Independent Contractor vs Employee Status in the Gig Economy
5/31/18
By: Daniel Walsh
As recently noted by FMG’s Connor Bateman, Courts across the country are now reexamining coverage issues stemming from auto insurance policies held by drivers working with Transportation Network Companies (“TNCs”) such as Lyft and Uber.
In …
Winemakers Decan’t Warn a Consumer About Every Risk
5/16/18
A Pour Result for Plaintiffs’ Attorneys in California, but a Grape Win for Vintners
By: Robyn Flegal
In May 2018, the California Court of Appeals refused to revive a class action lawsuit claiming wines made by fifteen winemakers should contain …
In California Lawyer-Client Sex Will Soon Be A No-No
5/14/18
By: Greg Fayard
In California, lawyers can have consensual sex with their clients as long as it is not based on coercion or in exchange for legal services. That will change this Fall. On May 10, 2018, the California Supreme …
Philadelphia's “Salary History Ban Law” Gets Banned!
5/7/18
By: John McAvoy
More than a half-century after President JFK signed the Equal Pay Act, the gender pay gap is still with us. Women earn 79 cents for every dollar men earn, according to the Census Bureau. What will it …
DOJ Fails to Challenge 5th Circuit Ruling Striking Fiduciary Rule
5/3/18
By: Theodore C. Peters
On March 15, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal stuck down the “fiduciary rule” proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL), which required brokers to act in the best interests of their clients in retirement …
Banks Attempt to Expand the Scope of Liability for Escrow Companies
4/27/18
By: Bryce M. Van De Moere
The collapse of the subprime mortgage market in 2008 created shock waves still felt today. Over-extended lenders such as Washington Mutual and Countrywide failed; larger financial institutions absorbed their loans and were tasked with …
New Clarity for California CCP 998 Offers
4/18/18
By: Gretchen S. Carner
California Code of Civil Procedure section 998 settlement offers (“998 offer”) are valuable settlement tools, often under-utilized in prevailing party attorneys’ fees cases. The California Court of Appeal has bolstered defendants’ ability to confidently make valid …
Bonus or No Bonus? California Supreme Court Clarifies Calculation of Overtime
4/16/18
By: Christine C. Lee
Calculating the correct overtime pay rate for non-exempt employees just got a little more complicated for California employers who elect to pay bonuses. In the recent case of Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation of California, …
Salary History And Wage Gaps
4/10/18
By: Rebecca J. Smith
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which heard the case of Rizo v. Fresno County Office of Education en banc last year, has changed the 9th Circuit’s position and found that …
Homeowners’ Associations: Banning Short Term Rentals May Violate California Coastal Act
4/9/18
By: Jeffrey R. Cluett
The California Court of Appeal overturned a denial of a preliminary injunction of a homeowners’ association resolution banning short term rentals (“STR”). It found that appellants made a prima facie case that the ban violated the …
Devil Wine not a “Peril Insured Against"
4/3/18
By: Eric P. Benedict
A California Appellate Court recently ruled that a wine dealer’s fraud was not covered under a collector’s “Valuable Possessions” property insurance policy after the collector discovered that millions of dollars in “rare” wine bottles were sold …
Economic Resolution of Cases Through An Expedited Jury Trial
3/16/18
By: Melina Shahbazian
It is no secret that litigation is time consuming and extremely expensive. Sometimes, depending on the circumstances of the case, the lengthy costly litigation process is the only choice. Other times, particularly with lesser value cases, the …