Conflicting terms in a contract exist when there are certain provisions that cannot each be complied with because performing one would violate another, or where the use and meaning of a particular term or terms varies throughout the contract. This situation can occur  when multiple parties are drafting and revising a contract without carefully reviewing the impact of each change on other portions of the contract, or when conflicting changes are made to a...

Selling partnership shares often involves various considerations.  In most partnerships, partners can choose to sell their share of the partnership to the partnership or a new potential partner as part of the resolution of a partnership dispute or simply because the individual or entity no longer desires to be part of the partnership. Selling partnership shares will be governed by a partnership agreement, or if there is no partnership agreement, state law will govern sale of...

Even if your business is not based in California, you may be held to certain California filing obligations and tax liabilities if your business meets the legal definition of “doing business” in California. There are two definitions for doing business in California. One is from the Franchise Tax Board, and determines whether an individual or business will have tax liabilities in California. The other is established by the California Corporations Code, and it determines what corporate...

Parties often wait until a dispute arises to exercise or learn about their rights.  However, it is often more prudent to know and exercise rights before a dispute arises.  The main shareholder or partnership rights include limited “economic” rights, voting rights, inspection rights, the right to bring a derivative action, and, in certain circumstances, the right to start the dissolution process. Business entities can dissolve or cancel their businesses at almost any time. In particular, California...

“Economic” Shareholder Rights Shareholders invest in corporations primarily for economic gain or profit.  The two main ways shareholders can profit from a corporation are by receiving distributions of the company’s profits and by selling all or part of their interest in the corporation. These correspond with the two main “economic” shareholder rights: the right to receive dividends and the right to sell shares. Notably, shareholders only have the right to receive dividends as they are declared...

California prohibits unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices, as well as unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising. Recently, the district attorney offices for Los Angeles and San Francisco claimed that Uber, one of the the most popular ridesharing companies, violated these California business laws in recently filed actions against the company. Uber (recently valued at $41 Billion and has backers from Wall Street to Silicon Valley), is no stranger to lawsuits, which are coming from all...

If you are interested in buying or selling a franchise in California, it is important to be familiar with the applicable law before taking action.  California franchise law is largely governed by the state’s Franchise Investment Law, which was enacted in 1970. One of the major requirements of California’s Franchise Investment Law is that franchisors must register with the California Department of Business Oversight before selling or offering for sale franchises in California. An “offer” or “offer to sell” includes every...

It is common practice for retailers to search their employees before they leave work. In a recent United States Supreme Court opinion,  Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk, the Court ruled that workers do not have a federal right to be paid for the time spent in these post-shift employee searches. This decision will save businesses billions of dollars, including companies like Amazon, who is projected to save over $100 million. In the opinion  the justices unanimously rejected former...

A common issue that arises in California property law surrounds public coastal access. In September 2014, a California Superior Court judge ruled in favor of coastal access advocates by holding that a property cannot block the only public access route to Martins Beach (located less than an hour outside of San Francisco, California), without permission from the Coastal Commission, and demanding the property owner to open the gate blocking access to the beach. The case,...

California law requires corporations, limited liability companies and common interest development associations to update the records of the California Secretary of State on an annual or biennial basis by filing a statement of information.  Keeping up with these yearly corporate filings is necessary in order to maintain good corporate standing and avoid penalties and fees. If you do not file an annual statement of information and pay the accompanying nominal fee, the Secretary of State...