Lawsuits arising from motor vehicle collisions often include a claim against the owner of the vehicle because California law permits an award of damages against the vehicle owner for the negligence of a permissive user. For dealers operating their own vehicle rental operation the potential liability, as well as the cost of defending the lawsuit, is a significant burden. Our firm has successfully used a provision of federal law, commonly known as the Graves Amendment, to convince plaintiff’s lawyers not to file suit against our rental company clients, or to defeat the vicarious liability claim on summary judgment.

With all the recent publicity surrounding increases in state and local minimum wage requirements and concern about how those increases could affect auto dealers, recent changes to another set of employee compensation rules have received substantially less attention. The U.S Department of Labor has made changes to its regulations that will more than double minimum salary requirements for while collar workers, which warrants proactive planning on the part of dealers and businesses in general.

Beverly Hills is known for its swanky stores and hotels with first-class service. But for your next visit, the driver of your shuttle might be a software program.

On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) which creates a federal civil cause of action for trade secret theft. The law provides trade secret owners alternatives to navigating varied state trade secret laws or seeking assistance from the Department of Justice.

The Scali Law Firm is mentioned in the SMCDA’s Newsletter, The Accelerator, in connection with the Automotive Parts Litigation Class Action Settlement.

The argument that a vehicle malfunction, and not excessive speed, led to the 2013 crash that claimed the life of “The Fast and the Furious” star Paul Walker was dealt a blow when a judge dismissed one of three wrongful-death suits filed against Porsche, court records show. This article, by James Queally, originally published in the Los Angeles Times, includes commentary by The Scali Law Firm founding member, Christian Scali.

New regulations for the Fair Employment and Housing Act are set to take effect April 1, 2016. Many of the provisions merely restate changes that are already in effect. But these regulations also provide some additional specificity to certain FEHA provisions and include some new obligations. We look at some of the more significant amendments and the requirements they impose on employer policies and their distribution.

You’ll find this article by The Scali Law Firm in the February/March 2016 issue of West Coast Dealer, a publication of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association.

Now that we are just getting adjusted to the new employment laws that took effect at the beginning of the year, it is time to look at the bills that are currently developing in the California legislature to see what possibly lies ahead and what it would mean for you and your employees.

Despite all the ways driverless cars will make our roads safer, less congested and more accessible, at the moment the biggest roadblock, ironically, seems to be a government agency tasked with keeping our roads safe.