Live Webinars

The program will educate participants about the various types and stages of Qui tam and whistleblower claims. The covered topics will include a general background on whistleblowers, understanding the way the government views and interacts with whistleblowers and how these claims are litigated and ultimately resolved.

Covid-19 has led to an unprecedented closure of businesses world-wide.  Many businesses have business interruption insurance which is intended to cover losses when business is shut down or curtailed because of damage to property or order of civil authority.  Accordingly, Covid-19 has led to an unprecedented number of business interruption insurance claims.

Such claims tread into an undeveloped area of law.  When and under what conditions may a virus be deemed to be “property damage?”  When and under what conditions will coverage be afforded for closure due to order of “civil authority?”  Months into the Covid-19 several cases including Thomas Keller and In-N-Out are litigating denial of coverage over Coving-19 claims.

One year into AB5 and California Employers and Litigators still wrestle how to classify independent contractors and employees and which employees are exempt. In Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, the California Supreme Court has provided guidance in regards to independent contractor/employee classification with the adoption of the ABC test for determining how to classify an employee or independent contractor. Issues relating to exempt or non-exempt status of workers continues to be fertile ground for litigation in California. This focused program will look in detail at these issues as well as at liability, damages in these cases, settlement.

In California, the Private Attorneys General Act PAGA poised to become the next "it" claim in wage and hour litigation? This program will explore the ever changing PAGA landscape, offering practitioner insight into how best to prepare for the anticipated uptick of representative action litigation.

Procedural Issues and Nuts and Bolts of PAGA – this panel will provide a full picture of what PAGA is, what violations give rise to PAGA liability, how PAGA claims are brought and litigated, and what remedies are available through PAGA.  The panel will describe:  the current procedure for exhausting a PAGA claim with the LWDA (including 2016 amendments); the potential involvement of the LWDA in investigating claims; the relationship between PAGA claims and class action principles; the state of the law on whether PAGA claims are “individual” or “representative” in nature; and how PAGA penalties are calculated.
 
PAGA trials – this panel will describe trial considerations unique to PAGA claims, including:  PAGA-only trials; PAGA claims tried in conjunction with class claims, along with related class definition questions; and how the “representative” nature of a PAGA claim plays out at trial.  The panel will survey examples of PAGA trials to date and identify open questions.
 
Settlement and Arbitration issues – this panel will discuss issues that arise when PAGA claims are subjected to motions to compel arbitration, including recent developments in the Ninth Circuit and California courts concerning “individual-only” arbitration clauses.  The panel will survey recent decisions by courts splitting PAGA and non-PAGA claims, and compelling the non-PAGA claims to arbitration.  The panel will discuss aspects of settlement of PAGA claims, including:  a comparison of the settlement approval process to the more familiar class action settlement approval process; and the valuation of PAGA penalties for purposes of alternative dispute resolution and, subsequently, court settlement approval.

California Attorneys Fees: 2020
This program will focus on tips for claiming and obtaining California attorney’s fees in both California state and federal courts.  It will cover these topics:  (1) bases for requesting attorney’s fees; (2) how to structure fee petitions/motions; (3) how to attack fee petitions/motions; (4) how to develop the record in fee proceedings and what type of orders to request/fashion for future appeal; (5) tips for arguing fee issues before California state appellate courts/the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; and (5) selected issues of importance in the arbitration, SLAPP, civil rights, family law, private attorney general, and class action areas.