The deposit is a standard and integral term in buy-sell agreements, whether in an asset purchase agreement (an “APA”) or stock purchase agreement. The focus here will be APAs, since they are used for the vast majority of automobile dealership buy-sells.

On April 1, 2021, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in a highly anticipated case regarding the definition of automatic telephone dialing systems (“ATDS”) under the Telephone Consumer Privacy Act (“TCPA”). The decision authored by Justice Sotomayor narrows the definition of an ATDS and could have a major impact on how businesses may market to consumers using telephone voice and text.

On January 20, 2021—his very first day in office—President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing agencies to review numerous actions taken by the previous administration. One item under review is the Trump Administration’s revocation of a waiver allowing California to set its own vehicle-emission standards. Although twenty states sued the Trump Administration for that action, President Biden has asked the courts to pause litigation while his administration reviews the waiver revocation.

A lis pendens is a powerful legal tool, which unfortunately is often misunderstood by professionals and lay persons alike. It does not prevent the sale or transfer of title to real property, does not make such transfers void or even technically encumber real property. It simply gives notice to the world of a pending legal action involving real property. Latin for ‘suit pending’, use of the term lis pendens is a holdover from legal concepts first conceived in ancient Rome. Modernly, the terms ‘notice of pendency of action’ or even ‘notice of pending action’ while still clumsy, are more readily recognized. Giving notice of a pending legal action can be essential to effectively safeguarding real property during litigation, despite the awkward language.

The state of California has selected the inaugural board members of the new California Privacy Protection Agency approved by California voters during the November 2020 election. The new board members come from a variety of backgrounds, including private legal practice, academia, and nonprofits.

Scali Rasmussen Shareholder Monica Baumann has been selected as an honoree in the Los Angeles Business Journal special supplement recognizing the city's most influential women attorneys. The Journal's Publisher and CEO Josh Schimmels writes, "Los Angeles is truly a national leader when it comes to influential women – and the field of law is no exception." The women named in the special issue "have been recognized for exceptional legal skill and achievement across the full spectrum of responsibility, exemplary leadership as evidenced by the highest professional and ethical standards, and for contributions to the Los Angeles community at large."

In the wake of AB1513, which requires piece-rate employees to be separately compensated for rest, recovery, and nonproductive time, many dealers and other employers moved to weekly pay periods to more easily account for overtime, rest breaks, and the like at the correct rates. While this change is the right move from a compliance standpoint, in the event any wage and hour violations nevertheless accrue, it results in much higher penalties under PAGA – the Private Attorney General Act – which counts penalties every pay period in which a violation occurs.

The California Attorney General adopted new regulations in March that may require changes to how businesses are communicating to consumers about their rights under the CCPA. These regulations are aimed at practices that the Attorney General’s office views as unfair to consumer and has pursued in enforcement letters to companies to date. Every company doing business in California that must comply with the CCPA should review its communication to customers about the CCPA.

On March 19, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law an extension of paid COVID-19 sick leave. This type of leave is in addition to other types of sick leave generally provided by employers. While the law passed in March, it is retroactive back to January 1, 2021 as of March 29, 2021. We have provided the following Frequently Asked Questions and answers.