Attorney Kathi Smith’s article, “Prevailing Party Attorney’s Fees” was recently published in Attorney at Law Magazine! Prevailing Party Attorney’s Fees By Kathleen J. Smith When the parties’ contract provides that the prevailing party shall recover reasonable attorney’s fees in any dispute arising out of the contract, fees sought must be unreasonable in relation to the services performed. If the opponent’s case was over-lawyered, if fees are block-billed, if clerical tasks are included in the...
California employers with at least five employees must now provide sexual harassment prevention training and education to all supervisory employees and non-supervisory employees in California. Since 2005, employers with at least 50 employees have been required to train and educate all personnel in supervisory positions in California in the prevention of sexual harassment. SB 1343 lowers the number of employees to five and includes non-supervisors in the mandate. The new law also requires covered...
In general, employers are liable for any wrongful actions committed by their employees while the employees are carrying out their job duties — including vehicular accidents while on the job. Accident victims can sue not only the individuals at fault, but often their employers as well. An exception to this rule exists for accidents that occur during an employee’s normal commute. Because employees are not engaged in work duties while traveling to and from...
By Kathi Smith When the parties’ contract provides that the prevailing party shall recover reasonable attorney’s fees in any dispute arising out of the contract, fees sought must be reasonable in relation to the services performed. If the opponent’s case was over-lawyered, if fees are block-billed, if clerical tasks are included in the billings, then their Motion for Award of Attorney’s Fees can be attacked. Your attorney could ask the court to recalculate the...
Schneiders & Associates, LLP is proud to announce that the Pacific Coast Business Times has named Eric A. Hirschberg a “40 Under 40” honoree! Eric focuses his practice in the areas of estate planning, trust administration, probate, business and corporate transactions, and entity formation. Eric prides himself on his lasting relationships with his clients built on trust and mutual respect, where they feel comfortable seeking legal advice from him regarding all aspects of their estates...
On July 26th, 2018 the California Supreme Court ruled that employers must pay employees for routine and small amounts of time they spend working off-the-clock. The court found that the federal de minimis rule that allows employers not to pay for short amounts of time that are difficult to keep track of did not apply to Californian labor law. This ruling arose from Starbucks employee, Douglas Troester, suing Starbucks for not paying him for...
Lawsuits in real estate transfers can include breach of contract allegations, and also fraud allegations if the seller failed to properly disclose defects in the purchased residence. The residential purchase agreement includes a separate form called Transfer Disclosure Statement (“TDS”). This form is required to disclose any known defects in a residential property containing up to four dwelling units. Civil Code section 1102 obligates the seller to disclose the condition of the property. The...
In June, the California Court of Appeals in AHMC Healthcare, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County found that the employer’s policy of rounding employee time records by 15 minutes is lawful. The suit was brought by two employees who argued that the company’s policy of rounding to the nearest quarter-hour unfairly reduced wages and was a violation of California law that requires accurate time keeping. The employer, AHMC, argued that the policy...
On July 1, 2018, new regulations will go into effect under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) that are designed to prevent discrimination based on an employee’s national origin. National origin discrimination is already illegal in California, but these new regulations expand on those existing prohibitions, and protect both employees and applicants, including undocumented employees and applicants. The new regulations define “national origin” broadly to include an individual’s actual or perceived Physical, cultural...
If you own real property in California, the California Probate Code almost forces you to create a trust to avoid fettering away your children’s or your heirs’ inheritance. While trust and probate law is a very complicated area of practice with numerous intricacies that requires the assistance of an attorney well versed in this practice area, below are some of the reason why it is so important in California to create an estate plan,...
