As if businesses weren’t subject to enough trouble from lawsuits — real and frivolous — before COVID-19 arrived, the pandemic only exacerbated the challenges of running a business. Employees, consumers, suppliers, competitors, and other parties all seem ready to rush to the courtroom to drain your pockets.
The California Corporations Code governs how individuals and entities can file articles of incorporation. The code also stipulates that, unless the articles specify the number of directors for the new corporation, the new entity must also create corporate bylaws.
Most employment in California is “at-will,” meaning either employee or employer can end the relationship at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all, so long as it’s not an illegal act like discrimination. When an employment agreement exists between employer and employee, then the rules of the game change.
Operators of e-commerce sites are coming under increasing pressure, not only for monitoring credit card usage but also for compliance with ever-evolving governmental regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) here at home. Online retailers must now allow consumers to opt out from sales of their private information and can be held liable for data breaches.
Shareholders in corporations can bring lawsuits against the company if they feel they have been personally harmed, or if they feel the corporation as a whole has been harmed. In either case, they must show that the harm resulted from decisions or actions by the board of directors or company officers.
Indemnity clauses — common to the construction industry — will often protect a general contractor at a construction site from losses incurred and are used to transfer common law and statutory risk arising from one party’s negligence to another party. Whether you’re the indemnitee or indemnitor, you may need guidance on how to proceed.
A partnership may spring into existence with great hope and expectations, but after a while, disagreements over management and financial issues can often pit one partner against another, or even create factions if there are multiple partners involved.
Someone slips and falls at your retail establishment, and your business liability insurance denies your claim. Do you have any other options for recourse?
Unlike trademarks, copyrights, and patents, trade secrets are not registered with any governmental agency. By their very nature, they are intended to be a secret and simultaneously guarded against theft, discovery, and use by competing individuals or business enterprises.
According to a recent survey by EstateExec, approximately 19% of participants claimed that there was perceived executor misconduct during the estate settlement process. Settling the final affairs of a deceased loved one can involve many complexities and challenges.
