The debate over whether rent control is the solution to California’s affordable housing crisis is now at an all-time high as Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1482 (“AB 1482”) into law. Newsom has said that with AB 1482 California will boast the “nation’s strongest statewide renter protections.”  California is following in the footsteps of New York and Oregon in implementing state-wide rent control to preserve affordable housing as the state’s housing crisis continues to grow.   What does AB 1482 Entail? AB 1482 has two central components: a limitation on rental increases and the implementation of “just cause” […]

  de la Carriere v. Greene, 39 Cal. App. 5th 270 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019). Date of Opinion: August 28, 2019   California Court of Appeal held that, under California Civil Code §1717, there may only be one prevailing party entitled to attorney fees on a given contract in a given lawsuit. An “action on a contract” refers to the entire lawsuit. When Party A prevails at trial, Party B’s subsequent success on appeal does not make Party B the prevailing party when it does not affect the trial determination. Facts and Procedural History As part of an agreement for […]

The couple interviewed by CBS is our own Jerry Griffin and his wife Judy. 

Inside Edition interviews Partner Jerry Griffin and his wife Judy highlighting their story about meeting and falling in love at Woodstock in 1969.  

Partner Jerry Griffin and his wife Judy met at Woodstock in 1969. They had never seen a picture of themselves from that weekend until this movie trailer was released. They are the happy couple in the green blanket.

    New Insurance Case:  Owners’ Insurance Barred in Reimbursement Action against Tenant. Lesson:  Properly Specifying Insureds Can Avoid Costly Disputes and Litigation. The Western Heritage Ins. Co. v. Frances Todd, Inc. (2019 Cal.App. LEXIS 299 / 2019 WL 1450731) case has potential implications for insurance carriers, policyholders, condominium associations, unit owners, landlords and tenants.  The case involves a fire at a commercial condominium complex (the “Association”).  The Association’s CC&Rs required the Association to purchase a master fire insurance policy for the benefit of the Association and owners, with a waiver of subrogation endorsement that stated the insurance company could not seek […]

In 2016, Yahoo announced that a data breach resulted in the compromise of 500 million users’ names, email addresses, dates of birth, and telephone numbers. In 2017, Equifax, one of the largest credit bureaus in the United States, reported that 143 million consumers had a mixed bag of their personal information exposed: social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers and/or credit card information – take your pick. In 2018, two years after acquiring Starwood, Marriott discovered that cyber attackers had been squatting in the Starwood database since 2016, resulting in stolen data of another 500 million customers. Fast […]

Make Sure The General Release Language In Your Settlement Agreement Is Current. As of January 1, 2019, Senate Bill No. 1431 (“SB 1431”) amended California Civil Code Section 1542 as follows: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.” Previously Section 1542 read as follows: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor or releasing party does not know or […]

In a significant decision for employers, the California Supreme Court adopted a new test for determining whether an individual worker is an independent contractor or an employee under California wage orders, which regulates minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest breaks, and other conditions of employment. Adopting a modified version of a test from other jurisdictions referred to as the ABC test, a worker is presumed to be an employee unless the hiring company can establish each of the following factors: (A) the worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work; (B) […]