With the economic downturn, consumer debt is on the rise. Not surprisingly, debt collector complaints are also on the rise. There are strict legal limits on how far debt collectors can go, but unfortunately many debtors don’t know about them. Debtors and their attorneys need to know these limits and hold debt collectors to them.
Filed under: Legal Topics, Business, Civil Litigation | Tagged: debt collection, debt collectors, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FTC | Leave a Comment »
The following is a guest blog post by Gregory Grinberg, an associate with Harbinson Tune Kasselik in San Francisco, California. The firm specializes in workers’ compensation defense law. His blog, WCDefenseCA, deals with California workers’ compensation issues. So, your employee was injured on the way to work… are you liable? Generally, the answer is “no,” but as [...]
Filed under: Business, Employment Law, Legal Topics | Tagged: coming and going rule, employee commute, employer injury, employer liability | 3 Comments »
Apparently the saying used by frustrated parents applies to statutes: “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.” The California Supreme Court has upheld recent legislation that dissolved California’s redevelopment agencies (RDAs) that were originally created by the legislature. The court also struck down the alternative legislative scheme that would have [...]
Filed under: Business, Legal Topics, Public Law, Real property | Tagged: Motosantos, redevelopment agencies | Leave a Comment »
In light of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, many institutions are considering what they would do if a criminal investigation came to their doorstep. Don’t wait for that possibility; have a plan ready to put into effect if anything like the nightmare at Penn State should happen to your institution.
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Criminal Law, Legal Topics | Tagged: criminal investigation, grand jury subpena, internal investigation, Penn State scandal | 1 Comment »
Many attorneys have taken to the cloud, but others are hanging back, primarily because of concerns about security and accessibility of their documents. Here are some things you should know before using cloud computing in your law office.
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Legal Topics, Practice of Law | Tagged: attorneys, cloud computing, cloud computing service providers, legal documents, security | 5 Comments »
It seems a bit of a stretch, but the maker of the Tootsie Roll candy is suing the maker of the Footzyroll woman’s shoe because, as the ABA Journal reports, the candy maker believes there may be confusion about whether the two products are in fact affiliated. Really? Are these two products likely to confuse consumers?
Filed under: Business, Civil Litigation, Legal Topics | Tagged: Footzyroll, likelihood of confusion test, tootsie roll, trademark infringement | Comments Off
In the too-good-to-be-true department of estate planning, it is sometimes possible to take a loan from a family trust or other entity controlled by the decedent and family members to pay estate tax and deduct the interest on the estate tax return. Such loans are very useful when the estate or trust needs liquid assets and money [...]
Filed under: Business, Estate Planning, Legal Topics | Tagged: Estate Planning, estate tax, Graegin loans, revocable trusts | Comments Off
The new year will bring another category of prohibited discrimination in California — discrimination based on genetic information will no longer be legal.
Filed under: Business, Employment Law, Legal Topics, New Legal Developments, Real property | Tagged: discrimination, Fair Employment and Housing Act, genetic information, SB 559, Unruh Act | 1 Comment »
The following is a guest blog post by Cynthia E. Fruchtman, a lawyer who represents employers and employees in all aspects of the employment relationship and represents businesses in commercial and employment-related litigation. It is becoming increasingly common for employers to monitor employee workplace activities electronically. For employers, investigation methods such as video camera surveillance, [...]
Filed under: Business, Employment Law, Legal Topics | Tagged: employees, employers, GPS tracking, Internet cameras, right to privacy, video surveillance, workplace privacy | 1 Comment »
