Law Firm of Watkins, Blakely & Torgerson serving Orange County and all of California
OUR ATTORNEYS
Best Possible Outcome — The firm's lawyers are committed to achieving the best possible legal result for each client. Whether before a jury, a trial judge, appellate judges, mediator, arbitrator, or government agency we expect good results. Good results come from experience, repeated success, applied legal knowledge and an appreciation for each special need of each client.
Returning Clients — Since 1967 clients have been repeatedly returned to this law firm for their legal needs. Building a law firm over many years requires client satisfaction. Enjoy the special advantage offered by our seasoned legal representatives.
THE FIRM & ITS ATTORNEYS
P. ARNSEN BLAKELY
E-mail: blake@lawfriend.com
Voice Mail: 714-556-0800, ext. 2222
Standard Fax: 714-641-4012
Personal Fax: 714-885-7046
Cellular Emergencies: 714-403-9390
Mr. Blakely devotes his practice to transactional matters including drafting and negotiating contracts, preparing wills, trusts, working in taxation, business formation and compliance, trust administration, probate, copyrights, trade marks, civil appeals and civil litigation.
Supporting all his personal and company transaction work is Mr. Blakely's extensive experience with lawsuits. He is well aware of contract clauses and terms that can and do cause lawsuits. He has gained valuable lawsuit experience in representing clients with all types financial problems, employee terminations, business collections, contract disputes, corporation disputes, administrative compliance, securities issues, wills and trust disputes and tax litigation.
Mr. Blakely began his legal career as a prosecutor in the District Attorney's Office in the city of Visalia, Tulare County, and then moved to the District Attorney's office in San Jose and Palo Alto, where he handled major felony and misdemeanor trials. This work included working with grand and petite juries, trial strategy, pre trial and post trial preparation, experience in cross examination of hostile witnesses, and a variety of other skills obtainable only through trying a large number of cases. He received the Distinguished Service Award as an outstanding prosecutor in the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office (San Jose office).
After completing his work with the District Attorney's office, he devoted his full time practice to the civil defense of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Blakely had previously passed the Certified Public Accountant's exam during the same year he passed the Bar Exam, and was qualified to work with balance sheets, income statements, funds flow statements, auditing problems, and defalcations. Here the work related to compliance with required auditing procedures, financial statement disclosure problems, audit work paper oversights, misuse of funds, federal 10(b)(5) issues and a host of other accounting related problems. In 1976 Mr. Blakely began work as an attorney employee of the Watkins, Blakely & Torgerson law firm (then known as Cohen, Stokke & Davis) and remained with this law firm to the present. After a few years, he became a partner of this law firm and at the present time he is the senior partner of the firm. During his many years with this law firm his practice has expanded to include a wide variety of business and personal matters for a large variety of clients.
Mr. Blakely received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Southern California and graduated cum-laude earning his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law. He also studied as a graduate business candidate in accounting at the University of Southern California and has passed the Certified Public Accountants Exam. Mr. Blakely is a member of the Orange County Bar Association and has served as a judge pro tem and an arbitrator on a variety of civil cases. Mr. Blakely has also served as a member of the board of directors on various nonprofit corporations.
NOEL K. TORGERSON
E-mail: noel@lawfriend.com
Voice Mail: 714-556-0800, ext. 2111
Main Fax: 714-641-4012
Mr. Torgerson is primarily engaged in civil litigation in state and federal courts with emphasis in real estate, business and construction matters. His practice encompasses representation of litigation cases involving construction defects, land subsidence, broker disputes, community association law, employment litigation, professional malpractice, insurance defense, wrongful death and general business disputes.
Noel K. Torgerson has extensive experience in business, construction and real estate litigation.
Mr. Torgerson received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with distinction, in economics from the University of Arizona in 1970. He then served two years as an officer in the United States Army. He returned to school and earned his law degree from the University of Southern California (J.D., 1975), where he was an editor of the law review.
Mr. Torgerson is involved in professional and community organizations, including the Orange County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Business Trial Lawyers Association and the Lincoln Club. He has served as judge Pro Tem and has been appointed by the Office of Public Counsel and Amicus Publico to represent indigent litigants .
PAUL K. WATKINS
E-mail: paul@lawfriend.com
Telephone: 714-556-0800, ext. 2108
Standard Fax: 714-641-4012
Mr. Watkins' area of expertise is real estate and contract law. He assists clients in commercial and residential developments, lease negotiations, community association documentation, construction contracts, construction loans and permanent financing, security instruments, loan arrangements and workouts. He counsels clients in matters involving all types of real property, including shopping centers, office buildings, retail, industrial and residential developments.
Mr. Watkins is an active member of the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) and the State Bar of California. He is a former two-term Chair of the OCBA Real Estate Law Section, served as an OCBA director, and has participated on numerous OCBA committees, including the Client Relations Committee, the Education Committee and the Committee on Professionalism. Mr. Watkins has been a delegate to the State Bar Conference of Delegates since 1980. He is a member of the Building Industry Association and is active with the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce where he has served at its chairman of the Board.. Within the State Bar, he is active in the Real Property Law Section and has written several articles for its publication, the "California Real Property Journal."
Mr. Watkins is the former Vice Chair of the State Bar Real Property Law Section Executive Committee and the former Managing Editor of the California Closing Practices Handbook. He is a regular speaker on panels sponsored by the Continuing Education of the Bar, the State Bar and local bar associations.
Mr. Watkins received his undergraduate degree (B.A.), M.B.A. and law degree (J.D.) from the University of Southern California.
JOSEPH MANCINI
E-mail: joseph@lawfriend.com
Voice Mail: 714-556-0800, ext. 2112
Main Fax: 714-641-4012
Joseph Mancini's practice areas include foreign and domestic corporations, mergers and acquisitions, corporate formations and dissolutions, contract negotiations and documents, estate planning, tax negotiations and resolution, probate, , compliance with health-care anti-referrals laws, and contract law for health care professionals.
Among the many clients represented by Mr. Mancini are: Walk-in Medical Clinics, Physicians, Hospitals, Hospitalists, Medical Groups, Independent Physician Associations, Dialysis Centers, Imaging Centers, Home Health Centers, Pharmaceutical Wholesalers, Pharmacies, Medical Equipment Distributors, Trustees, Executors,Tax Return Preparers, Corporate and Individuals before the IRS and EDD, to name just a few.
Mr. Mancini earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton in 1968. He became a Certified Public Accountant CPA in 1974. As a CPA, he performed audits of multi-billion dollar procurement contracts with the Department of. Defense, Mr. Mancini received his law degree in 1983.
Mr. Mancini is a member of the Orange County Bar Association (Corporate Tax Section), the and the State Bar of California (Estate Planning and Probate Sections) and a member of California Health Care . He is also a former member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also served as a director of the board and executive vice president of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County.