, in plain language, plus the official public resources that are genuinely worth knowing about. General information only, not legal advice.
Before you call any attorney
You do not need to send any of this yet. Knowing what exists is what makes a first conversation useful.
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Build a timeline
Dates in order, even approximate ones. When it started, when it changed, when you first said something, and when anyone responded. A timeline you wrote this week is worth more than a memory you rely on next year.
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List every name
Every person, business, entity, insurer, and agency involved, including the ones you are not sure matter. An attorney needs these to run a conflict check before looking at a matter at all.
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Find your dates
Any deadline, hearing, court date, response window, or signing window you have been given. If you have received something with a date on it, that date is the most urgent fact you have.
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Inventory your documents
What exists and where it is: contracts, letters, notices, photographs, bills, reports, and messages. Do not send them yet. Just know what you have.
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Write your situation in five sentences
If you can describe it in five plain sentences without legal words, you will get more out of every conversation you have about it.
How to describe a situation safely
Before an attorney represents you, what you send is not protected the way it is afterwards. This is not a reason to say nothing. It is a reason to be brief.
Safe to include
- The type of matter and roughly what happened
- The names of the other people or businesses involved
- The dates that matter, including any deadline
- Where the matter is located
- How to reach you
Hold until representation is confirmed
- Social Security numbers and full dates of birth
- Government identification numbers or images
- Medical records and financial records
- Photographs, recordings, and other evidence
- Detailed private narratives and anything privileged
This applies to every attorney, not only this one. A public contact form is a public road. Sensitive material belongs only in the method approved for an active client matter.
Words you are likely to hear
Plain definitions of terms that come up early. General information, not advice about your matter.
- Consultation
- A conversation to work out what you are dealing with and whether an attorney can help. It is not representation, and it does not by itself make anyone your lawyer.
- Conflict check
- Checking the other names in your matter against an attorney's existing clients. An attorney has to do this before looking closely at a matter, which is why they ask for names early.
- Engagement agreement
- The written agreement that starts representation. It sets out what the attorney will do, what they will not do, and how fees work. Representation begins when it is accepted.
- Scope of representation
- The specific work the attorney has agreed to handle. Work outside that scope is not covered unless the agreement is changed in writing.
- Statute of limitations
- The legal time limit for bringing a claim. Different kinds of claims have different limits, some are much shorter than people expect, and missing one can end a claim regardless of its merits.
- Demand
- A formal written request to another party to do something or pay something, usually before anything is filed.
- Discovery
- The stage of a case where each side has to hand over relevant information and answer questions from the other side under the rules of court.
- Settlement
- An agreement that resolves a dispute without a decision from a judge or jury. Most matters end this way, and a settlement usually cannot be undone.
- Privilege
- The protection that applies to confidential communications between a client and their attorney. It is one of the reasons the timing of what you send matters.
Official California resources
Public, free, and run by the state. These are external websites that Anthony does not operate or control.
- California Courts Self-Help Guide
- The state courts' own plain-language guide to civil cases, forms, fee waivers, and what to expect in court.
- Find your Superior Court
- Locations, contact details, and local rules for the Superior Court in each California county.
- The State Bar of California
- Verify that any California attorney is licensed, and find the state's lawyer referral services.
- Labor Commissioner's Office
- The state office that handles wage claims and enforces California labor law.
- California Civil Rights Department
- The state agency for civil rights complaints, including many workplace matters.
- California Department of Real Estate
- Verify a real estate license and read the state's consumer material on property transactions.
- California Department of Insurance
- Consumer help and complaints about insurers, which is often relevant after a collision or a loss.
More is coming, and none of it will be filler. Anthony is preparing written guides for each area of the practice. Until they are published, this page carries only the practical basics above and public resources that already exist. There are no articles here that he did not write.
Contact
Still not sure where your situation fits?
Describe it in a few plain, non-confidential sentences. That is enough for initial screening.
- Phone (909) 246-3010
- Email aj@anthonyjones.org
Keep a first email brief and leave out confidential details. Contacting Anthony does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not extend any deadline, so call if a date in your matter is close.