Scali Rasmussen announced today that Founder and Managing Shareholder Christian Scali and Shareholder Halbert Rasmussen are recognized as 'Legal Visionaries' in the Los Angeles Times' second annual Business of Law magazine. The special supplement spotlights professionals who have exhibited noteworthy achievements over the last two years, including client successes, leadership positions within their firm and community at large, board affiliations and recognitions.

Bleach, hand sanitizer, single use plastic bags all were necessary to human health and safety during the pandemic. Will they be blackballed again once there is a cure, or will we stick by our old tried and true friends?

COVID-19 and the chip supply shortage has made new vehicle inventory scarce. This has resulted in fewer vehicles available for sale. And as the pandemic ends and people are getting back to their workplaces, demand continues to rise for new vehicles. A fundamental principle of economics is that price inflation results as supply dwindles and demand rises. Specifically, as retailers seek income equilibrium to meet normal operating expenses amid reduced sales volume, artificially created by a reduction in supply, their only choice is to increase the sales price of their remaining inventory.

Per CAL OSHA, employers must exclude from the workplace employees or employee groups who have been exposed to COVID-19. Employers must pay these excluded employees their regular pay and benefits. Under the new revised CAL OSHA revised Emergency Temporary Standard, discussed below, this pay is not to come from Covid-19 sick pay supplemented by the State of California, regular sick pay, vacation time or anything other than regular pay roll.

Although the California Covid-19 Paid Sick Leave bill ended in September 2021, a new bill has been put in place to continue paid sick leave for those affected by Covid-19. This new bill is effective February 19th, 2022 and is retroactive to January 1st 2022. The key similarities and differences between the 2021 bill and the new bill are listed below.

In this case a hotel sued its insurer to recover for COVID related losses. As the Court itself related in the decision, the case “[P]resent[ed] an issue of first impression for a California appellate court: does a commercial property insurance policy provide coverage for a business’s lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic?” The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court’s decision that there was no coverage, as the spread of the disease did not cause direct physical damage to the business’ property that resulted in losses.

A growing threat to business owners of all size is cybercrime brought on by the mounting strain put on the cyber security industry. Cybercrime takes many forms but has one main goal, theft of secure and private information.

The 2021 legislative session touched on a wide array of business topics. Changes in the law include regulating debt collection, automatically renewing service contracts, and privacy. These laws do not affect all businesses, but are nonetheless worth every business owner’s attention, as they may shape you conduct business in California in the future.

In California, another year means another set of new employment laws that impose burdens on employers. The 2021 legislative session was no exception, with new laws passed and signed that address employment-related confidentiality agreements, wage theft, and family medical leave, to name a few areas. The good news for California employers is that none of the new laws make revolutionary changes to employee rights or employer responsibilities, but employers nonetheless need to understand these changes and adjust their policies to avoid potential liability in the future.

Scali Rasmussen announced today that it has been selected by the Los Angeles Business Journal as a finalist in its "International Business Award." The publisher says the first annual forum and awards celebrates "the global business community and those outstanding corporate stewards who are leading the way in international trade, investment, technology, and innovation."