Practice Areas

Civil and Criminal Forfeiture

Victor Sherman—Janet Sherman

Criminal and Civil Forfeiture Law

State and federal prosecutors often seize real or personal property and seek asset forfeiture from individuals believed to be profiting from illegal activity. The law firm of Sherman & Sherman routinely defends clients and fights aggressively to protect their assets and property against unwarranted seizure by the authorities throughout California and in other jurisdictions across the nation.

Although we do handle criminal forfeiture cases, they are rare because they require a criminal conviction. Therefore prosecutors often choose to bring actions under civil forfeiture law in the majority of cases.

Criminal forfeiture requires:

• A criminal conviction
• That the assets or property have a sufficient relationship to the illegal activity

Civil forfeiture differs in that:

• Civil forfeiture actions are not taken against the owner of the assets or property, but against the assets and property themselves
• No criminal conviction is necessary, and in many cases there is not even a criminal charge against the legal owner of the assets or property
• The government’s attorney must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the property in question has a sufficient relationship to illegal activity to justify forfeiture.
• Most forfeiture cases are federal. California forfeiture statues are somewhat different and provide greater protection for owners of real and personal property in most cases.

Most individuals in the United States do not understand or are not even aware of how much power the government has to seize the assets and property of its citizens under civil forfeiture law. Our attorneys have helped hundreds of individuals regain their seized property.

If you are facing asset forfeiture proceedings for any reason, contact the law firm of Sherman & Sherman. We have had a tremendous number of successes in protecting our clients’ interests in these cases. Call our lawyers today at our Santa Monica office to learn how we can help.