Law offices of
Larry L. Baumbach

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530-891-6222

Areas of Practice

Legal knowledge, practical wisdom, trusted advice.

Areas Of Practice

At the Law Offices of Larry L. Baumbach, we handle cases of all sizes, from simple to complicated. We are skilled in the following matters, among others:

Employment And Labor Law

Complaints of discrimination, harassment, retaliatory discharge, and wage and hour violations are on the rise. We are experienced in all facets of employment law. We represent individuals and businesses in a wide range of employment issues including:

  • Discrimination Federal law provides protection against discrimination. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits employers from discriminating against workers based on race, sex, gender, age (over 40), national origin, religion, skin color, pregnancy, sexual orientation, military status, and physical and mental disability.
  • Disability Discrimination California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides employee’s protection against employers who discriminate based on physical disability, mental disability, or medical condition as long as an employee is able to perform his or her essential duties with or without accommodation.
  • Reasonable Accommodation An employer may be required to provide an employee a reasonable accommodation to enable them to perform the essential duties of their job. A reasonable accommodation could include modifying work schedules, providing a leave of absence, or moving an employee’s desk.
  • Pregnancy Disability There are several laws that protect pregnant workers including California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and California Family Rights Act (CFRA). These laws provide pregnant workers with the right to take maternity leave, time off to bond with their child, and time off if disabled by pregnancy, disabled by childbirth, or for a medical condition related to pregnancy or child birth.
  • Sexual Harassment can include a variety of unwanted sexual behaviors including sexual advancements, offers of advancement in exchange for sexual favors (quid pro quo), physical touching, verbal abuse of a sexual nature, and lewd gestures.
  • Retaliation is when an employer takes an action that adversely affects an employee’s job such as a firing, demotion, or harassment resulting from an employee’s response to workplace discrimination.
  • Wrongful Termination covers when an employee is fired or demoted for an unlawful reason such as discrimination and retaliation.
  • Whistleblower Claims California law prohibits employers from illegally firing or retaliating against an employee who refuses to break the law or who gives information to a government agency regarding workplace violations of state or federal law.
  • Leaves of Absence Federal Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and California Family Rights Act (CFRA) protects qualified workers by requiring a qualified employer to provide a paid or unpaid leave of absence of up to 12 workweeks in the event of medical or family emergencies including for the birth or adoption of a child, a serious health condition, and an immediate family member who is suffering from a serious illness. Federal and California law also protects workers by providing a leave of absence for jury duty, voting, military service, and witness testimony.
  • Wage and Hour Issues including unpaid wages, overtime pay claims, paystub violations, reimbursement for work related expenses, pay for all hours worked upon termination, and meal and rest break claims.
  • Hostile Work Environment covers an employee who has been harassed based on a protected category such as age, race, disability, sex, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and military status.
  • Breach of Written Employment Contracts
  • Skelly Hearings For employees who have government or public entity employment.

Personal Injury

Personal injury accidents are often caused by the negligence, carelessness, or recklessness of others. We represent clients in personal injury claims involving personal injuries and wrongful death including:

  • Vehicle Accidents including auto accidents, truck accidents, pedestrian accidents, bike and motorcycle accidents.
  • Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims (UM/UIM Coverage) Insurance companies are often reluctant to pay UM/UIM claims. We represent clients that were hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver and purchased UM/UIM insurance. UM/UIM insurance covers the driver and any passengers in the insured vehicle who suffer injury caused by a driver with no insurance or with minimal limits. The driver and passengers may be compensated for damages for bodily injury through a UM/UIM policy.
  • Premises Liability including slip and fall accidents, trip and fall accidents, animal attacks, and unsafe premises accidents.
  • Dog Bite Injuries including negligent dog owners, aggressive dogs, and leash law violations.
  • Sexual Assault/Sexual Abuse including childhood sexual abuse and molestation.

Civil Rights And Civil Liberties

Civil rights law is the protection of an individual’s rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It is an area of law that protects an individual’s freedom from infringement by government and private organizations. We represent individuals whose Constitutional rights have been violated including:

  • Police Misconduct including excessive force, police brutality, unjustified deadly force, misuse of police dogs, false arrest, and illegal searches.
  • Discrimination including discrimination based on race, gender, and age (over 40).
  • First Amendment including violations of freedom of speech.
  • Fourth Amendment including violations of privacy and unreasonable search and seizures.
  • Fifth Amendment including Miranda Rights violations.
  • Sixth Amendment including right to an attorney.
  • Eighth Amendment including prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
  • Fourteenth Amendment including due process of law and equal protection of the laws.

Appellate

Courts do occasionally make mistakes. The appeals process allows a higher court to review a lower court’s decision and deliver orders meant to correct errors if those errors altered the outcome or judgment. Appeals focus primarily on the law and its correct interpretation and application. It is presented by written briefs and oral argument in an attempt to persuade a panel of judges to adopt a particular view of what the law is or what it must become. Appellate work requires an attorney to have the ability to scrutinize lower court proceedings and identify appealable errors, write coherent and effective briefs, persuasive legal reasoning, and a broad knowledge of the unique rules and procedures of appellate courts.

Mr. Baumbach has a high success rate on appeals including one resulting in a rare published opinion. He has participated in appellate cases at the state and federal levels including actions before the Third District Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. We can help you decide if appealing your case is right for your situation and assess the likelihood of success on appeal.

Published OpinionDeorle v. Rutherford, 272 F.3d 1272, 1279 (9th Cir. 2001)

Insurance Bad Faith

California law states that insurance companies must not act unfairly or in bad faith to persons they insure.  We represent policyholders of various insurance policies, including auto insurance, homeowners insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, and business insurance whose insurance companies are acting in bad faith.  Bad faith includes denying a claim without valid reason, improperly valuing a claim (lowballing a settlement offer), failing to investigate a claim in a reasonable manner, refusing to pay a claim without investigating, failing to accurately disclose policy limits, unjustly delaying investigation or payment of a claim, and being misleading or dishonest about policy limits or policy language.