Bellatrix Law

Dearn Law Group represents businesses in general civil matters from advice to litigation, and employers in all aspects of employment law. We work as an outsourced "general counsel" for our clients and are a trusted part of their business team, not just their hired guns.

The firm's advice and business services include policy drafting and review, litigation avoidance, auditing, and contract negotiation and drafting. The firm's litigation practice is also sophisticated and full service, including defense of law suits, government audits and class actions.

Dearn Law Group was started out of necessity. I had a highly successful career at a prestigious international law firm but felt deeply unsettled at the prospect of staying long term. Looking back, I believe that I am more entrepreneurial than I am big-corporate and that I felt stifled by the corporate environment. My strengths are that I am a creative, nimble thinker and a fast-adopter of strategic ideas and new technologies (traits more easily expressed as a business owner than as an employee). So when my husband needed me to go with him to London to be with an ailing parent, quitting the big firm to support him felt like a no-brainer -- my love for my family was massively more important to me than my big law firm career.

I was in England off and on for about ten months and could not work during that time. I used my spare time to educate myself about business, marketing, and technology. In October 2008, I returned to San Diego and quickly obtained several offers at law firms. But the economy simultaneously crashed and all my job offers were rescinded. I'm a problem solver and while thinking about how to make money to feed my family, I realized suddenly, "I still have a law license. I don't need a job at a law firm to practice law." I wasn't unemployed; I was self-employed, just by making my mind up. And so, Dearn Law Group was born using Craigslist and a laptop in my living room.

Today, the firm's ongoing mission is to use good business to help business. Dearn Law Group is passionate about helping entrepreneurs and businesses be successful now, and always, because businesspeople are the creative, driving force behind a free and prosperous society. Plus, doing business is just plain fun (I like to have fun if I am going to work this hard)!

• As a business lawyer, I act as general counsel to my clients and help them stay out of trouble while growing their businesses. For example, one client required clean up of liabilities in order to avoid bankruptcy. I aided in identifying problems (corporate, vendor disputes, collection issues, and employment law liabilities), aided in cleaning up operations and policies and settled multiple issues before they became lawsuits.

• I single-handedly defended a large class-action lawsuit based on alleged violations of wage law. The case was toughly fought by the plaintiffs, but because of strategic maneuvering and working closely with my clients to investigate and correct issues, we were able to settle the case favorably for my clients. My cost-effective services and the excellent settlement result saved my clients hundreds of thousands of dollars, while simultaneously identifying potential problems and correcting them to avoid future litigation.