Construction, Business and Real Estate Law in Santa Barbara

The Law Offices of Barton C. Merrill is a small law firm located in downtown Santa Barbara. The firm provides the level of personal attention you expect from a small firm with the resources and experience often found only at a large law office. We specialize in:

• Construction and Surety Law
  • Contractor Disputes
  • Mechanic’s Liens
  • Arbitration and Mediation
  • Court & Jury Trials and Appeals
  • Construction, Real Estate & Business Agreements
  • Insurance Coverage
• Real Estate Law, including:
• Foreclosures, property and neighbor disputes, landlord/tenant, condominium law, including knowledge of the obligation imposed by Davis-Sterling Act and sales transactions.
• Business Law, including:
•  Formation and dispute resolution.

Why Choose Us for your Construction, Real Estate and/or Business Disputes

We recognize that construction, real estate and/or business disputes can extremely expensive and emotionally debilitating. The only people that really enjoy being in a courtroom are the judge, his bailiff, the court reporter, the clerk and the attorneys. If you have to resolve your dispute through litigation you want someone who is familiar with the process and can assist you in minimizing the emotional difficulties associated with the process. Our extensive experience in these types of disputes enables us to provide superior resolution of simple and common issues to the most complex of conflicts and minimize the possibility of jeopardizing important business relationships.

We work hard to preserve existing business relationships by identifying and resolving disputes before litigation commences but if a law suit is filed against you then you should expect to achieve the best possible result for the least amount of monetary expenditures.

Most litigation disputes involve poorly drafted or vague agreements that lead to subsequent problems, particularly related to costs and performance. One or both of the parties thought the agreement said one thing when in fact the language mandated an entirely different result. Your agreements should not result in a law suit being filed.

We have over 22 years experience in handling complex construction disputes involving breach of contract claims, mechanic liens and construction defect litigation. Our firm will aggressively defend your rights and knows how to investigate construction, real estate or business disputes. Because we are a smaller firm, we can provide clients with the type of direct service that they are entitled to when it is needed.

Our extensive experience enables us to provide superior resolution of simple and common issues to the most complex of conflicts in construction, real estate and business law.