Donna Peter Partner                          
Civil Litigation • Contracts • Injury • Real Property • Probate

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
In general civil practice for over 22 years, more than 16 of those in the Yuba/Sutter area, with the remaining years practicing in Yolo County. Diverse background in civil practice, including both transactional law and litigation. Wide range of litigation experience includes the following areas:

  • Estates and Probate: probate and trust administration, will and trust contests, breach of fiduciary duty, and conservatorship.
  • Real Property: easements and boundary disputes, quiet title, partition of property between co-owners, trespass and injury to land, crop damage and loss, commercial and residential unlawful detainer, enforcement of sales and option agreements, misrepresentation and failure to disclose, construction, mechanics liens.
  • Business: partnership, small corporation and LLC actions for accounting and dissolution, disputes among partners or members, breach of fiduciary duty.
  • Contracts: breach of contract, rescission, interpretation and enforcement of contract terms, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, collection of amounts due under contract and book accounts.
  • Personal Injury: motor vehicle accident, falls and other accidental injury, uninsured motorist, dental malpractice, defamation.
  • Family Law: premarital agreements, marital agreements, uncontested divorce, support and property settlement agreements.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
  • Established partnership liability for a substantial debt where the defendant claimed to be a mere investor.
  • Successfully pursued claim for costs of underground storage tank removal and clean up and testing of contaminated soil under the Underground Storage Tank Clean Up Act, and established prior owner liability for the non-recoverable consequential losses.
  • Prosecuted and defended claims of crop loss resulting from herbicide drift, including a $670,000 recovery in one case, and preventing personal liability of a client in another case where insurance coverage for the loss was disputed.
  • Farming partnership dissolution and partition of co-owned orchard land.
  • Successful defense of insurance brokerage against claims for commissions and other damages.
  • Judgment for client for damages resulting from breach of a non-competition clause in a business sale transaction.
  • Judgment in excess of $1,000,000 for client arising out of sale of an internet business.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of the recipient of life insurance proceeds left by a prior spouse, against attack by decedent’s estranged children.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of the adult children of a decedent against improper efforts to change the terms of a trust and disinherit them.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of the manufacturer of a calf vaccine in an injury to cattle case where multiple causes of death were alleged.
  • Quiet title actions to establish ownership of ancient railroad easement, boundary lines for rural properties, and ownership of property where chain of title was unclear.
  • Preserved a $3,000,000 estate for children of decedent over the claims of greedy step mother.
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dpeter@mh3law.com

ADMITTED TO PRACTICE
State Bar of California, 1987
United States District Court,
Eastern District
All California State Courts

EDUCATION
University of the Pacific,
McGeorge School of Law,
Juris Doctor, 1987
University of California, Davis,
B.S. Zoology, 1983

AWARDS
International Moot Court Award

PRESENTATIONS/PUBLICATIONS
Vice President of the International Moot Court Executive Committee in charge of overseeing research and writing of committee’s legal brief to the International Moot Court judges

Drafted and presented seminar on "Avoiding Liability For Wrongful Termination", Davis Chamber of Commerce, 1993.
References