Changes In Store for California HOA Elections
11/18/19
By: Nicole Clowdsley
With 2020 fast approaching, California HOAs should be proactively preparing to comply with a litany of new statutorily mandated changes to their election processes. On October 12, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 323 into …
California Lawyers Cannot Churn Files
11/7/19
By: Greg Fayard
Under the Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to California lawyers, attorneys are not supposed to do things where the substantial purpose is to delay, prolong, or cause needless expense. Under Rule 3.2, lawyers can be disciplined for …
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: The Enforceability of Long-Term Leak Exclusions
10/24/19
By: Anastasia Osbrink
My family and I recently arrived home one evening to discover our laminate floors warm to the touch and pushing up at the seams. A friend who was visiting asked if we had heated floors. Heated floors? …
California Lawyers Now Have A Duty of Diligence
9/13/19
By: Greg Fayard
The prior rules of professional conduct for California lawyers required them to be competent but were silent on also being “diligent.” Under the latest version of the rules, California lawyers now have an express duty of diligence. …
California Attempts to Change Standard of Liability for Use of Force Claims
8/29/19
By: Sara Brochstein
Earlier this month, California enacted a new measure that goes into effect in 2020 altering the use of deadly force standard for law enforcement officers. The law was originally introduced in response to the March 2018 shooting …
Could Facebook’s $5 Billion FTC Fine for Privacy Violations be Covered by Cyber Insurance?
8/14/19
By: Isis Miranda
A similar question was posed to me recently at a conference where I was speaking about the GDPR (European General Data Protection Regulation): “Could my company just buy insurance instead of worrying about whether our China-based venders …
From the Windows to the Walls: California Homeowners Consider Earthquake Coverage
8/12/19
By: Kristin Ingulsrud
Californians witnessed a series of earthquakes over the recent Fourth of July Weekend, prompting a ten-fold increase in visits to the California Earthquake Authority’s (“CEA”) website.
The CEA is California’s primary earthquake insurer, created after the devasting …
Does a California Lawyer Have to Convey All Settlement Offers to the Client?
7/31/19
By: Greg Fayard
Not necessarily. Under Rule 1.4.1 of the ethics rules for California lawyers, in criminal matters, all terms and conditions of plea bargains or other dispositive offers, whether written or oral, have to be communicated to the client …
Are Verbal Fee Splits Among California Law Firms Okay?
7/18/19
By: Greg Fayard
The answer to this question is now “no.” When different law firms split a legal fee–say a contingency fee–verbal “gentlemen’s agreements” are not permitted under California’s new ethics rules. The old ethics rules allowed different law offices …
Can a California Supervising Lawyer Be Disciplined for an Associate’s Misconduct?
6/28/19
By: Greg Fayard
The answer to this question is yes, in certain circumstances. This is a change under the current rules of professional conduct for lawyers compared to the prior rules, which expired last October 31, 2018.
Rule 5.1 says …
The State Bar of California Moves to Suspend Michael Avenatti’s Law License
6/11/19
By: Paige Pembrook
On June 3, the State Bar of California filed a petition to place attorney Michael Avenatti – infamous for his past representation of Stephanie Clifford (a.k.a. Stormy Daniels) and his own present legal woes – on involuntary …
Dear California Legislature the Constitution Prohibits Ex Post Facto Laws
6/10/19
By: David Molinari
If you have practiced law in the State of California for an appreciable period of time you become numb to warnings from out-of-state clients and counsel bemoaning enactments by the state’s legislature that will doom business and …