Mr. Dwyer has extensive appellate expertise with an outstanding record of success in both civil and criminal matters. See Appellate Decisions. A successful appeal begins with a complete record in the trial court. If a court issues a tentative ruling that is not well founded, make sure to have a court reporter there for any oral argument before final decision. Spend the time to get every issue into the trial court record. If it is not there, it may be waived. Appellate briefing is largely about presentation of the legal issues from an equity and/or policy persepctive. The statement of the issues and the summary of background facts are critical. Ask yourself why should relief be granted. Appellate courts are busy. A brief that set outs the issues clearly and succinctly is the best approach.

Explaining the conceptual differences between copyrights, patents, and trademarks is the starting point. There is often confusion between what can be copyrighted and patented and what protection is offered by each form of intellectual property. Businesses often do not understand the importance of “branding” and how that is accomplished with the right trade or service mark. Mr. Dwyer has extensive engineering experience in digital and analog electronics, software, mechanical design, fabrication, and manufacturing. See his Patents and Publications page. Mr. Dwyer has both domestic and international experience with intellectual property and is especially focused on helping clients integrate their “IP” into their everyday business agreements. This is often overlooked and later comes back to “haunt” a business when it tries to expand, merge or be sold. Distribution, marketing, and agency agreements need provisions that protect a company’s IP from being misappropriated or lost. Often someone will have a new “idea” and wants to share the idea with a possible investor. If disclosed without proper protection, the idea can be lost. Mr. Dwyer helps individuals and businesses protect their IP with non- dislcosure agrements. Once the new idea is secured, then Mr. Dwyer can provide extensive licensing and transactional expertise.

Selecting the right legal structure for your business is very important. There are many factors that need to be considered, especially ownership, intellectual property, and tax questions. In small or family owned businesses, the primary issues often revolve around the management of the company, dispute resolution, rights to buy out other owners, and how the business will be terminated or inherited. These issues are frequently not given the attention deserved. The common result is expensive litigation when the business partners or family members want to go in different directions. Careful legal planning should include provisions that deal directly with these matters. Mr. Dwyer is experienced with the formation and organization of C corps, S corps, close corps, LLCs, general and limited partnerships, and charitable corps.

Mr. Dwyer is also an electronics engineer (see Patents and Publications) with considerable software and digital design experience. He has used this expertise in several cases with key evidence located on digital devices. In one case, People v. Pellerin, he was able to track down evidence tampering by a sheriff’s department that had modified video files on a hand held video camera for the purpose of falsely incriminating his client. In another case, Mr. Dwyer was responsible for making a forensic copy of a computer server and then running that copy “inside” of a lap top computer in court to prove that a certain software program on the original server was present, complete, and operable as required by the contract. In another case, he examined text messages sent by a GPS tracking device to disprove the report of an expert for the prosecution that the GPS device had been used for illegal survielance.

Mr. Dwyer has been directing the focus of his practice into the field of civil rights since 2010. I sometimes get calls from potential clients, but they are too late. It is crucial that your claims against the State of California be preserved with a timely filing of a government tort claim as required by California Government Code 915. YOU MUST FILE A CLAIM WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF THE INJURY OR THE DATE YOU BECAME AWARE OF THE INJURY. GC 911.2 Many claims that are actionable under state law are also actionable under federal law. This field of law is complex and I recommend consultation with a lawyer. Federal claims for constitutional violation of civil rights typically have a two year statute of limitations. But again, check with a lawyer! To file a claim against a county or local government entity you must complete a claim form and deliver the form to the County Board of Supervisors office. I recommend personal delivery or certified mail. GC 915(a). The claim must include the information set out at GC 910. How you state your claim can be crucial to its success. I recommend that a lawyer help you with this process. You can file a claim against the state or a state agency or employee with the State Board of Control (SBC), by delivering the claim to any local SBC office or by mailing it to: State Board of Control Government Claims Branch P.O. Box 3035, Sacramento, CA 95812. The State Board of Control’s contact info is: (916) 323-3564 (voice); (916) 323-5768 (fax); 800-955-0045, or you can download a form from: http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/publications/claims.aspx http://www.governmentclaims.ca.gov/claims/howtofile.aspx