Merritt, Hagen & Sharf LLP

We offer an unmatched level of experience. Our lawyers have each represented thousands of bankruptcy filings, our knowledge base is unique, and our firm has served our community for 25 years. Attorney David Hagen spent 8 years serving as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee for the United States Trustee’s Office for the Central District. This gives him unique experience on the other side of bankruptcy law — insight that he now puts to work for his debtor clients. Hagen left the panel to focus his career entirely on his private practice. Few other bankruptcy law firms can offer this level of experience or claim to have training in the way the other side thinks.

Our lawyers have been AV® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® for many years and are extremely experienced and educated. Their work in bankruptcy law has been quoted in the Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and KNBC Channel 4. Mark Sharf has served broadly as a panelist, lecturer, and author in the field bankruptcy law. He was an editor of the important book Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Practice in California (CEB, 2003), as well as the author of the preface and a chapter in the book. David Hagen has taught college-level courses for paralegals in multiple local colleges and as an instructor in the MBA program at California Lutheran University. He published a highly acclaimed booklet titled The Basics of Bankruptcy for Accountants and Attorneys and an audio series on how to prosper and avoid bankruptcy. He is the co-creator and host of Legal Forum — a television program that plays on East and West Valley cable networks and covers public interest topics.

We firmly believe that the practice of law is a service-oriented business. Firms that recognize this truth and provide quality, individualized legal services have traditionally been very successful. This is why the primary goal of our practice is to provide quality, individual attention to each and every one of our clients. The following list includes examples of some of the ways we try to distinguish ourselves and achieve our goals:

We want our clients to be fully informed at all times. Clients receive copies of all correspondence and documents as part of our standard operating procedures. We attempt to return all calls as soon as possible.
We pride ourselves on explaining legally complex situations using plain language and avoiding complicated industry jargon. We believe that part of our job is to ensure that our clients understand the law and how it applies to their particular circumstances. We do not believe in using “legalese.” Most clients find our letters and documents refreshingly easy to understand.

Few things are worse than expending a tremendous amount of time and money in pursuit of a weak case. We provide a realistic appraisal of our clients’ positions up front so that they can make informed decisions regarding how to proceed. We believe that an informed decision should always include a cost-benefit analysis to ensure that moving forward makes economic sense.

Each and every client deserves and receives personal attention from our attorneys and staff. We believe that this is one of the primary reasons our clients appreciate our services. We utilize state-of-the-art software to ensure that each client receives clean, concise documentation that is custom prepared for them.
The field of law can change so fast that a lawyer’s knowledge can become obsolete in a very short period of time. Accordingly, we attend many seminars each year to stay abreast of current legal developments. Our lawyers also make it a priority to teach several seminars every year because we find that nothing enhances our knowledge of a topic more than preparing to teach it to others.