California Supreme Court Says Arbitrator Decides Whether Parties Agreed To Arbitrate Class Action Claims In a highly anticipated decision, the California Supreme Court ruled that the question of whether parties to an arbitration agreement agreed to arbitrate class action claims is a question to be decided by the parties’ arbitrator and not by a court. Sandquist v. Lebo Automotive, Inc., ____ Cal.4th ____, 2016 Daily Journal Daily Appellate Report 7663 (California Supreme Court July 28, 2016)...

Ezer Williamson Law is proud to announce its formal affiliation with Century City’s Leven & Seligman, LLP.  With this association, both firms build on their reputations for superior quality, client service, and results. The association will enable both firms to add depth and breadth to their existing practice areas of Real Estate Law and Litigation, Business and Corporate Transactions, Business and Commercial Law and Litigation, Partnership and Member Disputes, Shareholder Rights, Business Formation, and Estate...

A key part of understanding why an integration clause is important is understanding what the parol evidence rule is. What is the Parol Evidence Rule? Generally speaking, the parol evidence rule bars (or keeps out) extrinsic evidence of a prior or contemporaneous agreement.  In English, this means that once parties to a contract sign and agree to the terms of the contract, the parol evidence rule will keep the parties to the agreement from trying to submit...

Section 16600 of the California Business and Professions Code prohibits contracts from restraining individuals “from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind.”  While the reach of Section 16600 is broad (recently reaching as far as the  Delaware Court of Chancery), it has traditionally been applied only to employment contracts or agreements that contain non-competition or non-compete clauses where the former employee is prevented from working with a competitor. But what about...

Previously on the blog, we discussed ambiguous and conflicting terms in contracts. Most contracts include clauses which provide interpretation rules for ambiguous and conflicting terms. In the absence of such a clause (or if the provisions of the clause do not resolve the conflict), certain California statutes, and case law interpreting and applying those rules, will provide the method of determining  which, if any, ambiguous or conflicting terms can be enforced. Generally speaking, an ambiguous term can reasonably...

A power of attorney is a legal document that grants a person the legal authority to sign documents and enter into transactions on someone else’s behalf.  If you give a trusted professional, friend, or family member power of attorney, their signature on your behalf is legally effective to the same extent as if you had signed. There are several reasons why you may give someone power of attorney, such as anticipation of your own incapacity...

“No prudent individual would make a contract for the construction of a building of any magnitude without incorporating a provision somewhere making specific and definite arrangements concerning extra work.” City Street Improvement Company v. Kroh, 158 Cal. 308, 321 (1910). Previously on our blog, we discussed how changes to construction contracts are often unavoidable, but that there are limitations to how much a construction contract can change. In this article, we will discuss the proper tool...

Previously on our blog, we discussed how more complex contracts allude to other existing contracts and documents. Incorporation by reference is the method of making these alluded-to documents part of a contract, and is often used to save space when parties want to include or reference another legal document or contract into a new contract. To properly incorporate another document by reference, it has to be adequately described in a new contract, and it...

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...

In order to build a development, home, or addition that does not comply with local zoning ordinances or restrictions, a property owner or developer must obtain a variance. The exact process of obtaining a variance will vary based on applicable city or county laws, and can vary depending on the scope of the project and the type of variance sought. For example, there could be different processes or requirements for “residential use” variances versus “residential...