Business Law

We are pleased to be able to alert you to author opportunities for the Continuing Education of the Bar (“CEB”) book series.  Below is a list of the titles and chapters in need of authors. If you have any questions, please reach out to David Muellenhoff  at David.Muellenhoff@ceb.ucla.edu.  Read more

The State and Local Tax (SALT) cap initially applied only through the 2025 tax year, and the Small Business Relief Act provided that the SALT cap workaround was effective for tax years 2021–2025. In July 2025, SB 132 (Stats 2025, ch 17) was signed into law, which provides that that the SALT cap workaround would be extended to include tax years 2026–2030 in the event that the SALT cap was extended (Rev & T C §17052.11). The SALT cap was subsequently extended by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in 2025, triggering the extension of the SALT cap workaround. See §1.99A. Read more

Jerome A. (Jerry) Grossman has been a member of the Business Law Section  for over 30 years.   He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section and currently serves as an advisor to that Committee.  He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Section’s Opinions  Committee, a member of the Business Law News Editorial Board, and a member of the Commercial Transactions Committee (formerly the UCC Committee).  He was a member of the UCC Committee from 1995 to 2000, serving as Chair during his last year, and coordinating the writing and publication of an article for the Business Law News analyzing certain aspects of the 1998 major revision of UCC Article 9.  Jerry joined the newly formed Opinions Task Force (now the Opinions Committee) in 2001.  He was the reporter for Appendix 10 to its first publication, the 2004 Report on Third-Party Remedies Opinions, analyzing more than 30 of the most commonly taken qualifications to such opinions, and is currently working on an update to that Appendix.  He has been active in the Working Group on Legal Opinions (https://www.wglo.net/) since its inception in 2005.  Jerry was inducted into the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers in 2010.  He is a coauthor, with Edith R. Warkentine (retired Professor at the Western State College of Law), of Secured Transactions: A Context and Practice Casebook (2d ed. 2024). Read more

Welcome to 2026.  This year opens with challenges that underscore the importance of the rule of law.  The U.S. Constitution was once the radical proposition that wrested governance from a monarch and placed it within this great nation to rule itself.  Today, it is the oldest codified constitution still in operation and it has led to unimagined achievements in our civil society.  The  Constitution is the antecedent to all governance affecting our lives.  Read more

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the 9th Circuit, Judges Brand, Lafferty and Gan, affirmed the order of Nevada Bankruptcy Judge Gary A. Spraker, which determined Plaintiff Steven Mark Hayden (“Hayden”) to be a vexatious litigant and imposed a pre filing order requiring Hayden to submit filings to the United States Bankruptcy Court for Judicial review prior to filing. In re Cashion Family Trust, 669 B.R. 341(Bankr. D.  Nev. 2025).  Read more

Dear constituency list members of the Insolvency Law Committee (ILC), the following is an ebulletin by Leonard Gumport about developments in the Purdue Pharma L.P. case: Summary During 2008-2016, while marketing OxyContin, Purdue Pharma L.P. (Purdue) distributed $10+ billion to or for the benefit of Purdue’s owners (the Sacklers). In 2019, debtors Purdue, its general partner, and subsidiaries (collectively, Debtors) filed chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the Bankruptcy Court). The… Read more

Faiaipau v. THC-Orange County, LLC (Dec. 19, 2025, A171351) __ Cal.App.5th __ (2025 WL 3704596) Parties who agree to arbitrate medical negligence claims must arbitrate wrongful death claim alleging inadequate provision of healthcare. Ana Faiaipau was admitted to a long-term acute care hospital to recover from heart surgery. After she died at the facility, her successors-in-interest sued the hospital for negligence, Elder Abuse neglect, fraud or breach of fiduciary duty, violation of the unfair competition law (UCL), and wrongful death.… Read more

January 12, 2026 The following is a case review written by Hale Andrew Antico, Chief Counsel of Antico Law Firm, analyzing Namba v. Jafroodi (In re Jafroodi), 2025 WL 3539243 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. Nov 30, 2025), a recent case of interest. SUMMARY In Jafroodi, the bankruptcy court held that a jury trial demand filed months after the amended complaint was not waived by procedural delay or a district court's denial of withdrawal, preserving the Seventh Amendment right despite administrative lags. … Read more

Factual Background This action is brought by a franchisor against its former franchisee and the franchisee’s principle executive for breach of the post-term noncompete, among other breaches. Plaintiff Brightstar Franchising, LLC (“Brightstar”) is the franchisor for BrightStar Care Agencies, which provide in-home care services within defined territories pursuant to a proprietary operating system developed since the company’s founding in 2005. Defendant Foreside Management Company (“Foreside”) is a former Brightstar franchisee for the territory of California, and is owned and managed… Read more

December 2025 The following published decision may be of interest to attorneys practicing insurance law: CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL The Insurance Commissioner lacks authority to mandate that the California FAIR Plan offer liability coverage. California FAIR Plan Association v. Lara (2025) __ Cal.App.5th __. The California Insurance Commissioner issued an order directing the FAIR Plan to offer a homeowner’s policy covering perils not covered by the standard fire policy, including premises liability and workers’ compensation.  The FAIR Plan challenged the… Read more