Hackard Law is welcoming Heath Langle to our estate and trust litigation team. Heath is well known in Northern California for his legal work in protecting heirs and beneficiaries in estates and trusts. He’s a Professor of Wills and Trusts at Lincoln Law School in Sacramento and studied at San Francisco State University for his undergraduate degree as well as receiving his Juris Doctor from Lincoln Law School in 2005. Heath was admitted to the California State Bar in 2006, both practicing law and eventually teaching classes on estates and trusts at Lincoln Law School. We, along with our clients, look forward to having him as part of our litigation team – a team that works to protect and their families from financial elder abuse and wr[...]

Our laws are designed to protect all of us – our general safety. To ensure our rights against abuses by other people or institutions. Many times, after an injury the insurance company will try to pay as little as possible to protect their profits. Isn’t this upside-down logic? Our laws are meant to protect injured people first over insurance profits. In our system of justice, we don’t let criminals set the penalty for the crime. The same principles should apply in civil cases. Negligent drivers should pay the price for the injuries that they’ve caused. You deserve lawyers who will work to get you paid nothing less than every dime you deserve. If you’ve been injured in a car crash, call us at Hackard Law – 916 313-303[...]

I’m Mike Hackard of Hackard Law. It’s been over 40 years since I represented my first client injured in a car crash case. The rules that applied over 4 decades ago still apply today. California’s system of compensation is simple. Damages are recovered when a defendant was negligent, a plaintiff was harmed, and the defendant’s negligence is a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s harm. Negligence is the failure to use reasonable care to prevent harm to oneself or to others. The most common car crash negligence cases are rear-end collisions, single vehicle crashes, T-Bone or Cross-Traffic crashes, clipping other cars when merging, and low speed accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identifies[...]

I’m Mike Hackard of Hackard Law. All of us worry about traffic safety. For our families, friends as well as ourselves. Frequent Sacramento Area commuters, like me, experience and can predict common areas of traffic congestion. Congestion is one thing, but Sacramento’s deadliest highway stretches are another. It’s always good to be careful and it helps to know which driving areas are particularly dangerous. Sacramento’s deadliest highway corridors are US Highway 50 from the I-5/US Route 50 Interchange east to just beyond Bradshaw Road and the 14 miles from the US Highway 50/CA Highway 99 Interchange south on State Highway 99 to just beyond Grant Line Road. Auto accidents involving cars, trucks and other motor vehicle crashes[...]

Lawyers who represent clients in wrongful death lawsuits have challenges unlike those encountered in regular civil litigation. Our work environment is a blend of respect and empathy for great human suffering tied to our professional obligation to represent our clients to the best of our ability. Over the years I’ve represented decedent’s estates, spouses, parents, children, and siblings in wrongful death actions. These actions are complex and become particularly so when families are divided and file separate actions. While complex, there are legal mechanisms to advance all of these cases to resolution. Our news is full of tragedies. And, some of these tragedies involve some very well-known wrongful death cases. We can look at Vane[...]

You are the beneficiary of your father’s trust. You’re also the successor trustee. Your father created the trust. This makes him the settlor. He is also the trustee. He manages the trust. He names himself as the trust’s primary beneficiary of the trust during his lifetime. You become the successor trustee at his death. You now have the duties of management and administration. You and your three siblings are beneficiaries of the trust. You are not trained for this. Trust assets include rental properties, the family home, and stocks and bonds. You have the duty to marshal the assets. This means you are to organize and ultimately distribute assets to creditors and beneficiaries. Contractual or legal claims are also assets of [...]

For many years there was nothing that we as attorneys could do. Calls from childhood victims of sexual assault often ended with unwelcome news that the claims were time barred. Now the law is different. California’s new age limit for filing childhood sexual assault claims is 40. Just as important, there’s a 3-year look-back window for previously time barred claims – even for people over 40. This 3-year window of justice closes at the end of 2022. We know it’s hard to break the silence. But, if ever there was ever a time to talk, it’s now. We’ll listen. We’ll share what we know. And, if we take your case, we charge contingency fees, which means you owe us nothing until we win or settle your case. Call Hackard Law[...]

At Hackard Law, we enjoy reaching out to our audience and raising interest through periodic special contests. We’re happy to complete our latest sweepstakes for a Yamaha P-45 Keyboard – one of the best keyboards on the market. We wanted to help one of you create beautiful music, and we thought your comments were terrific. I even came across some great artists I hadn’t heard of until you shared them. So let’s relay the winner selected by our random comment picker software. We’re pleased to announce that Ryan Witzman will receive the Yamaha P-45 Keyboard once he responds with his information to Hackard Law. Thank you all for your comments, likes and participation, and stay tuned for our next contest. Hackard Law: Attorne[...]