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Featured Insights

Payne & Fears provides high quality legal and business insights, and we are committed to delivering practical and timely updates for a diverse range of issues, businesses and industries.

Labor and Employment Law
Jan 18 | Labor and Employment Law
Jan 18
Does Your Employee Handbook Address the Latest New Laws? If Not, It May Be Time for an Upgrade
By: Amy R. Patton, Sharon Shaoulian
This past year brought new laws requiring changes to policies commonly found in California employee handbooks. To ensure compliance with current California law, employers should review and update their handbooks within these first few months of 2021.
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Insurance Coverage
2020 | Insurance Coverage
2020
Ninth Circuit Rejects Excess Insurer's Attempt to Dispute Exhaustion of Underlying Insurance
By: J. Kelby Van Patten, Jared De Jong
This week, in AXIS Reinsurance Co. v. Northrop Grumman Corp., ____ F.3d ____, 2020 WL 5509743 (9th Cir. Sept. 14, 2020), the Ninth Circuit addressed an important question of first impression: When can an excess insurer second-guess an underlying insurer’s decision to pay a claim? Prior to AXIS Reinsurance, there had been no California or the Ninth Circuit case discussing an excess insurer’s right to make a covered-claims challenge to the exhaustion of underlying insurance, even though policyholders frequently encounter such arguments.
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Business Litigation
2020 | Business Litigation
2020
Changing Your Terms and Conditions? If So, Your Company Must Provide Express Notice to Consumers
By: David A. Grant, Hilary A. Williams
The Ninth Circuit recently reminded companies that they must provide notice to consumers when they change their terms and conditions, even where original terms state that they are subject to change at-will and at any time (i.e. the original contract contains a “change-of-terms” provision). Without express notice to the consumer, any change is unenforceable.
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E.g., 01/21/2021
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Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
A man sitting at a desk writing with a pen and paper.
2020
Key California Employment Law Cases: November 2020
By: Alejandro G. Ruiz, Roza C. Rosner, Tyler B. Runge
This month's key California employment law cases involve noncompete agreements, arbitration agreements with minors, and the issue of FAAAA preemption of California's ABC test.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2020
Cal/OSHA Passes Temporary COVID-19 Regulations: What You Need to Know
By: Amy R. Patton, Jeffrey K. Brown, Rana Ayazi
On November 19, 2020, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (the “Board”) of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) adopted temporary COVID-19 regulations (“Regulations”) intended to combat the spread of COVID-19 in California workplaces.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2020
Commission-Only Compensation Plan Fails California's Salary Basis Test
By: Amy R. Patton, Tyler B. Runge
Under California law, employers must pay their employees overtime rates unless an exemption applies. One such exemption, the “administrative” exemption, excludes from state overtime requirements an employee primarily engaged in certain exempt duties who earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment (the “salary basis test”).
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Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
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2020
Key California Employment Law Cases: October 2020
By: Megan A. Mackie, Philip K. Lem, Tyler B. Runge
This month's key California employment law cases involve duty to investigate the accuracy of criminal convictions, no-fault absenteeism policies, and enforceable forum-selection clauses.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2020
Proposition 24 and the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) Modify and Expand the CCPA
By: Amy R. Patton, Blake A. Dillion
Before we could know the efficacy of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), which became effective January 1, 2020, California residents passed Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA), which takes effect January 1, 2023.
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Legal Alert, Business Litigation
2020 | Legal Alert, Business Litigation
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2020
Changing Your Terms and Conditions? If So, Your Company Must Provide Express Notice to Consumers
By: David A. Grant, Hilary A. Williams
The Ninth Circuit recently reminded companies that they must provide notice to consumers when they change their terms and conditions, even where original terms state that they are subject to change at-will and at any time (i.e. the original contract contains a “change-of-terms” provision). Without express notice to the consumer, any change is unenforceable.
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Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
A man sitting at a desk writing with a pen and paper.
2020
Key California Employment Law Cases: September 2020
By: Alejandro G. Ruiz, Rana Ayazi, Tyler B. Runge
This month's key employment law cases involve piece-rate employees and questions of arbitrability of a labor issue.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2020
Three New California Bills Greatly Expand Employers' Obligations Regarding COVID-19 and Employee Leave
By: Jeffrey K. Brown, Matthew C. Lewis, Rana Ayazi
On September 17, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom signed three bills (SB 1159, AB 685, and SB 1383) expanding workers’ protections in relation to COVID-19 exposure in the workplace, and expanding the California Family Rights Act. All three bills will require employers to take specific steps in response to COVID-19-related issues, and to modify and update their leave policies and practices.
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Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Case Summary, Labor and Employment Law
A man sitting at a desk writing with a pen and paper.
2020
Key California Employment Law Cases: August 2020
By: Philip K. Lem, Raymond J. Nhan, Tyler B. Runge
This month's key employment law cases involve Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), class certification, and arbitration clauses.
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