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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
Feb 03 | Labor and Employment Law
Feb 03
OSHA Issues Guidance On Mitigating, Preventing Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace
By: Amy R. Patton, Blake A. Dillion
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued new employer guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. This guidance is intended to help employers and workers outside the healthcare setting to identify risks of being exposed to and of contracting COVID-19 and to determine any appropriate control measures to implement. While this guidance is largely duplicative of prior OSHA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) guidance and recommendations, it contains a few new and updated recommendations that employers should note.
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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
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., 02/27/2021
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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
Remote Work Issues to Consider in Light of COVID-19
By: Philip K. Lem
Many employers have elected to implement a remote work policy in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. If you are one of them, you should consider the following as you transition your workforce to a remote working environment.
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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
COVID-19: A Checklist for Employers
By: Amy R. Patton, Andrew K. Haeffele, Leila S. Narvid
In the wake of the COVID-19 virus, employers of all sizes are facing difficult decisions that need to be made without delay. To this end, we will be providing a series of alerts over the next few days to help employers navigate workplace issues posed by the virus. To assist in answering the question, “What should we be doing right now,” below is a checklist of suggestions for employers to consider.
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Legal Alert, Insurance Coverage
2020 | Legal Alert, Insurance Coverage
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2020
Is Your Business Insured for the Coronavirus?
By: J. Kelby Van Patten, Jared De Jong
How bad will the pandemic get? How much will it spread in the United States? Will we develop a vaccine in time to do any good? As insurance lawyers, we have no idea. But we can help you figure out whether your business is insured for the coronavirus risks that keep business owners up at night.
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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: February 2020
By: Philip K. Lem, Raymond J. Nhan, Tyler B. Runge
This month's key cases involve payment of wages, res judicata, and gender discrimination.
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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
Technicalities Don't Defeat Provider Claims for Emergency Services
By: Scott O. Luskin
Last week, the Court of Appeal gave a victory to non-contracted providers of emergency medical services.
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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
Ninth Circuit Confirms (Again): Employers Cannot Rely on Prior Pay to Justify Gender Pay Disparities
By: Amy R. Patton, Rana Ayazi
In April 2018, the Ninth Circuit held that employers cannot consider pre-employment salary history, even in combination with other factors, to justify gender pay disparities. See Rizo v. Yovino, 887 F.3d 453 (9th Cir. 2018) (en banc). Why is the Ninth Circuit deciding this case again? The author of the majority opinion, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, unfortunately died before the previous opinion was issued, and since his vote made a difference to the outcome of the case, the Supreme Court ordered the decision vacated. See Yovino v. Rizo, 139 S. Ct. 706 (2019).
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Article, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Article, Labor and Employment Law
A table with a green plant, coffee cup, and a stack of print publications.
2020
Solutions To 4 Common Law Firm Diversity Challenges
By: Alexandra DeFelice
Minority attorneys continue to depart law firms at a higher rate than those in the majority and continue to be substantially underrepresented at the partner level. With the continued demands of clients and other organizations to improve diversity, law firms need to embrace new and creative solutions.
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Article, Labor and Employment Law
2020 | Article, Labor and Employment Law
A table with a green plant, coffee cup, and a stack of print publications.
2020
AB5 Construction Exemption - A Checklist to Avoid Application of AB5's Three-Part Test
By: Blake A. Dillion
Construction companies have a unique opportunity to avoid the application of the restrictive new independent contractors' law that took effect this year. This article provides a checklist that will help construction companies determine whether their relationships with subcontractors qualify for this exemption.
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Legal Alert, Insurance Coverage
2020 | Legal Alert, Insurance Coverage
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2020
California Appellate Court Confirms: Additional Insureds Are First-Class Citizens
By: Scott S. Thomas
Many businesses shift risk by requiring others with whom they do business - e.g., vendors, subcontractors, suppliers, and others - to procure insurance on their behalf by making the business an "additional insured" under the other person's liability insurance policy.
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