August 19th, 2015/By Admin/In Blog
Some attorneys are known for being long-winded time wasters who act with little regard for efficiency, especially when billing at an hourly rate. Although we believe the length of a deposition is often dictated by the witness’ relevancy and the complexity of each case, California law AB 1875 now limits the deposition of any person in a civil action to no more than seven hours.
California’s AB 1875 (which came into effect on January 1, 2013) contains some noteworthy exceptions to the seven hour limit. Read More
August 19th, 2015/By Admin/In Blog
Business Interruption Insurance (“BII”) is a form of commercial insurance coverage that provides limited but useful protection when a business is unable to continue normal operations or occupy its premises due to the occurrence of certain events that are outside the business’ control. [See Business Interruption Insurance, American Insurance Association, which provides the basis for much of this article.]
BII is triggered in one of three ways:
- Physical damage to premises causing the business to suspend operations.
Read More
The Firm’s Bay Area General Litigation Team recently obtained a Summary Judgment on behalf of a Firm car rental client. In this case, the plaintiff was an injured passenger in a vehicle driven by an intoxicated driver that collided with another vehicle at a San Jose intersection. The Firm’s client had rented the car to an individual who, by the terms of the rental contract, was the only permissive operator of the vehicle.
Because the driver of the vehicle at the time of the accident was not the renter, the issue before the court was whether or not the driver had implied permission to operate the vehicle and hence extend liability to the Firm’s client. Read More
August 19th, 2015/By Admin/In Blog
In addition to earthquakes, San Francisco Bay Area residents have an increased risk for landslides.
An article posted by claimsguides.com states:
“Although well aware of the region’s earthquake threat, many San Francisco Bay Area residents are uninformed about another dangerous geologic hazard: landslides triggered by heavy rainfall. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the combination of steep slopes, weak rocks, and intense winter rainstorms make the Bay Area uplands an ideal setting for landslides.
USGS recently released a documentary film ‘Riding the Storm,’ produced by former USGS Geologist Karen Adams, telling the dramatic stories of some of the region’s most significant landslide events and explores the science behind the hazard with USGS researchers Raymond Wilson and Ray Wells. Read More
Partners Tim Lake and Chris Maile successfully defended an insurance carrier in a bad-faith case brought by an 83 year old plaintiff alleging the carrier had breached his homeowners insurance policy and committed bad-faith when it refused to pay a judgment against him of $235,000.00. As a result of some favorable legal rulings based upon coverage defenses asserted by the carrier and damaging testimony to the plaintiff’s case by several early witnesses, plaintiff settled the case during trial, rather than face possible dismissal on a non-suit motion. Read More
