Roseville Immigration Law

Omar Ameen, the Sacramento refugee accused by the federal government of being a commander for the Islamic State group, appeared in court via video for an immigration hearing in Southern California on Thursday.

Ameen was accused of being a member of the Islamic State group, lying on his refugee application and of murdering an Iraqi police officer. The government's case hinged largely on supposed eyewitnesses who say he led the convoy into the Rawah district of Iraq's Al-Anbar province.

But a KCRA 3 investigation showed that defense attorneys, after two years of intense negotiations and travel to Turkey, obtained what his public defender called "obliterating evidence." Cellphone data, cell tower "pings" and eyewitness testimony put him in Mersin, Turkey, within the hour of the Iraqi police officer's murder.

In a 30-page memorandum and order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund Brennan in Sacramento, the court said that it did not seem possible that Ameen killed the officer in Iraq as evidence showed he was in Turkey. Brennan said the government's version of events made "little sense," and ordered Ameen to be released from federal custody immediately.

Instead of being returned to his family, Ameen was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he's been held in Bakersfield on essentially the same charges Judge Brennan cleared him of in April.

More Immigration Law News

Border crisis: GOP senator introduces bill allowing local police to enforce immigration laws

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville warns of 'total chaos' without immigration law enforcement

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a first-term Republican senator from Alabama, is introducing a bill to give state and local law enforcement more jurisdiction over illegal immigration cases, as the crisis at the southern border continues to escalate.

Tuberville spoke with Fox News on Tuesday about his Empowering Law Enforcement Act, which he is introducing with fellow GOP Sens. Thom Tillis, S.C., and Mike Rounds, S.D. He said the bill is needed because the Biden administration is targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and looking to "close them down or really, really cut their power."

"Our local police across the country, as we speak, they don’t have, really, any authority with illegal immigration," Tuberville told Fox News. "And we need to find some way to be able to give our local law enforcement all across the country the ability to arrest, to identify, and then have some way to have jurisdiction over people who are not citizens of our country."

Court rules against government on technical question of notice requirement in immigration law The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a 6-3 opinion in Niz-Chavez v. Garland, reversing a lower court’s decision that had limited access to “cancellation of removal,” an important form of relief for noncitizens in deportation proceedings.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, adopting a rigid interpretation of a federal statute that requires the government to serve a “notice to appear” in order to trigger the “stop-time” rule. That rule can foreclose access to immigration relief by preventing noncitizens from accruing the time required for eligibility. According to the majority, in order to trigger the stop-time rule, the government must issue a single immigration charging document with various pieces of required information, including the date and time of the hearing. The majority rejected the government’s contention that a series of documents could together comprise the required notice, noting that the plain language of the law, as well as its structure and history, indicate a single document is required.

The voting line-up was unusual. Gorsuch’s majority opinion was joined by the court’s three liberals – Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – as well as two other conservatives – Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a dissent, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

There will be no new immigration law under Biden, unless he changes course

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is reportedly considering an end run around the regular legislative process. He wants to pass an immigration reform bill that would legalize millions of undocumented immigrants, but he hasn’t been able to get the 10 Republican votes he needs to overcome a Republican filibuster.

The filibuster could be eliminated with a simple majority vote, but that would require all 50 Democratic Senators to vote for eliminating it, and two of them — Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) — are opposed.

Sen. Manchin has said that if the filibuster is eliminated, “a new and dangerous precedent will be set to pass sweeping, partisan legislation that changes the direction of our nation every time there is a change in political control.”

Roseville Workers' Comp

Ahmad Zaki Noori, 41, of Sacramento, Calif., was arraigned on two felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud after allegedly misrepresenting symptoms following a work-related injury in order to receive $21,000 in undeserved benefits.

On July 16, 2019, Noori, while working as a welder, sustained a head injury and contusions on multiple parts of his body. Following his injury, a workers’ comp claim was filed with his employer’s insurance company and Noori began receiving payments. Following the injury, Noori reportedly presented himself as someone with severe amnesia and as someone who had difficulty performing daily functions of living, like speaking, walking or driving.

An investigation by the California Department of Insurance reportedly showed Noori misrepresented his symptoms to medical professionals and those handling his claim. Undercover surveillance showed Noori speaking, walking, and driving – all functions he claimed not to be able to do as a result of the injury. The surveillance also reportedly showed him performing duties at an automobile dismantling yard, like loading items onto a flatbed trailer and changing a spare tire.

Noori reportedly received $21,000 in workers’ comp payments and his employers’ insurance company lost an additional $80,679 in medical, legal and investigation costs.

Noori was arrested at his residence on April 13. He is scheduled to return to court on May 20. The case is being prosecuted by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

More Workers' Comp News

Jefferson County woman now battling for workers’ comp after surviving COVID-19

While the number of COVID-19 cases is down in Tennessee, those that contracted the virus are still fighting both the physical and financial effects.

At 45, Keniethea Tadlock had always been healthy. But last September she was admitted to Jefferson Memorial Hospital diagnosed with COVID-19, for three weeks she struggled to survive.

Many of these “COVID long-haulers” have a condition called post-COVID-19 syndrome. Tadlock is one of those still fighting the effects of the virus. The diagnosis was made by her doctor.

“From the COVID, I am still in organ failure, my heart, my lungs, and my kidneys,” Tadlock said. “I have been hit pretty hard.”

Tadlock has also been hit hard financially and received more than a thousand pages of medical bills.

“I owe the hospital $473,000 and some odd change now,” she said. “And that is just the hospital.”

Keneithea’s condition is what the American Medical Association calls a “COVID long-hauler.” She suffers from chronic pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

“I have fear of sleeping because I’m afraid I’m going to die in my sleep,” Tadlock said.

“One day it’ll be good and the next day when she gets up and she’ll be down for two or three days,” her husband Steve Blankenship said.

Kenietha worked at this office in Halls for a regional propane gas supply company, Blossman Gas. She’s filed a claim with the state Bureau of Workers’ Compensation against her former employer alleging she got the virus at work.

“The burden is going to be on us to prove anything about it, that it was caused at work,” Blankenship said. “All that is going to be on us.”

Keniethea said the first worker’s comp hearing last week did not go well. She said the attorney representing Blossman’s insurance company wanted documentation of her illness.

“They said they had not gotten any form of paper saying that I was positive for COVID-19 whatsoever,” Keniethea said. “It says diagnosis on admission. COVID-19, pneumonia, acute respiratory failure.”

“With all the correspondence we have had with them between emails, me trying to get her short-term disability going, I don’t see how they couldn’t have known,” Blankenship said.

While the odds may be against her in receiving workers’ compensation benefits, Tadlock says she looks forward to the next hearing as her former employer has the next few months to examine her medical records.

“We are supposed to get together, and we’re supposed to all talk this out to see if they’re going to agree or not, whether or not they’re going to pay,” Keniethea said.

We reached out to the insurance company that represents Tadlock’s former employer. The legal team said it does not publicly comment on matters under litigation.

Tadlock’s next hearing before the workers’ compensation board is in early August. Her short-term disability ended in March. The couple is unsure how they will pay for their medical expenses.

Florida Man Accused of Failing to Pay $193K in Workers’ Comp Premium

A Florida man has been arrested for workers’ compensation premium fraud and additional charges for allegedly concealing payroll information to avoid paying more than $193,000 in workers’ compensation premiums, according to a statement from the Florida Department of Financial Services.

Julio Enrique Maldonado, owner of G.G.M. Construction LLC, faces charges of workers compensation fraud, under reporting payroll greater than $100,000, workers compensation fraud – false statements on application greater than $100,000, and Florida communication fraud aggregated value of $50,000 or more.

The charges follow an investigation by the DFS Division of Investigative & Forensic Services (DIFS), Bureau of Workers Compensation Fraud that found Maldonado claimed $120,000 in annual payroll to Builders Insurance Co. for the policy periods of February 2018 to November 2019. Due to the estimated annual payroll provided, the estimated premium calculated for the policy period was $15,780.

During the investigation, detectives discovered that Maldonado cashed several checks from January 2019 through December 2020, which totaled over $5.5 million. Maldonado did not respond to the request from Builders Insurance Company to conduct an audit. Based on Maldonado grossly underestimating/reporting his business payroll, Builders Insurance Company, was deprived of $193,284 in premiums, DFS said.

Maldonado was arrested on April 30, 2021 and booked into the Orange County Jail. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison. Individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“This type of fraud has a major impact on our state as it raises insurance rates for Florida families. I appreciate the hard work of my fraud detectives for bringing this alleged fraudster to justice,” Patronis said.

Minnesota extends workers' comp for first responders hit by COVID-19

Ill front-line employees get presumption they got it on job until end of 2021.

A woman, having a suspected COVID-19 related medical emergency, was helped by emergency first responders in the north Twin Cities metro in December.

First responders and front-line health care workers who contract COVID-19 will be presumed eligible for workers' compensation for eight more months, under a bill signed into law this week by Gov. Tim Walz.

Normally, workers in Minnesota must establish that they were injured on the job to collect workers' compensation for missed time and/or medical expenses. But proving that they contracted a potentially lethal virus circulating in the general public while on the job can be difficult, if not impossible.

To prevent first responders and health care workers from facing financial disruption should they contract COVID, lawmakers passed a temporary law last year saying such workers are presumed to have been exposed to COVID at work for the purposes of obtaining workers' compensation. That shifted the responsibility to the employer to prove the infection happened elsewhere.

The presumption was set to end on May 1, but Walz on Monday signed an extension through Dec. 31. It covers doctors, nurses, firefighters, paramedics, police, long-term care workers, home health care workers, correctional officers and child care providers.

It doesn't extend to teachers or grocery store workers, who were not included under the temporary law passed last year.

Minnesota is one of about 15 states with a COVID-19 workers' compensation presumption for first responders and health care workers.

Personal Injury

To Capitol insiders, the term “tort wars” is shorthand for decades of political wrangling over the rules governing lawsuits for personal injuries — who can sue and collect damages for which actions.

The rules are a mix of legislation and appellate court interpretations, and with untold billions of dollars at stake, lawyers who specialize in personal injury lawsuits and their political allies, such as unions and consumer advocates, clash constantly with business groups and insurers.

The former seek to expand opportunities to sue and the latter resist such expansions and occasionally try to narrow the scope of liability.

Over the decades, the conflict has generated some memorable events. In 1975, for instance, a newly inaugurated Gov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark law, dubbed MICRA, that imposed tight limits on “pain and suffering” damages in medical malpractice cases. Next year, nearly a half-century later, California voters will decide whether the $250,000 cap should remain in place or be lifted, the latest of many attempts to undo the 1975 law.

A particularly colorful episode occurred in 1987, when lobbyists for personal injury lawyers and rival interests negotiated an armistice, finalized at Frank Fat’s restaurant in Sacramento with its provisions jotted down on a napkin. The “napkin deal,” as it came to be known, reduced liability for harmful products, such as cigarettes, and gave lawyers higher fees in medical malpractice cases.

The truce was short-lived, however, and the warring factions soon resumed hostilities in the Legislature and in ballot measures. Tort wars are a subset of the perpetual conflict that pits business, insurance and employer interests against unions, trial lawyers, consumer advocates and environmental groups over a broad array of specific issues.

The Civil Justice Association of Sacramento, California, a business-backed lobby that does battle with Consumer Attorneys of California and other pro-lawsuit interests, has issued a list of bills it says would “threaten to undermine fairness and balance in the state’s civil justice system.”

Most would create “private rights of action,” empowering lawyers to enforce new state laws through lawsuits. One example is Assembly Bill 95, carried by Assemblyman Evan Low, a Cupertino Democrat, that would require employers with 25 or more employees to provide 10 days of paid bereavement leave, and allow lawsuits to enforce it.

Employers see the threat of such lawsuits, with potentially heavy damages, as a tool to extract concessions and earn fat fees for lawyers. However, advocates say private rights of action are needed to discourage employers from flouting the law.

It’s not the first time that tort wars have generated strange bedfellows.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters.

More Personal Injury News

Florida Repeals State’s No-Fault Personal Injury Protection>/h3> Until recently, Florida has had a Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance system, also known as “no-fault insurance.” The intention of PIP was to provide injured drivers immediate medical coverage instead of establishing fault through the court system.

The primary goals of PIP were to reduce delays in payment for injured drivers and limit the weight on the court system. In Florida, PIP coverage was required to be purchased by all vehicle owners registered in the state. The coverage made individuals responsible for their own injuries suffered due to an accident, regardless of fault.

Senate Bill 54
The passage of Senate Bill 54 repeals the state’s no-fault PIP system and instead requires bodily injury coverage starting at $25,000 for all Florida drivers. Although earlier versions of the bill required insurers to offer medical payments coverage (MedPay) in the amount of $5,000 or $10,000, the passed version makes the offering optional and includes an optional $5,000 MedPay death benefit.

The bill will also entirely overhaul the framework under which motor vehicle claims are handled and address third-party bad-faith failures to settle actions against insurance carriers.

Bill sponsor Danny Burgess contends that a study from Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulations (OIR) demonstrated how rates would be reduced if PIP was repealed in Florida. He stated that the provisions addressing bad faith will also help stop fraud that has been all too common with PIP and therefore lead to even further rate reductions.

Opposition to Bill 54
Senator Jeff Brandes, one of three senators who opposed the bill, said that studies regarding how exactly the bill would lower rates have been insufficient. Specifically, Brandes stated that “Florida already has some of the highest rates in the country, and unfortunately if you are just struggling to make it… [and] buying just PIP today, rates will go up 40%.”

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), an insurance trade group, also opposed the bill, stating it may increase the state’s current 20% uninsured rate. The APCIA further noted that its analysis shows the bill could increase the cost of the average auto insurance policy by as much as 23% and that drivers who carry the lowest levels of coverage could see increases as high as $805 per year. The APCIA said more than 28,000 letters were sent to lawmakers opposing the bill and is encouraging the governor to veto the legislation.

Pursuing A Personal Injury Claim? Keep A Diary So You Don't Forget. Here's How.

If you have recently been injured in a car or truck accident or other personal injury event, it is a disorienting time. You may be simultaneously grappling with insurance companies, doctors, therapists and lawyers. Then there is getting your vehicle appraised and repaired, obtaining a rental car and clearing absence from work with your employer.

If you have a capable lawyer some of this burden can be reduced but certainly not all of it. Some injuries, for example concussions, in and of themselves make thinking harder. Medications too can make you sleepy or less attentive. Not surprisingly, this can serve to inhibit your later recollection of events.

That can be problematic. Insurance companies regard time as being on their side. You need the money and they have the money. The longer the process goes on the less you will remember about the basic facts of the case, which can lead to testimony that is inaccurate and at odds with the physical facts or other evidence.

Testimony that is wrong or limited by the vagaries of memory can compromise the prospect of receiving compensation. So what is a personal injury victim to do?

The answer is keep a diary. It doesn't have to be an old-fashioned written diary but it also can be. It may be a pain to do so but the value of it is difficult to overestimate. You can use your phone or a calendar or a pad of paper, The means isn't as important as the data you keep.

Missouri legislature passes new protections for businesses from COVID-19 suits

While somewhat late to the starting gate, Missouri has now joined a score of other states in adopting a law designed to provide liability protections for employers, product manufacturers, and health care providers from personal injury lawsuits associated with contracting, or the fear of contracting, COVID-19. This law, SB 51, takes effect August 28, 2021, if signed by the Governor.

Highlights are:

The bill creates a new statutory cause of action for COVID-19 personal injury suits that preempts other statutory and common law causes of action which could be used to assert a claim for liability (such as negligence, intentional torts, etc.).

Employers and other businesses are not liable for personal injury suits unless they engaged in conduct constituting recklessness (a voluntary conscious act or omission in reckless disregard of the consequences or a legal duty) or willful misconduct (an act or omission taken intentionally to achieve a wrongful purpose; or in disregard of a known or obvious risk that is so great as to make it highly probable that the harm will outweigh the benefit).

The person suing for damages must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the employer’s act or omission actually caused the person to be exposed to COVID-19 and that actual exposure caused the person to suffer a personal injury.

The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that persons entering the employer’s premises assume the risk of COVID-19 exposure if the employer posts a statutory notice at the entrance to the facility.

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Workers Compensation Fraud

California, workers’ compensation fraud involves providing false or misleading information in order to obtain benefits to which you are not legally entitled. The crime can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony and carries penalties of up to 5 years in jail or prison. “Workers’ compensation” is a system of insurance that provides medical care and payments for lost income to workers who are injured on the job.1 Fraud committed in connection with workers’ compensation insurance can lead to harsh criminal penalties. Acts that are considered workers’ compensation fraud in California include: Knowingly making or presenting a false or fraudulent material statement for the purpose of either obtaining or denying workers’ compensation benefits; Making a false or fraudulent statement about eligibility for benefits in order to discourage an injured worker from claiming benefits; Knowingly aiding and abetting, or participating in a conspiracy to commit, workers’ compensation fraud; Preparing or submitting multiple claims for payment of a health care benefit covered by workers’ compensation insurance, all for the same injury; Submitting a claim for a health care benefit covered by workers’ comp that was not actually used; and Soliciting, referring or accepting any business from a person, knowing that s/he intends to commit workers’ comp fraud.

Tax Day Moved to May17

Tax filing is a little more complicated this year.

The deadline to file a 2020 individual federal return and pay any tax owed has been extended to May 17, about a month later than the typical April deadline. The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service moved the date to give filers, tax preparers and the I.R.S. itself more time to adjust to disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic.

Most states are following the extended federal deadlines, and a few have adopted even more generous extensions.

But the I.R.S. has not postponed the deadline for making first-quarter 2021 estimated tax payments, as it did last year when it delayed Tax Day because of the pandemic. This year, the first estimated tax deadline remains April 15. Some members of Congress are pushing for the I.R.S. to reconcile the deadlines, but it’s unclear whether that will happen, with April 15 less than a week away.

“It just creates confusion,” said Mark A. Stewart Jr., a certified public accountant and president of the National Conference of CPA Practitioners.

Most states have retained their usual deadlines for first-quarter estimated taxes. One exception is Maryland, which moved both its filing deadline and the deadline for first- and second-quarter estimated tax payments to July 15.

The I.R.S. continues to grapple with pandemic challenges. Filers are seeing “more refund delays” than usual this year, according to an online update on March 25 from the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent office within the I.R.S. that represents taxpayers.

The number of returns processed by the I.R.S. as of April 2 was down about 10 percent from a year earlier, according to statistics provided by the agency. But the start of this year’s tax season was delayed to allow the agency to update and test its systems to reflect tax changes approved by Congress late last year. The number of returns processed on comparable days of the season is up about 3 percent, the agency reported.

The agency is “on track when you consider that this tax season started late,” an I.R.S. spokesman, Eric Smith, said in an email.

Last year, a shutdown because of the pandemic left the I.R.S. with a backlog of unprocessed paper tax returns. This year, even with the late start to the tax season, the agency is still struggling to deal with the 2019 paper returns, along with a crush of 2020 returns, I.R.S. “resource” issues and technology problems, the advocate service said.

The advocate service said the I.R.S. was also having to “manually verify” large numbers of rebate credits, which taxpayers can claim to obtain the first and second round of federal stimulus payments, if they haven’t already received them.

In addition, the agency has had to recalculate refunds for filers who reported unemployment benefits last year. The latest round of pandemic relief legislation, which became law on March 11, made the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits tax-free for many Americans. But some had already filed returns when the tax break became available, so they will get a refund of any overpayment — probably beginning in May.

On Wednesday, the I.R.S. posted an update on its website, saying it had about 16.5 million unprocessed individual returns “in the pipeline,” including two million received before 2021.

Most people have income taxes withheld from their paychecks. If they overpay, they get money back as a refund when they file their return. But those who don’t have taxes automatically withheld — including self-employed people or workers who have two jobs and don’t have taxes withheld from both checks — generally have to pay taxes to the I.R.S. four times a year. Other income that isn’t subject to withholding includes alimony, interest and dividends, and taxes on the sale of stocks or other investments. Nearly 10 million filers paid estimated taxes in 2018, the I.R.S. said.

The earlier deadline for the estimated tax payment makes the tax return filing extension less helpful than it should be for quarterly payers, tax experts say. The amount of estimated tax to be paid is typically calculated based on the previous year’s tax return, and the first installment is normally paid when the tax return is filed.

How Has the Pandemic Changed Your Taxes?

So if people haven’t completed their 2020 returns yet, they will have to estimate what they must pay in 2021 — and could face underpayment penalties at tax time next year if they pay too little over the course of the year. (The penalty is based on how much you owe, and how long you have owed it, according to TurboTax.) They may still be charged a penalty if they are late with estimated payments, even if they are due a refund when they file their tax return, the I.R.S. says.

Some people may not realize they have to make the first estimated payment before their 2020 return is due, Mr. Stewart said.

“They hear Tax Day is moved to May 17, so a lot of people will go to their preparer on April 30,” Mr. Stewart said. “Unfortunately, the first-quarter estimated payment is late.”

The conference and other groups representing tax professionals had urged the government to postpone the estimated tax deadline as well. In congressional committee testimony in March, the I.R.S. commissioner, Charles P. Rettig, said the estimated tax deadline hadn’t been changed because it would, in effect, be giving “a break” on interest and penalties to wealthy people, who would invest the money instead of paying the government.

But people who file estimated taxes also include sole proprietors and workers in the gig economy with modest incomes, accountants say. Many people who lost jobs in the pandemic switched to work delivering meals and groceries ordered by mobile apps, said Melanie Lauridsen, senior manager for tax policy and advocacy at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

“That’s where the need is,” Ms. Lauridsen said.

The disconnect between the filing and estimated tax deadlines means tax preparers are pushed to get returns done by the traditional deadline anyway. “It’s putting a tremendous amount of stress on tax preparers,” said Rhonda Collins, director of tax content and government relations with the National Association of Tax Professionals.

In general, filers must estimate what they owe and round up to reduce the risk of underpaying. “It feels like it’s very much a guesstimate,” Ms. Collins said.

Should you incur a penalty when you file your tax return next year, you can request an abatement. Often, the I.R.S. is lenient with first-time errors, she said, especially when there are extenuating circumstances.

It’s also important to keep track of your income in 2021, tax professionals say. Many people had lower incomes than usual during 2020 because of the pandemic, and could see them rise in 2021 if the pandemic wanes as expected and the economy expands. If your income is turning out to be higher than expected, you may need to increase the amounts of your estimated payments later in the year.

Here are some questions and answers about tax deadlines this year:

When is the deadline for making contributions to individual retirement accounts and health savings accounts?

You can make contributions to I.R.A.s and H.S.A.s for the tax year 2020 up until the extended filing deadline on May 17, the I.R.S. says.

When are the deadlines for 2021 estimated tax payments?

The first is April 15, followed by June 15, Sept. 15 and Jan. 18 of 2022.

How can I check the filing and payment deadlines in my state?

It’s wise to check your state’s revenue department website for details. You can look up the link on the Federation of Tax Administrators website.

Personal Injury Lawsuits

Way back when, my friend, Bob Naylor, was one of the creators of the "Napkin Deal". This was the negotiation that changed the way deep pockets personal injury lawsuits were litigatd.

Dan Walters Opinion: California’s Personal Injury Lawyers See Legislative Opening for More Lawsuits

To Capitol insiders, the term “tort wars” is shorthand for decades of political wrangling over the rules governing lawsuits for personal injuries — who can sue and collect damages for which actions.

The rules are a mix of legislation and appellate court interpretations, and with untold billions of dollars at stake, lawyers who specialize in personal injury suits and their political allies, such as unions and consumer advocates, clash constantly with business groups and insurers.

The former seek to expand opportunities to sue and the latter resist such expansions and occasionally try to narrow the scope of liability.

Over the decades, the conflict has generated some memorable events. In 1975, for instance, a newly inaugurated Gov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark law, dubbed MICRA, that imposed tight limits on “pain and suffering” damages in medical malpractice cases. Next year, nearly a half-century later, California voters will decide whether the $250,000 cap should remain in place or be lifted, the latest of many attempts to undo the 1975 law.

A particularly colorful episode occurred in 1987, when lobbyists for personal injury lawyers and rival interests negotiated an armistice, finalized at Frank Fat’s restaurant in Sacramento with its provisions jotted down on a napkin. The “napkin deal,” as it came to be known, reduced liability for harmful products, such as cigarettes, and gave lawyers higher fees in medical malpractice cases.

New California Real Estate Laws

By any measure, 2020 was an unprecedented year. The California commercial and residential real estate landscape changed significantly with the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting economic impacts. Throughout last year our Real Estate team provided updates on the latest legal changes through laws and emergency measures in a series of articles that can be found online on the firm’s COVID-19 resources page.

It’s important to note, however, that the sweeping changes to California real estate law set in motion in 2020 are not limited to COVID-19. We’ve compiled below legal summaries on more than a dozen new state laws involving tenancy, housing, zoning and planning, CEQA, and taxes. (All laws are effective as of January 1, 2021, unless otherwise noted.)

Arbitration agreements with Consumers and Employees

This law provides that the drafting party of a consumer or employment related arbitration agreement is in material breach of the arbitration agreement if the drafting party fails to pay, as required by existing law, specified costs and fees associated with the arbitration proceeding. This law defines the word “employee” to include any person who is, was, or who claims to have been misclassified as an independent contractor or otherwise improperly placed into a category other than employee or applicant for employment.

This new law provides that the drafting party of an employment or consumer arbitration agreement who is required, either expressly or through application of state or federal law or the rules of the arbitration administrator, to pay certain fees and costs before the arbitration can proceed, is in material breach of the agreement if the fees are not paid within 30 days after the due date, and waives its right to compel arbitration pursuant to existing law.

In the event of such a breach, an employee or consumer may generally withdraw the claim from arbitration and proceed in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, or compel arbitration in which the drafting party shall pay reasonable attorney's fees and costs related to the arbitration.

Under this law “Consumer” means an individual who seeks, uses, or acquires, by purchase or lease, any goods or services for personal, family, or household purposes.

Under this law, “employee” means any current employee, former employee, or applicant for employment. The term also includes any person who is, was, or claims to have been misclassified as an independent contractor or otherwise improperly placed into a category other than employee or applicant for employment.

Don't Drink and Drive

“Don’t drink and drive.” It’s sage advice that is simple, familiar, and effective—when it’s followed.

But that’s the problem. Too many people continue to ignore the advice and drink and drive after having too many glasses. The message is not getting through.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), every day, 28 people in the United States die in an alcohol-related crash—in another ones, one person every 51 minutes. Reportedly, DUI crashes kill more than 13,000 people annually, and these fatalities and damages contribute to a cost of $52 billion a year, the agency says.

In addition to deaths and injuries, people who drink and drive can also, unfortunately, experience other consequences, such as property damage and violence.


Drinking and driving do not go well together, but in one of the rarest instances, stakeholders of the alcohol and automobile industries joined hands for a campaign called ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’. The initiative was launched by filmmaker Mike Pandey and Football Factory’s Mark Seagraves in the city on Wednesday.

“With the International Film Festival of India (Iffi) under way and the city gearing up for other events, drinking and driving is a major problem in Goa. It reaches its peak during festivals and the year-end,” said director of Madame Rosa distillery, Mac Vaz. Vaz explained that the intention of the ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ campaign is to spread the message of responsible drinking by choosing alternatives such as calling a cab or requesting a non-drinking friend to take the wheel instead.

In order to raise awareness about the campaign, Rohit Hiraverkar of DC Design said celebrities attending Iffi will be ferried to the festival venue in a sports car. The car will also be parked at prominent spots in the city to enable interested locals to take a selfie with it. “Take a taxi home, but please do not drink and drive. Cars are meant to protect us, so why should someone die at the hands of a careless driver?

Slip and Slide

Accidents on other people's property happen, and injuries are often the result, but when someone else's carelessness (or negligence) is a factor, you may wonder about your legal rights. This article discusses a key issue in a slip and fall accident claim: liability. Whether you are pursuing an insurance settlement or filing a personal injury lawsuit, to win your case you will need to be able to prove that someone else—usually the property owner—is legally responsible for your injuries.

Often, the key liability questions in slip and fall cases are:

1) Who are the potentially liable parties?

2) Were those parties actually negligent, i.e. did they cause or fail to prevent the slip and fall accident?



Property owners do need to be careful in keeping up their property. While there is no precise way to determine when someone else is legally responsible for something on which you slip or trip, cases turn on whether the property owner acted carefully so that slipping or tripping was not likely to happen -- and whether you were careless in not seeing or avoiding the thing you fell on. Here are some general rules to help you decide whether someone else was at fault for your slip or trip and fall injury.

Personal Injury Bicycle Accidents

The popularity of bicycling for exercise, recreation and commuting continues to grow. Unfortunately, injuries and fatalities for all vulnerable road users also are growing. Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)finds that adults are more likely than children to die in a bicyclist-motor vehicle crash, with adults accounting for 88% of bicyclist fatalities.

One-third of non-fatal bicyclist injuries are to the head. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a majority of the 80,000 cycling-related head injuries treated in emergency rooms each year are brain personal injuries.



If you ever fall off your bicycle, you’ll want to be wearing a helmet. If you’re in a bike accident, a helmet could reduce your odds of a head injury by about 51 per cent, and reduce your odds of a fatal head injury by 65 per cent. This makes wearing a helmet seem like a no-brainer (pun-intended). After all, cyclists are vulnerable road users. Cars, other cyclists, pedestrians, and poorly designed biking infrastructure can all lead to crashes, even for the most cautious cyclist.

In Canada, from the mid-90s until 2012, an average of 74 cyclists died every year following a bike accident, and estimates show that only 17–33 per cent of these accidents were the cyclists’ fault. Some parts of Canada have responded to these fatality rates by creating helmet use policies: eight of the 13 provinces and territories have helmet laws that require either minors (under 18 years old) or all ages to wear helmets when they’re riding a bike.

Real Estate Law

Real estate related lawsuits can be a pain for any business owner or individual. Also, as real estate laws can be complicated and varied in different states, it can be difficult to know how to handle real estate transactions as accurately and safely as possible to avoid such lawsuits. This is why it is helpful to have a real estate law lawyer present during important real estate related transactions. Individuals, large and small companies, and even real estate agencies can benefit from the services of a real estate lawyer. If you are looking for an excellent, experienced, and skilled real estate law lawyer in the St. Louis area, then The Wallach Law Firm is your answer. Having your home taken away or having your building be deemed illegal can be frustrating and even devastating. You may have done everything by the book to avoid a real estate lawsuit but now you are facing one. Buying a home is probably the biggest investment you'll ever make. In addition to hiring a real estate agent to help negotiate the transaction, you might consider a real estate lawyer to guide you through the legal process. Real estate attorneys specialize in matters related to property, from transactions to handling disputes between parties.

DUI

An arrest and conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) can be devastating. This puts other drivers at risk, can result in hefty fines and jail time and can ruin a person’s reputation. Such issues can ruin relationships and even result in job loss. No one wants to get in a car crash because they were drunk or have to go to court because they didn’t make alternate arrangements. There are many ways to avoid drunk driving. A DUI Attorney gives you some advice.


1. Select a Reliable Designated Driver

People who plan on drinking need to select a designated driver who will not drink. It is important that this individual understands the expectations and is trusted to uphold his or her bargain. This driver should understand everyone’s addresses, have a valid license and should have emergency contact information on hand.

2. Start Early

It is important to start events early so that people can enjoy a drink or two without danger of getting drunk and then driving and getting a DUI/DWI. Party hosts should keep this in mind. When individuals go out for birthday events or happy hour, starting early makes it easier to get home. Public transportation is still up and running, people are awake and there is more time to get sober.

3. Hide or Take a Person’s Keys

If the temptation to drive is there, people should hand over their keys once they start driving. If a loved one is drinking and thinks he or she is driving, people should “hold” or take their keys to protect them. People often think they are invincible. Hiding a person’s keys removes the temptation to drive.

Taking the necessary precautions protects people from DUI/DWIs. No one wants to get on the road and make a life-changing mistake. Designated drivers, public transportation, and smart choices ensure that people do not get on the road after drinking. It is always better to be safe rather than sorry so that people are not hurt, cars are not totaled and so people can avoid jail time, job loss and making a mistake they can’t take back.

Business Lawyers and Independent Contractor Laws

Independent contractor relationships will be reevaluated. In 2019, the California Legislature enacted AB 5, which affixed in the state’s labor statutes the California Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 Dynamex ruling announcing an “ABC” test for independent contractors. A worker is presumed to be an employee and may be classified as an independent contractor only if: (A) the worker is free of the control the hiring entity typically exercises over its employees; (B) the work the worker does is not integral to the business’s operations; and (C) the worker customarily performs work in an independently established trade or occupation of the same nature as the work performed for the hiring entity.

The Legislature expects the measure to turn “several million” Californians now classified as independent contractors into employees. I received numerous emails in response to my column on AB 5 in September from business lawyers in a wide range of industries that now use independent contractors who fear the Legislature is right.

There are tens of thousands of independent contractors who apparently don’t feel the slightest bit exploited. And they don’t want anything to do with formal employment or unions. They include healthcare workers, psych therapists, budding musicians and truck drivers who own their own rigs.

California law allows workers who are misclassified as independent contracts (but should have been treated as W2 employees) to file a wage and hour lawsuit. Damages against the employer can include:

unpaid wages,
unpaid overtime,
unpaid meal and rest breaks, as well as
penalties and interest.
In California, the basic definition of "independent contractor" is a person who performs services for someone else and retains control of how the service is performed.

If someone performing services for someone else does not meet the formal definition of an independent contractor, then they are presumed to be an "employee" for purposes of California labor law.

Defensive Driving to Avoid Motorcycle Accidents

Sometimes, the best way to break a bad habit is to avoid forming it in the first place. This can be especially true for new motorcyclists, who require an extra degree of care and vigilance when first heading out on the open road. Whether by choosing the right apparel, inspecting your bike for mechanical issues or closely adhering to driving laws, you need a wide range of know-how to ensure your safety and the safety of the drivers around you.

It is important to stay safe on motorcycles; In 2014 motorcyclist deaths occurred 27 times more frequently than fatalities in other vehicles, and 4,586 motorcyclists died in crashes.[1] With these scary facts in mind, it's important to make sure that you don't get into a crash on a motorcycle. This wikiHow will tell you how to ride a motorcycles defensively and prevent accidents.

Defensive driving is important for all types of drivers, but even more so for drivers on motorcycles. No one knows better than a opens in a new motorcycle accident attorney the difference that strategic driving can make. The fact that there are more motorcycles on California’s roads than in any other state is one reason motorcycle accidents are a big issue. But motorcycles also tend to be more severe in the damage they cause and the injuries that motorcycle drivers endure. The best way to avoid serious injury from a motorcycle accident is to prevent an accident from occurring in the first place. Defensive driving is the most effective way to stay safe while you are on the road.

AB5 and Employment Law

AB 5, enshrines in state law a California Supreme Court decision that significantly tightened the rules for classifying a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee. It's overkill and solves a problem that doesn't really exist.

There are tens of thousands of independent contractors who apparently don’t feel the slightest bit exploited. And they don’t want anything to do with formal employment or unions. They include healthcare workers, psych therapists, budding musicians and truck drivers who own their own rigs.

Hundreds of independent contractors are asking employment lawyers how to deal with these new issues.

Uber and other rideshare companies changed all that. You enter where you’re going in an app, the driver accepts the ride, but doesn’t learn the destination until you’re in the car and on the way – and they can be penalized for cancelling rides.

That’s all going to change in California, with new independent contractor rules bringing back transportation discrimination.

California’s new independent contractor rules are having a lot of pretty bizarre effects. Aimed at Uber and Lyft but even has meant Vox severing ties with freelance writers in the state because California AB5 limits the number of articles they can write before having to be considered employees.

Uber needs to make its drivers independent contractors, and one of the changes they’re making is giving drivers destination information up front. This way they aren’t telling drivers where to go – the independent contractors choose for themselves. Some drivers have the feature where they can see destinations before accepting a trip today. The rest will be getting it in the coming days, before AB5 goes into effect January 1.

What Happens in a Medical Malpractice Case

The average out of court settlement for a medical malpractice lawsuit is just over $425,000, while the average jury award is now over $1 Million. So why not go to trial every time?

The fact is that medical malpractice litigation is very expensive, time consuming and not guaranteed. If an attorney passes on a settlement offer only to find that a detail in the case may jeopardize its success, then both that attorney and their client loses.

However, if the case is one that has a very good chance at winning at trial, and the defense does not offer a very handsome settlement, then trial may be necessary. In many cases the defense will wait until the last minute to offer a large settlement hoping that the plaintiff will take a smaller amount. There have been many cases where the defense will finally make a large settlement offer in the court room, right before opening remarks.

How Long Before We Go to Trial

The first thing your lawyer will do is talk to you about the medical condition and medical treatment that led to the health care provider's alleged medical negligence. Next, your lawyer will request all medical records and bills relating to the alleged malpractice, and may also request records related to any condition or care in your medical history that may impact the current case. This can take months maybe even years.

After all relevant records come in, the lawyer will review them to see if there is a valid medical malpractice case. The lawyer may determine that there is no case, and will deliver the bad news to the client very early on. Remember that an undesirable health outcome does not mean that a provider has committed malpractice. Learn more about when it's medical malpractice, and when it isn't.

Life After Bankruptcy

If you think bankruptcy could be looming for you as well, read on to discover what you can expect and what to watch out for after filing for personal bankruptcy.

Filed - Now What?

For the individuals who have declared bankruptcy, the recovery process is long and difficult. The first step comes when you and your bankruptcy attorney meet with your creditors to inform them of the bankruptcy, at which time any non-exempt assets that you have must be liquidated. (To see a full list of asset exemptions, check out DaveRamsey.com.) You will be allowed to keep your car, your furniture, and your personal belongings up to a certain value, but any non-exempt liquid assets such as cash must be turned over to the bankruptcy trustee. But liquidating your assets is only the first of many issues that must be dealt with as the consequences of your bankruptcy begin to unfold.

Filing bankruptcy can, without a doubt, stir up many negative emotions. A debtor's sense of self, identity, and worth are often closely tied to their financial circumstances. Loss of money can thus be experienced as a loss of identity, self-esteem, and confidence.

We live in a society in which image is important and lifestyle is seemingly defined by possessions. Money can be viewed as a powerful currency not only in a purely economic sense but also in relationships, and thus a real or perceived loss of interpersonal power can ensue when bankruptcy is filed.

Understanding these emotions can help disentangle the practical realities of money from the possibly destructive or limiting emotional responses to a bankruptcy filing.

How Has Prop 47 Affected Crime - Differing Views

Passed by voters in November 2014, Proposition 47 brought broad and significant changes to California’s criminal justice system. Undertaken in the wake of public safety realignment in 2011, Proposition 47 reduced the penalties for certain lower-level drug and property offenses and represented a further step in prioritizing prison and jail space for higher-level offenders. The policy has sparked continued debate around two key questions:

Did Proposition 47 increase crime?

From the Public Policy Institute of California PPIC
We find no evidence that violent crime increased as a result of Proposition 47. While California saw an uptick in the violent crime rate from 2014 to 2016, this trend appears to have preceded the reform and is due in large part to unrelated changes in crime reporting after 2014.

We find some evidence that Proposition 47 affected property crime. Statewide, property crime increased after 2014. While the reform had no apparent impact on burglaries or auto thefts, it may have contributed to a rise in larceny thefts, which increased by roughly 9 percent (about 135 more thefts per 100,000 residents) compared to other states. Crime data show that thefts from motor vehicles account for about three-quarters of this increase.

Despite recent upticks, California’s crime rates remain comparable to the low rates observed in the 1960s—even with the dramatic reductions in incarceration ushered in by recent criminal justice reforms.

Do Decreased Arrest Rates Indicate Decrease in Crime?

Brazen acts of petty theft and shoplifting are a dangerous and all-too-common consequence of Proposition 47, a referendum passed five years ago that critics say effectively gives shoplifters and addicts the green light to commit crimes as long as the merchandise they steal or the drugs they take are less than $950 in value. The decision to downgrade theft of property valued below the arbitrary figure from felony to misdemeanor, together with selective enforcement that focuses on more “serious” crimes, has resulted in thieves knowing they can brazenly shoplift and merchants knowing the police will not respond to their complaints, say critics.

Since Proposition 47 was passed, there has been an increase in theft across the state. Cities like San Francisco have seen organized crime rings turn shoplifting into a well-organized racket involving desperate thieves and unscrupulous black-market resellers.

Among the nation's 20 largest cities, San Francisco now has the highest rate of property crime, which includes theft, shoplifting and vandalism.

Estate Planning - Will You Live Forever?

Single people without kids often think they will live forever.

Are you single with no kids and approaching retirement? If so, you probably have not given much thought to estate planning. You may have been busy building your career, socking away money and enjoying your time off with weekends away and exotic vacations. As you inch closer to retirement, it’s time to seriously think about your estate plan. Here is what it should look like.

Key takeaways

A will spells out how you want your estate distributed after your death. Without a will, state law will determine the order of inheritance.

Make sure to have documents in place to specify who can make financial and medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated.

Check that the beneficiary designations on your life insurance, retirement,and bank accounts are in line with your wishes.

Of course, people arrive at their singleness in different ways, whether it's through widowhood, divorce, or never having been married. Some singles have children, while others do not. There's no one estate planning solution for every single person.

Take time to make an estate plan

Many people assume that estate planning is for married couples, because couples have spouses who rely on each other, or because couples need to make contingency plans for the care of minor children. Singles, on the other hand, may not need a will to provide protection for another person. Instead, they need to focus on their own protection and lay the groundwork for allowing someone else to make financial and medical decisions on their behalf, if they are not able to do so. In addition, they may need to spend a bit more time thinking about where their assets would pass at death, because there may not be a clear set of beneficiaries (like a spouse or children).

Put in place a power of attorney and health care proxy

Powers of attorney for financial affairs appoint someone to act on your behalf if you become incapacitated, and are an important component of estate planning for single people. Without these documents, a court would need to appoint someone to handle important financial decisions for you. That could delay access to bank and investment accounts and make it difficult to access the money needed to pay bills.

A medical power of attorney, also known as a health care proxy, is a good starting point for making sure you have designated someone to act on your behalf to make medical decisions. This spells out precisely what types of interventions you agree to if you are not able to communicate your wishes. These documents must be in place to allow someone of your choosing to help medical personnel carry out your wishes.

Identify your heirs

For married people, spouses and children are natural heirs. A will is a must for anyone, because if there is no will, the probate court will rely on state law to determine the order of inheritance.

In addition to a will, make sure to have the right beneficiary designations on your life insurance, retirement, and bank accounts to reflect your current wishes. If you were previously married, your ex may still be a beneficiary of some accounts. Or you may have named a friend with whom you are no longer in contact. Those designations override any instructions in your will.

Tip: Consider setting up a revocable trust so your heirs can avoid probate, which in some states can be an expensive and lengthy process. Read Viewpoints on Fidelity.com: 6 reasons you should consider a trust

Update your estate planning as needed

Having an updated estate plan can help ensure that everything you worked so hard for is distributed to the people, charities, and organizations that mean the most to you.

Real Estate Lawyers Explain Rent Control

As California becomes the second state to cap residential rent increases statewide, renters who live in the Golden State may want to prepare for higher housing costs nonetheless.

On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed a rent control law that will only allow landlords to increase rents by 5% plus inflation each year until 2030. The law will retroactively apply to increases on or after March 15, and it will also ban landlords from evicting tenants without cause.

California’s law won’t apply to single-family homes, unless they are owned by corporations or real estate investment trusts, or to duplexes if the owner lives in one of the units. It is estimated the law will cover 8 million of California’s 17 million renters.

Earlier this year, Oregon became the first state in the country to pass a law that mandated statewide rent control. In Oregon, rent increases are limited to 7% plus inflation each year. Similar to the California law, the Oregon legislation also banned no-cause evictions, which landlords could have used to circumvent the rent caps because they are allowed to increase rents by more than the capped amount when they’re signing with a new tenant.

Unlike Oregon though, California also has multiple cities with their own rent-control regulations in effect, including Oakland and Los Angeles, many of which are more strict than the statewide rule.

Most states have laws that actively prevent municipalities from creating their own rent control mandates, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council, a trade group that represents the owners of apartment buildings. While New York does not have a statewide rent control policy in the vein of California’s and Oregon’s, it does have a law that allows individual cities to create their own policies.

Advocates of rent control in Oregon and California promoted the policy as a solution to the affordable housing crisis in both states. California recently came under White House scrutiny for its homelessness crisis — it has more people living on the street than any other state in the country, and the high cost of housing is one of the main culprits behind that trend.

Rent control has become a popular policy among progressive politicians but they are wrong. Last month, Bernie Sanders unveiled a proposal for a national rent control policy as part of his overall plan to address the need for affordable housing nationwide which certainly would backfire if implemented.

Real Estate Lawyers say rent control may actually make housing more expensive

Past research shows that rent control may not be a foolproof solution to promote affordable housing.

In Oregon, the implementation of rent control led to a short-term jump in rental prices across much of the state, one study found, likely because landlords were seeking to get an increase in before the law went into effect. California’s law should prevent this because it applies retroactively, but other new rent control policies could replicate what occurred in Oregon.

Over the long term, rent prices can still rise substantially after rent control regulation goes into effect, because most rent control ordinances allow landlords to raise the price as much as they want for new tenants if the previous tenants left of their own accord.

Making matters worse, there’s evidence that rent control policies can lead to a reduction in rental housing stock. In San Francisco, landlords were 10% more likely to convert their buildings into condos after the city imposed rent control in the 1990s, one study found. Rents in the city ended up increasing 5.1% as a result between 1995 and 2012, costing tenants roughly $2.9 billion.

Additionally, researchers have found that rents for apartments that were exempt from rent control policies grew much more substantially as a result.

Other research has suggested that rent control policies may contribute to a deterioration in the quality of rental housing and may disincentivize the construction of new rental housing — a point that the National Multifamily Housing Council raised after the passage of California’s real estate law.

“The most effective way to fix California’s housing crisis is by building more housing across a range of price points,” Doug Bibby, President of the National Multifamily Housing Council, said back in September, adding that rent control “will discourage investment, shrink the availability of affordable housing that already exists and squeeze even more people struggling in the housing market.”

To be sure, some researchers have contended that, by providing a more stable foundation for households, the benefits of rent control more than outweigh the negative repercussions.

“Economists typically have taken a narrow view towards rent control, preferring other options like vouchers for low-income and rent-burdened residents because they cause less distortion to the housing market. But we’ve found that expansion of rent control in major cities provides real benefits,” Columbia Business School Professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh said in April when summarizing the results of the study he co-authored that showed rent control was a positive policy for renters. “Better targeting of rent controlled housing units towards the lowest-income households can amplify these benefits.”