It just became more difficult for plaintiffs to scream ‘Counter-Offer’
12/13/21
By: Matthew S. Jones
The California Court of Appeal for the Sixth Appellate District recently analyzed the issue of an agreed upon amount of a settlement and memorializing the settlement terms. In the case CSAA Ins. Exchange v. Hodroj (2021) …
Will a California Court’s ruling on an Anti-SLAPP Motion arising from a revenge-porn case stand?
12/10/21
By: Parisa Saleki
In 2017, when Kathryn Hill announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives for California’s 25th congressional district, the talk of the town was whether she could beat incumbent representative Steven Knight. In 2018, the …
Economic loss doctrine bars medical device company’s negligence claim against IT vendor arising out of personal health information data breach
12/9/21
By: William E. Gildea
In Zoll Medical Corp. v. Barracuda Networks, Inc., et al, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts Civil Action No. 20-11997-NMG, (D. Mass. Sept. 21, 2021) (Gorton, J) (“Zoll”), Plaintiff Zoll Medical Corp. (“Zoll Medical”) sued a third-party IT vendor over …
Animals at large – or, when the cows don’t come home
12/8/21
By: D. Jeffrey Grate
Imagine you are the owner of a farm in rural Georgia and were awakened by the knock on your door by a deputy sheriff who advised you that one of your cows had caused a motor …
Arbitration v. litigation: dispute resolution considerations for construction professionals
12/7/21
By: Nicolas Bohorquez
An often-overlooked side effect of litigation, particularly in the construction industry, is the impact that it has on day-to-day operations. The more involved and protracted the litigation, the more your company must reallocate its resources (i.e. time and money) to tend to …
Bill banning mandatory arbitration in financial services one step closer to becoming Law
12/6/21
By: Leo G. Kogan
Most retail investors have signed a customer agreement requiring that all claims against their broker or financial advisor be resolved through arbitration. Last week, the House Financial Services’ Committee took a step toward making such mandatory arbitration provisions a thing of the …
Recent Second Circuit decision demonstrates importance of carefully drafted engagement letters
12/6/21
By: David A. Slocum
A recent decision issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit demonstrates the importance of having carefully drafted client engagement letters clearly defining the scope of an attorney’s representation. In Allegrino v. …
Attention debt collectors in California: new law requires action by December 31, 2021
12/3/21
By: Mandy D. Hexom
Beginning January 1, 2022, pursuant to California’s new Debt Collection Licensing Act (DCLA), all consumer debt collectors who are collecting on their own account or the account of others, including debt buyers, must be licensed with the California Department of …
Federal government temporarily enjoined from enforcing federal contractor and CMS healthcare vaccine mandates in various states
12/2/21
By Ryan Giggi
As noted in our recent blog, OSHA announced in mid-November, 2021 that it was suspending activities related to the enforcement of its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) – which would have required businesses with more than …
California District Court rules third-party employees on Tesla jobsite can bring direct claims against Tesla for alleged labor law violations
11/30/21
By: J. Austin Anderson
In 2014, U.S.-based company Eisenmann was selected to act as a general contractor for a large-scale construction project at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California. Eisenmann contracted with Slovenia-based construction company Vuzem to provide labor for …
California passes another bill addressing COVID-19 reporting
11/29/21
By: Gaia T. Linehan
In September, 2020, California passed AB 685, which laid out new notification and reporting requirements for California employers dealing with Covid-19 exposure. Employers may recall that AB 685 authorized Cal/OSHA (California’s state OSHA agency) to issue …
Kentucky Supreme Court ends pro-insurer streak in bad faith cases
11/24/21
By: Barry Miller
Insurers have had a nice streak of winning bad faith decisions from Kentucky’s courts of appeal. But in September the Supreme Court of Kentucky reminded carriers that sometimes a jury gets to decide whether a coverage debate was reasonable. …