Many of you have asked about the future of federal estate taxes. Will the federal estate tax disappear in 2010, as scheduled? Will the estate tax exemption amount go up or down? The answer so far is "who knows?"

Preferential gift and estate tax treatment afforded under current law is set to expire on December 31, 2012.

On August 13, 2007, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District (Los Angeles) held that FedEx needed to reimburse expenses to drivers that FedEx had classified as independent contractors.

Last week the SEC announced it had reached an agreement with privately-held company Zenefits, and its co-founder and former CEO Parker Conrad...

On April 23, 2009, the California Air Resources Board ("ARB") adopted the Low Carbon Fuel Standard ("LCFS"), the first standard in the nation aimed at reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions ("GHG") generated by transportation fuels.

A recent case in the Northern District of California offers two cautionary tales to policyholders.

On Tuesday, December 2, 2008 the Office of Administrative Law approved California's Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Mandatory Reporting Regulations, adopted pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (otherwise known as "AB 32"), and requiring the reporting of emissions for certain industries starting in 2009.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law two separate bills which allow companies to pursue social or environmental goals using a corporate structure that expressly authorizes the consideration of such goals and not just profitability.

The California Court of Appeal has assured employers that enhanced hourly rates offered for holiday work will not be considered the “regular rate of pay” for purposes of calculating California statutory overtime requirements.

Clients regularly ask their counsel to propose alternative fee arrangements and they are growing in popularity.

On August 30, 2007, in a 4-3 decision, the California Supreme Court opined that courts may invalidate arbitration agreements that purport to waive the employee’s right to pursue class actions.

A California Court of Appeals held that an employer may satisfy the expense reimbursement requirements of Labor Code § 2802 by increasing base salary or commissions by an amount that covers actual expenses incurred.

The California Court of Appeals has issued an opinion significantly expanding the scope of the administrative overtime exemption.

On June 12, 2007, a California Court of Appeals narrowly defined California’s administrative exemption to overtime obligations.

Fewer and fewer companies in California have insurance coverage for "wage and hour" claims, i.e. claims for failure to pay overtime, failure to provide meal ...

On September 28, 2009, the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals notified employers that they may need to defend physical examinations imposed upon employees when returning from medical leave.

An employer's refusal to accept a former employee's resignation rescission request is not an adverse employment action under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

California's Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the agency that oversees implementation of California's Proposition 65 (more formally known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986), announced on February 11, 2010, that it is considering adding bisphenol-A (BPA) to the Proposition 65 list of chemicals causing reproductive toxicity.

On June 19th, 2008, the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released its Technical Advisory on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Climate Change.

On October 4, 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that the statute of limitations for federal securities law claims begins to run as soon as the plaintiff has inquiry notice of the facts forming the alleged fraud, not only when the plaintiff has actual notice that the defendants have made a fraudulent misrepresentation.