I had the pleasure of serving on a jury here in Los Angeles this month. It was a criminal case that lasted about one week. From a litigator’s perspective, the service was very interesting, and very informative. Here are a few lessons I picked up from my jury service:
Over the weekend, Governor Brown signed S.B. 459 into law (among other employment bills) which makes employers liable for civil penalties of $5,000 to $15,000 for each violation of “willful misclassification” of employees as independent contractors. In addition, if it is found that the employer has a pattern and practice of misclassifying independent contractors, the
Today, the California Supreme Court set oral argument in Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) to take place on November 8, 2011. The Court typically provides a ruling on cases within 90 days of oral argument, so I expect a ruling very early in 2012.
This case is the much anticipated ruling on whether employers