Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen

Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen is a full service business, real property and civil trial law firm. Our eight attorneys work for clients engaged in real estate development, land use planning, construction, health care, manufacturing, higher education, non- profit organizations, employment ( management ), banking and finance, automobile sales, waste disposal, agriculture, water distribution and retail sales. We litigate cases in both trial and appellate courts and service client needs in probate, estate planning, and personal injury. We also represent several governmental agencies and represent clients before administrative agencies on the local, state and federal levels.We have been in business for 91 years. Walter S. Clayson began the firm in 1910 when he left the Los Angeles firm of O'Melveny & Meyers to practice in his hometown of Corona. In the next half-century, he established a distinguished regional reputation in business, agricultural and water law, and attracted other attorneys with similar skills and reputations to the growing practice.Our service is distinguished by client access and communication. This means we spend the time at the start to find out what the client wants and needs. We provide realistic data on possible results, alternative strategies, and expense, for informed client decision making. Our billings are descriptive and itemized. It is our policy to give the client copies of our work product and to answer all client inquiries promptly.We are interested in doing quality legal work and not in marketing or selling our services at client expense. Our style is low-key and stresses reliability. The attorney with whom the client has contact is the attorney who does or closely supervises the work. We do not employ a cadre of law clerks and paralegals. Our attorneys engage in the hands-on practice of law.The result is a firm of stability and excellent reputation. Martindale-Hubbell, the leading directory of attorneys in the United States, gives our firm its highest rating of A-V for legal ability and ethics based on the evaluation of our peers in the legal community. The firm has played a leadership role in the land use, real estate and business development of the region.The firm began in 1910 when Walter S. Clayson left the firm of O'Melveny & Meyers in Los Angeles to practice in his hometown of Corona. Over the next half century, he established a distinguished regional reputation in business, agriculture and water law, and attracted other attorneys with similar reputations to the growing practice.The firm was the first member of the Corona Chamber of Commerce, joining in 1914, and its founder played a major role in shaping the city's future. Clayson's advice regarding risks and liability contributed to the abandonment of the Corona Road Races after 1916. His expertise as a litigator secured water rights that helped citrus farmers make Corona the lemon capital of the world. He served as city attorney for more than 20 years and as the town's Justice of the Peace.In 1950, Don Stark, fresh from a clerkship with the California Supreme Court, joined Clayson. Stark attracted a friend and fellow Supreme Court law clerk, E. Spurgeon "Spud" Rothrock to the firm which became known as Clayson, Stark & Rothrock, a name it carried for many years.Stark was an outstanding attorney in water rights, public agency law and antitrust litigation. Rothrock developed a business, probate and estate planning practice that made him a leading citizen of the community. Roy H. Mann joined the firm in 1955, coming from a large Los Angeles firm. His excellent skills as a business and litigation problem solver has made him the leader of the firm to the present day. In 1963, Erling Arend and Derrill Yaeger joined the firm. Arend later took over Rothrock's probate and estate practice. Yaeger is perhaps the firm's best known attorney due to his leadership in planning and development that made Corona one of the fastest growing cities in Califor