News & Insights

For California’s complex employment litigators, 2025’s arbitration rulings have introduced new fault lines in the enforceability landscape—particularly where statutory rights, procedural fairness, and mutuality collide.

Exotic brands like Bugatti, Pagani, and Koenigsegg sell parts directly from Europe, making U.S. dealers the importers of record responsible for customs duties and tariffs. Unlike mainstream automakers, these brands bypass U.S. distribution subsidiaries, requiring dealers to handle import obligations themselves.

The last five years has seen a dramatic rise in cases involving exposure to PFSA - also known as "forever" chemicals - and cases by municipalities and water districts seeking damages caused by water contamination. Unlike benzene, cigarettes and mold, PFAS claims appear to have legs, at least for now.

In recent years, the landscape of employment law has undergone significant changes regarding the enforceability of arbitration agreements in employment cases. The enactment of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“EFAA”) has introduced crucial exceptions to the enforcement of mandatory arbitration clauses. The EFAA allows employees who allege sexual harassment, gender-based discrimination, or sexual orientation harassment to evade arbitration agreements and take their claims directly to court.

For 60 years the U.S. Government favored the idea that employers should take into account the minority status of employees to foster diversity in the workplace and remedy past discrimination. In a dramatic reversal, the current President of the U.S. has decreed that all such programs should be illegal. At the same time, the laws that encourage diversity programs remain in place. So, what is an international business with a presence in the U.S. to do?

The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq.) (“PAGA”) has long served as a formidable vehicle for employee-plaintiffs to pursue civil penalties for Labor Code violations on a representative basis. However, California courts have recently placed renewed focus on the standing requirements for PAGA claims—particularly in cases where the named plaintiff does not pursue his individual PAGA claims. This emerging judicial doctrine is colloquially referred to as “Headless PAGA.”

You recorded a Notice of Pendency of Action (the “Notice”), also referred to as a “lis pendens,” in your litigation involving claims affecting real property. You now have priority to any judgment obtained after the Notice was recorded which affect the property.

The annual List ranks the legal industry’s leaders in Los Angeles County. “We’re grateful to be featured with such respected industry leaders,” says Founder and Managing Shareholder Christian Scali. “The recognition highlights the legal excellence and tireless dedication of our team to our clients and our profession.”

After a three-week trial and in a sweeping victory for Team Kia Mazda of El Cajon, a San Diego jury delivered a full defense verdict on all five claims asserted by the plaintiff in Ganatta v. JKC Palm Springs Automotive, Inc. (dba Team Kia Mazda of El Cajon). The verdict was rendered after less than seven hours of deliberation.

While employees frequently sign arbitration agreements as part of their onboarding, when a grievance arises, they oftentimes either choose to ignore that agreement, or expect to challenge its enforceability and file suit instead. Employers are then forced to file a motion to compel arbitration to enforce that agreement. In this case, Arzate v. Ace American Insurance Company, the trial court granted the motion, enforced a class action waiver within the agreement, and stayed the action pending arbitration.