Publications Archives

By: Kyle D. Kring and Faheem A. Tukhi

California has historically proven itself a leader in progressing women's rights and was one of the first states to adopt a statewide Equal Pay Act. Despite this, the California Legislature determined that in 2014, women in California who work full-time make only 84 cents for every dollar a male makes during the same amount of time, which amounts to a staggering $33 billion dollar loss for the state and families. To combat this, California's new Fair Pay Act (Senate Bill 358) - which takes effect on January 1, 2016 - intends to close that gap by modifying existing laws and requiring employers to pay men and women equal pay for "substantially similar" work.

Under California law, an award of attorney's fees is typically not available to a prevailing party at trial. The most common exceptions to this rule are statutes authorizing recovery of attorney's fees for particular actions and contracts authorizing recovery of attorney's fees in breach of contract actions. However, in personal injury lawsuits, the loser typically does not pay the winner's attorney's fees.

By: Paul T. McBride

In Grebow v. Mercury Insurance, published on October 23, 2015, the Court of Appeals rejected a homeowners' claim that an implied duty to reimburse costs incurred by the homeowner to prevent an insurable loss is imposed on a homeowners' insurance carrier. At first blush, this decision may appear unfair, since the homeowners efforts saved the carrier money in the long run. However, the Court justified its conclusion by stating that the homeowners' argument would convert a loss policy into a maintenance agreement, which is not what the parties intended when the policy was purchased.