In a nine-page recommendation issued last week, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow said that although factual details of each of the fires may vary, the lawsuits filed against PG&E in wake of the "Northern California Firestorm" share legal issues making it necessary to organize them in one court, avoiding Read more…
Mediation is a flexible, non-binding, confidential process in which a Neutral (mediator) facilitates settlement negotiations. The informal session typically begins with a presentation of each side's view of the dispute, either through counsel or the clients. The mediator, who may meet with the parties in joint and/or separate sessions, works Read more…
How often do people get injured due to the negligence of the government or some other public entity? All too often, right? In an attempt to limit the number of lawsuits filed against public agencies and/or entities, the legislature enacted what is now known as the Government Tort Claims Act Read more…
When documents are sent on behalf of a client to the opposing party or the adjudicative body overseeing the dispute, attorneys are sometimes required to complete a proof of service. A proof of service is usually in the form of a declaration signed by an individual indicating that a particular Read more…
A recent settlement agreement Simas & Associates, Ltd. on behalf of two licensed professionals inspired this blog. The parties – call them Doctor and CPA — had a business dispute and were settling the case. The settlement agreement was presented for review and contained the standard provisions, including a release Read more…
Rules 26b and 34 of the Federal Rules of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure instruct that information stored on computers is discoverable under the same rules that apply to tangible, written materials.[1] According to Principle 12 of The Sedona Principles:[2] Absent party agreement or court order specifying the form or Read more…
Civil Code section 2295 provides: “An agent is one who represents another, called the principal, in dealings with third persons. Such representation is called agency.” Under California law, agency is not presumed. One must prove its existence to assert as a defense. The burden of proving the existence of an agency Read more…
Declaratory Relief is a legal procedure designed for those seeking “preventive justice.” Specifically, its purpose is to “set controversies at rest before they lead to repudiation of obligations, invasions of rights or commissions of wrongs.” It is a vehicle to allow a presumptive defendant or respondent take adjudicative action to Read more…
Employers accumulate and receive substantial volumes of documents as a result of their day-to-day business. The office manager or head of human resources compiles such documents as job postings, employment applications, résumés, reference checks, testing data, personnel files, wage and hour records, payroll records, and disciplinary files, as part of their Read more…
On October 2, 2015, Governor Brown signed urgency legislation (Assembly Bill [AB] 1506) that immediately amends California’s Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) to address increasing civil litigation alleging technical violations of itemized wage statements (pay stubs) issued to employees. Existing law required an employer to provide Read more…