Most companies have been involved in a situation where they want to end their relationship with another company, or with an employee, and to permanently terminate their mutual obligations (e.g., a settlement agreement...more
California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1542 precludes the waiver of unknown claims unless the protections of the section are expressly relinquished. In order to effectively waive the protections of California Code of...more
Civil Code section 1542 waivers are commonly included in a myriad of transactional documents and typically coupled with “as is” provisions. In essence, absent an express waiver of Section 1542 in a contract, the releasing...more
On January 1, 2019, California’s Senate Bill No. 1431 went into effect, making a slight, but potentially significant amendment to Civil Code Section 1542. The prior version of the statute read: “A general release does not...more
Most creditors likely assume that they have not been paid unless and until they receive checks from their debtors. In many cases that assumption may be correct, but in some cases it won’t be. Section 1476 of the California...more
Bill to Partially Amend the Civil Code was Passed by the House of Representatives - On April 14, 2017, the House of Representatives passed a bill to partially amend the Civil Code ("Bill"). The Bill is under deliberation in...more
Settlement agreements often include broad general releases covering claims existing from the “beginning of the world” to the settlement date – whether the claims are known or unknown to the releasing party. And in many...more