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Buchalter | July 2021

  Following July 8, 2021’s Client Alert, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) posted its CFL Transition Checklist for existing California Financing Law licensees to begin the license administration transition over to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) portal. The deadline for submitting CFL transition applications through the NMLS portal is December 31, 2021 ...

Buchalter | December 2021

December 17, 2021 By: Melissa Richards Earlier this year, we reported that the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CA DFPI) published new regulations requiring all existing commercial lenders and brokers licensed under the California Financing Law (CFL) to transition their licenses over to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) electronic portal by December 31, 2021 ...

Buchalter | December 2022

December 9, 2022 By: Thomas O’Connell and Natalie Bryans A Starbucks store in La Quinta, California was recently successful in defending itself against allegations that the store engaged in unlawful union-busting tactics ...

Buchalter | September 2020

When a company is faced with defending itself against a large claim, it often requires the availability of insurance proceeds from not just the company’s primary insurer, but also from its excess insurance layers.  In this scenario, however, excess insurers sometimes will refuse to step in after exhaustion of the underlying insurance layers, arguing that the exhaustion of those underlying layers was wrongful due to payments for uncovered claims ...

Buchalter | June 2020

A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to have a significant impact on both copyright infringement matters and copyright registration practices in the Ninth Circuit, if not nationwide.  The case, Unicolors v. H&M, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS U.S. App. LEXIS 17097 (9th Cir. May 29, 2020) involved claims for copyright infringement brought by Unicolors, Inc. (“Unicolors”) against retailer H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. (“H&M”) ...

Buchalter | February 2024

By: Stephen Best, Clayton Barnett, and Brian Adkins February 7, 2024 Whether you are a passionate supporter of college athletics or a casual sports fan, nearly everyone has heard the three letters, NIL. NIL (or name, image, and likeness) has quickly become part of the national sports lexicon ever since the United States Supreme Court opened the door for student-athletes to receive monetary compensation under National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston in 2021 ...

Buchalter | September 2020

By: Michael Flynn and Melissa Richards Introduction California has enacted a new California Consumer Protection Law (CCFPL), California Financial Code Section 90001 et seq.  The CCFPL will convert the Department of Business Oversight (DBO) into a new Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI).  AB 1864 was sent to the California Governor on September 4, 2020 for signature, and he is expected to sign within thirty (30) days ...

Buchalter | January 2024

January 2, 2024 By: Leah Lively and Alexandra Shulman It is a new year, which means new employment laws for employers in the Pacific Northwest. The following is a brief overview of significant new laws and changes for Washington and Oregon employers (all effective January 1, 2024). Washington Increased Minimum Wage: The Washington state minimum wage is now $16.28 per hour.  Local minimum wage rates are higher: The Seattle minimum wage is now $19 ...

Buchalter | December 2022

December 2, 2022 By: Anna G. Thomas To increase transparency regarding payments to physicians by drug and medical device companies, Governor Newsom signed AB 1278, which imposes certain additional disclosure obligations on physicians.  Beginning on January 1, 2023, physicians will be required to comply with new patient notice and posting requirements. Notice to Patients Under this law, physicians must provide to patients an Open Payments database notice ...

Buchalter | June 2021

By: Alexandra Shulman The Oregon Legislature recently passed a new bill (SB 169) that will have a major impact on the use of noncompetition agreements in Oregon. These amendments to Oregon’s existing noncompetition statute, ORS 653.295, will become effective on January 1, 2022, and will apply to all Oregon noncompetition agreements entered into on or after that date.  The most significant changes to the statute are described below. Reduced Term ...

Buchalter | October 2022

  A Campaign Contribution of More Than $250 Could Trigger Disqualification from Voting on the Donor’s Project for 12 Months Current Law In 1982, the California Legislature added Section 84308 to the Political Reform Act ...

Buchalter | July 2021

  The Warehouse Indirect Source Rule requires some warehouse operators to begin collecting compliance information starting July 1, 2021. The “Warehouse Indirect Source Rule,” adopted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District on May 7, 2021, requires some warehouse operators to begin collecting compliance information starting July 1, 2021 ...

Buchalter | October 2023

By: Adam Smith, Chris Mason, Jennifer M. Misetich, Kathryn Fox and Thomas M. O’Connell Executive Summary The National Labor Relations Board adopts a joint-employer rule that expressly incorporates reserved and indirect control over essential terms and conditions of employment, as factors to be analyzed when determining if two or more entities are joint employers ...

Buchalter | May 2022

May 24, 2022 By: Charles Whitman On May 23 2022, the California Supreme Court reversed the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal and made clear that meal and rest period premiums (or “extra pay” or “premium pay”)[1] constitute “wages” and must be accurately reflected on an employee’s wage statement and accurately paid to the employee during the employee’s final pay out. (See Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc., (2022) 2022 Cal ...

Buchalter | June 2021

Despite the pandemic, 2020 was a record year for Prop. 65 filings. There was a 46% increase in Notice of Violation filings from 2019, driven by the usual filers, as well as many new law firms and noticing parties. There have been 1,346 notices filed between Jan. 1, 2021 and June 3, 2021, compared to 1,327 Notices filed in the same time-period in 2020. These Notices consist primarily of phthalates, lead, cadmium, arsenic, BPA and acrylamide ...

Buchalter | October 2020

  As the use of telehealth continues to increase, providers need to be mindful of the liability laws in the jurisdictions that they operate in. Similar to in-person medical practices, telehealth services carry liability and malpractice risks. Once a provider virtually crosses a state line, he or she becomes subject to the liability laws of the other state ...

Buchalter | February 2021

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has proposed sweeping changes to the popular “short-form” Proposition 65 warning. On January 8, 2021, OEHHA issued a proposal to amend Article 6 “Clear and Reasonable Warnings” Section 25601. This Article sets forth “safe harbor” warning methods, including warnings for consumer product exposures ...

Buchalter | January 2022

January 12, 2022 By:  Roger L. Scott Workplace masking requirements have long been in place in California, with employees permitted to wear cloth or other masks of their choice ...

Buchalter | April 2022

April 20, 2022 By: Arielle Seidman and Anthony Martin Automated and algorithmic decision-making tools have become run-of-the-mill in everything from loan and apartment applications to employment searches and university acceptances. Such tools provide increased efficiency, accuracy, and customer satisfaction for, among many others, banks and financial institutions ...

Buchalter | December 2020

ICE Benchmark Administration, the British-based LIBOR administrator, announced that it intends to cease the publication of the one-week and two month U.S. Dollar LIBOR settings immediately after December 31, 2021, and the other U.S. Dollar LIBOR settings immediately after June 20, 2023. Accordingly, on November 30, the U.S ...

Buchalter | April 2022

By: Manuel Fishman March 2022 Documentary Credit World Most issuers of, and beneficiaries under, letters of credit are familiar with the impact a tenant bankruptcy has on the continued effectiveness of draws under the LC. Assuming a “direct draw” letter of credit that does not require prior notice to the applicant, the beneficiary is entitled to draw on the LC because of the independent obligation of the issuer to honor credit-complying draws ...

Buchalter | November 2021

November 22, 2021   By: Jonathan Kendrick and Manuel Fishman In the coming weeks, the City of San Francisco’s Department of Environment is expected to submit a new Climate Action Plan for Mayor London Breed’s approval. The Climate Action Plan will provide a roadmap for the City of San Francisco (the “City”) to pursue ambitious new climate action goals that were added to the City’s Environment Code in late July 2021 (the “Climate Goals”) ...

Buchalter | May 2022

By Weiss Hamid On April 1, 2022, Japan is set to begin enforcement on the amendment to its Act on the Protection of Personal Information (“APPI”). The APPI was originally adopted in 2003 – making it one of the first data protection regulations ...

Buchalter | May 2023

May 24, 2023 By: Peter McGaw When Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) settle CERCLA cases, they want finality. They don't expect to be asked to pay a second time for a claim they have already resolved by settlement. However, a concurring opinion in a recent Ninth Circuit decision casts doubt on the ability of a PRP to achieve finality through settlement. The Ninth Circuit’s decision in GP Vincent II v Beard was issued on May 17, 2023 ...

Buchalter | July 2021

By: Jenni Krengel and Tonie Bitseff On Friday, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30 expanding the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System ("EPCRS")—a voluntary program for correcting errors in tax-qualified and section 403(b) plans—by adding two new methods for recouping benefit overpayments, among other changes ...

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