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If you have a contract in California with Company A to supply widgets to your Company B every Wednesday, but they don’t show up until Friday one week, is that a breach of contract?

Trademarks — which are the use of words, symbols, logos, or phrases to identify a particular manufacturer or seller’s product — were solely the province of the states until 1870, when the U.S. Congress passed a nationwide trademark law.

California’s enactment of AB5, the law that reshaped independent contractor status in the state, went into effect on January 1, 2020. While the law remains in its infancy stages, so to speak, employers statewide need to review the effects that this redefinition will have on their business operations.

Picture this: you or your business has just been on the “losing” side of a civil trial. Generally, this means that the final decision went the opposite way of what you wanted — whether that involved not winning your case against another person or entity, or losing a case brought against you or your business.

Nearly 1,400 new trade secret cases were filed each year in federal courts across the United States from 2017 to 2019. As a business, your trade secrets give you an economic value over your competitors. Trade secrets can range from methods and techniques to patterns, devices, processes, and programs.

In 2019, at least 435 anti-SLAPP motions were filed in California's trial courts by litigants. Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are often used to intimidate, censor, and silence critics through expensive, baseless legal proceedings.

It takes hard work to build up a business to the point of economic success. This is usually achieved by forming relationships with other businesses, whether those relationships exist on paper through a contract or whether they are simply sealed by a handshake.

Statistics have shown that approximately 70% of business partnerships eventually fail. Entering into a business partnership involves several risks. If these risks aren't properly managed, it could lead to the dissolution of the partnership.

In 2019, about 428 class action securities cases were filed across federal and state courts in the United States. Business owners and corporate directors involved in business management have a fiduciary duty to the company and its shareholders and may be held liable for mistakes in business judgment.

According to a recent TD Wealth survey, nearly 46 percent of respondents regarded family conflict as the biggest threat to estate planning. Improper communications and unrealistic expectations are among the causes of issues and tensions around inheritance.