Lawyer
“Dilbert” On Contracts
As those of you who know me well, or have caught my article or presentations on it, I’m evangelical about writing and revising contracts in understandable, conversational English. To me, a contract’s primary objective is to be a clear set of instructions. This puts the parties on the same page about its subject matter, and…
When Court Powers Supersede the Will of the Parties
On May 18, 2018, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment on an issue raised sua sponte by the court, despite the fact that the parties had negotiated and agreed that the defendant would not seek summary judgment on the issue. On December 22, 2011, the plaintiff in the case on…
Subsidized Free Speech
A group of California grape growers/shippers brought an action in the County of Fresno against the California Table Grape Commission, contending that the Commission’s collection of assessments under the Ketchum Act (Food & Agr. Code § 65500 et seq.) to subsidize promotional speech on behalf of all California table grapes violates the growers’ right to…
Always Use Protection! – Submitting Your Ideas Without Getting Ripped Off
Just about everyone at one time or another has come up with an idea for a movie, TV show, product or service. They’ve seen or are aware of how much money can be made in such endeavors, figure their ideas are as good as anyone else’s, if not better, and decide to take a shot…
Something to Learn From Carrie Fisher
My oldest and closest friend likes to say: “Our time on Earth is the vacation, so we better enjoy all of it. When we die, we go back to work.” Yes, he’s a little twisted, but I think he’s spot-on. We too soon lost so many of talent’s royalty in 2016 – a Princess (Leia–…
Dispute Resolution Strategies
There are four common approaches to settling legal disputes: Direct Negotiation; Mediation; Arbitration and Litigation. Which one is right for you? Direct Negotiation: Works best in instances where the dispute is of fairly minor character and small in dollar amount, or where the disputing parties have an ongoing relationship that they don’t want to disrupt. …
Importance of “Boilerplate” Terms in Contracts
The term “boilerplate” in contracts is often used to refer to miscellaneous terms and provisions, which don’t concern the main terms and conditions of the agreement. For that reason, boilerplate provisions are often ignored or given short shrift by parties to contracts. This is a mistake because boilerplate terms can be critical to resolution of…
What Contractors Need to Know Under the California Right to Repair Act
The California Right to Repair Act, commonly known as SB800 is a bill that became effective as of January 1, 2003 establishing a mandatory procedure that must be used by homeowners who have construction defect claims against the builder, subcontractor, product manufacturer or design professional of a new construction (for the purpose of this article,…