Protect from Business Litigation with Prevention
You put a lot of hard work into running your business and know the difficulties of managing a company in Los Angeles. You also know that business litigation will bring you extra stress, problems, and cost. But did you know that the best way to handle lawsuits is to prevent them from happening in the first place?
Here are some of the most typical disputes that become Los Angeles business...
Partnership Agreements
Business partnership agreements are more than a formality. These agreements are roadmaps that help owners throughout the life of the business. While you can amend a partnership agreement, it’s better to get them right up front. Agreements that don’t anticipate rough spots can do more harm than good.
At the most basic level, a partnership agreement lays out:
• The partners’ responsibilities
• Ownership allocation
• The organization’s debt liabilities
A well-considered partnership agreement will also contain several...
California, unlike most of the rest of the United States, generally prohibits noncompetition agreements except in very limited circumstances involving the sale of a business. (See Business & Professions Code § 16600 et seq.) But California also recognizes an employer’s right to protect its trade secrets. (See Civil Code § 3426 et seq.) As a result, in California, a former employee’s right to compete with his or her former employer frequently comes into conflict...
In one of the final judicial decisions of 2017, a California court of appeal has held that an employee who settled his individual wage and hour claims against his former employer could not continue to pursue his PAGA claims against that employer. The court therefore affirmed the trial court’s judgment dismissing the employee’s PAGA claims. Kim v. Reins International California, Inc., 2d Dist. Case No. B278642 (filed December 29, 2017).
The Plaintiff, Justin Kim, sued...
In October, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 168, which enacts Labor Code Section 432.3, prohibiting employers from asking job applicants for their salary histories and prohibiting employers from relying on salary history information as a factor in determining what salary to offer an applicant. Labor Code Section 432.3 will affect employers and job applicants alike.
Commencing on January 1, 2018, employers will no longer be able to request salary history information from job applicants. The...
Recently, in California-American Water Company v. Marina Coast Water District, a California court of appeal found prevailing parties could recover attorneys’ fees based on a void contract under Code of Civil Procedure section 1717 (“section 1717”). The non-prevailing party challenged the trial court’s award of attorneys’ fees, posing the question, “How can an attorney fees provision in a contract govern the parties’ fees obligations when the contract itself is deemed to have been void...
In its operating agreement, a Limited Liability Company, or LLC, may specify a termination date or other event that will result in the dissolution of the LLC. On the termination date or occurrence of another specified event, the LLC is “dissolved” (Corporations Code section 17707.01(e)), with only limited powers to “wind up” its affairs (Corporations Code section 17707.04).
Generally, after the dissolution has occurred, a certificate of dissolution must be filed with the California Secretary...
Recently, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in 616 Croft Ave., LLC v. City of West Hollywood (2016) 3 Cal.App.5th 621, in which the issue for review was whether the City of West Hollywood’s in-lieu housing fee was an exaction. While the Supreme Court did not rule for or against the homebuilder claiming city fees were invalid, the decision not to hear the case affirms precedent. Just five months earlier, the Supreme Court...
In 2004, the State legislature enacted the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”), which authorizes California employees to sue their employers for Labor Code violations and collect civil penalties that would otherwise be collectible only by California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency. PAGA suits are known as “representative actions,” in which an employee sues “on behalf of himself or herself and other current or former employees.” Civil penalties recovered in a...
Governor Jerry Brown recently signed SB 313, which is a significant change in law for businesses offering automatic renewals of contracts for their goods or services. The legislative counsel’s digest described the new law as prohibiting businesses from “charging a consumer’s credit or debit card, or the consumer’s account with a 3rd party, for an automatic renewal or continuous service that is made at a promotional or discounted price for a limited period of...