Posted by: thepinetree on 01/22/2015 10:42 AM
Updated by: thepinetree on 02/13/2015 10:56 AM
Expires: 01/01/2020 12:00 AM
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Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Attorney F. Eric Saunders Expands Range Of Services & Opens Office In Arnold
Arnold, CA....Great news for our area and the expanding range of expert services available in Calaveras County and the surrounding areas! We would like to welcome Attorney F. Eric Saunders to our local business community. His law office is now open in Arnold and will have the practice focus areas of: Wills & Trusts, Estate & Tax Planning, Estate Administration & Intellectual Property Law. While we expect the bulk of his practice here locally to be in the more general practice areas it is great news to have a seasoned patent and intellectual property law attorney practicing here locally. Calaveras County has always had strong Silicon Valley ties and with this addition is helps this area become not only a weekend playground but and area where those new ideas can flourish and be protected....
"I have worked in Silicon Valley for most of my career, but I have lived here in Arnold for the past 14 years. I have decided that folks up here in the hills need the same sort of advanced estate and tax planning that is readily available to those in the Valley. Whether you are a multi-millionaire or a working man or woman, you deserve and need to keep your affairs in order, to plan for the future and for the future of your children, and to avoid costly mistakes in making such preparations. I am here to help with that. I want to help you, at rates you can afford, with the sort of guidance that you really cannot afford to be without."
About Attorney Saunders...
I have worked as a business manager (for World Products/NEC), an engineer, and a lawyer. I was a Sargeant (Missile Guidance and Flight Control Technician) in the Air Force.
I am a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Although I graduated from law school and passed the bar in 1979 I alternately continued to work as an electrical engineer and to continue my education (ultimately receiving a Ph.D. in Business Administration) until 1988, when I began the full time practice of law.
I practiced with several top firms in California, including the former Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro, and I was a founding partner in the firm of Henneman and Saunders (now Henneman and Associates)
For much of my legal career I concentrated in the practice of Intellectual Property law, but in the later part of my career I have increasingly turned toward combining my legal education with my business education and experience until I eventually restricted my practice to the several areas discussed herein.
My wife and I moved to Arnold in 2000 just because we love it here. I have always been more of a country guy than a city guy, anyway. For about 8 years I continued to work as in house counsel for a hi-tech company in Cupertino, meaning that I had to commute 150 miles each way, just about every week, and stay over there for 2 or three nights per trip. Of course, that got old. But it also got old not using the full range of my interests, education and experience. That is why I started this present practice.
My goal is to bring the best possible service to my neighbors here in Calaveras County.
Areas Of Practice
Wills and Trusts:
Given the difficulty and expense of Probate in California, we recommend that essentially all of our clients have one or more trusts as part of their estate planning. But there are MANY different types of trusts available. Deciding which are right for your particular circumstance is the most difficult part of this process. Once that process is completed we use what we think is the best professional grade software available to aid in drafting your trust documents, thus helping to eliminate the possibility of human error of omission. Of course, no software is perfect either. So it is a combination of our education and experience, in conjunction with the software, that will help to create the best possible product for you.
After the issue of Trusts is settled we generally create a "Pour Over" Will, to cover properties that may be outside the Trust. In most cases, if the Trusts are as complete as they should be, then the Pour Over Will will be a relatively simple and straight forward document.
We will also help you to consider, and will draft for you if you wish, such other valuable documents as a "Living Will:, "Health Care Trusts:, and the like.
Tax Planning:
As Justice Learned Hand wrote, "a transaction ... does not lose its immunity, because it is actuated by a desire to avoid ... taxation. Anyone may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes." Put another way, it is often said that tax evasion is a crime, while legally avoiding taxes is practically a duty. We all have to pay taxes, but we also have to make many decisions that may have either good or bad tax consequences. Our job is to alert you to these issues and to help you make these decisions.
It will be of interest to some clients that my wife, Gail Lee, is an Enrolled Agent* who has her own practice here (Gail's Taxes). Although, of course, our practices are completely separate, it might be valuable to sit down with us both so that your tax planning can be evaluated simultaneously from both perspectives.
Estate Administration:
In the trying time after the loss of a loved one it may be your responsibility to act as Executor or Administor of the Estate. In such cases, we act as YOUR representative (not, in most cases, as the representative of the Estate) to make sure that you know what to do, and do it right - in order to avoid the very real possibility of personal liability for any mistakes. We are acutely aware of how difficult this may be for you, and we do our best to aid you through this process. We follow the accepted practice of generally charging according to the value of the Estate.
Estate Panning:
In addition to the Wills and Trusts, discussed above, there are many other aspects which you should consider along the way to planning for a secure future for yourself and your loved ones Our objective is to show you alternatives ad help you to decide you you can best use your money to help it grow and provide for the future.
I am not a Financial Planner. If we decide that you need one, I will steer you in that direct. But first, generally as a part of your estate planning process, we will take a look at your "big picture" to help you decide what resources you should be seeking.
Areas of Practice
* Enrolled Agent Information (from the IRS)
"An enrolled agent is a person who has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service by either passing a three-part comprehensive IRS test covering individual and business tax returns, or through experience as a former IRS employee. Enrolled agent status is the highest credential the IRS awards. Individuals who obtain this elite status must adhere to ethical standards and complete 72 hours of continuing education courses every three years."
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Intellectual Property Law:
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Protection of Trade Secrets, IP Portfolio Management, and Contracts relating to any of these: I spent a large portion of my career in this field representing clients including Apple, I.B.M., Hewlett Packard, 3Com, Phoenix Microsystems and many others. Of course, there is not so much call for an IP lawyer in Calaveras County as there is in Silicon Valley - but if you need one I am here. I offer free consultations to anyone who thinks they may have an IP issue.
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