On June 7, 2017, the U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced the withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) guidance on independent contractors and joint employment issued during the Obama administration,…
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/ Franchise Law, Labor & Employment Law
The Asian American members of the band the Slants adopted that name to “reclaim” and “take ownership” of the derogatory term. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) refused to register a trademark application…
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/ Art, Entertainment, & Sports Law, Civil Remedies, Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), minimum wage and overtime requirements do not apply to any employee covered by the “white collar” exemption. To be considered a white collar worker under that exemption, the FLSA…
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/ Elections & Politics, Labor & Employment Law
I finished my term as Cozen O’Connor’s Fellow in the Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity in March of 2017. The mission of this prestige program is to unite attorneys who work in firms and in corporate counsel offices for the…
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/ Civil Rights, Commercial Law & Contracts, Law Practice Products & Services
Individuals with criminal records unquestionably have a more difficult time obtaining gainful employment than individuals without criminal records. In fact, in a 2007 study, only approximately 40 percent of employers in four…
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/ Civil Rights, Labor & Employment Law
While the United States continues to grapple with transgender rights—including the right to restroom access—transgender individuals across the globe often face severe persecution and torture on account of their gender identity…
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/ Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Immigration Law
A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit has highlighted the uncertainty that exists in the food product market about the use and definition of “All Natural” in labeling and advertising. In Brazil v. Dole Packaged Foods, LLC,…
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/ Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Communications & Media Law
You are likely familiar with the Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act of 2014 (“AB 1522”), which entitles California employees to use at least 24 hours of paid sick leave per year and caps accruals at 48 hours. However, you may…
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/ Labor & Employment Law
California state legislature amended the Fair Pay Act to prohibit race and ethnicity-based wage differentials and to preclude employers from relying on salary history to justify the wage gaps. In addition, the U.S. Equal…
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/ Civil Rights, Labor & Employment Law
On April 6, 2016, several local religious leaders and scholars obtained a permanent injunction against the County of Los Angeles, which had approved a measure in 2014 altering the official County Seal to include a Christian…
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/ Administrative Law, Constitutional Law
Blame the business structure of law firms, implicit bias, pipeline issues, or just the intransigent unwillingness of those in power to play fair, but when it comes to increasing the number of attorneys of color in law firms the…
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/ Law Practice Products & Services
Under the Constitution, the federal courts are courts of “limited jurisdiction,” which essentially means that, in the absence of a specifically delineated judicial power provided under the Constitution or federal law, the…
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/ Communications & Media Law, Criminal Law
California courts are tired of hearing your demurrers, and now the state has done something about it. Code of Civil Procedure Section 430.41, which went into effect on January 1, 2016, now requires a meet-and-confer process…
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/ Civil Procedure
The First Amendment is well known as a limit on state power to restrain speech. Attempts to censor a newspaper, film, or video game, or to limit discussion in a public forum, are subject to the most exacting — and often…
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/ Civil Procedure, Communications & Media Law, Constitutional Law
As most federal practitioners are aware, certain amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect on December 1, 2015. The underlying objective of this year’s amendments is to resolve cases more quickly, more…
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/ Civil Procedure
