News & Insights
Recent Posts
Covid-19: Assessing the Legal Risk of Infectious Diseases
WSHB Employer Alert: FFCRA and DOL Regulations 4.2.20
Employment Practices Consultation & COVID-19
It’s a No-Win Situation: The Perils Facing Hospitals Due to the Coronavirus
COVID-19 Employer Alert: Summary of the CARES Act
COVID-19: New York Malpractice Law Alert
COVID-19 Employer Alert: Enactment of Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
WSHB Partner Robert Hellner Shares Mediation Tactics at CLM’s 2020 Annual Conference
Risk Transfer and Contractual Indemnification – Who Gets Left Holding the Bag?
Seven Habits that Define a Highly Effective Claims Team
Read the Room: Arguments that Work in Court but May Backfire at Mediation
WSHB Partner Kelly Waters Named to NJBIZ's 2020 Best Fifty Women in Business List
WSHB Names Andrew S. Kessler as Managing Partner of the Firm's Philadelphia Office
WSHB Employment Alert: California Law Banning Arbitration Agreements Temporarily on Hold
Sam McDermott on the Dos and Don’ts of Construction Project Termination
Full Disclosure! Insurer Beware: Colorado’s New Automobile Policy Disclosure Law Has Teeth!
Andrew S. Kessler Named Legal Counsel for Northeast Community Center for Behavioral Health
WSHB Elevates Ten Partners to Defined Equity Status
Eleven WSHB Attorneys Elected Into Partnership
Eighteen Attorneys Elected to WSHB Senior Counsel
Supreme Court Allows Suit Over Website Accessibility
Strategies for Defending Legionella and Mold Claims
Time Limit Demand Issues Arrive in North Carolina
WSHB Welcomes New Partner Julie A. Weerth to the Firm's New York Office
Temp Agency Absolved of Liability in Hotly Contested Action
Alternative Fee Agreements and Construction Issues: Oil and Water or Perfect Pairing!?
WSHB's Graham Miller Helps Demystify Construction Claims in the Pacific Northwest
WSHB Partner Janice Michaels Named to The Best Lawyers in America© 2020 List
One Bad Apple: Navigating through Sexual Battery and other Intentional Torts
Leading Construction Litigator Cynthia Tari Joins WSHB's Dallas Office
WSHB’s Philadelphia Partner Secures Summary Judgment in Catastrophic Premises Liability Matter
WSHB Welcomes New Partner Andrew Kessler
Renowned Litigator Jason Williams Joins WSHB's Nevada Office
Litigator Richard Young Joins WSHB's Nevada Office
17 WSHB Lawyers Honored as 2019's Rising Stars
WSHB’s Jason Klein Breaks Down the Good, the Sad and the Funny Sides of Claims
Girl on Fire: The Price of Pursuing the Truth in the #MeToo World
Pragmatic Issues on Settlement Versus Trial for Legal Malpractice Cases
The Natural Progression of Natural Disasters
Nevada’s Governor Signs Chapter 40 Reform Bill
WA Condo Law Changes Hope to Curtail Frivolous Defect Lawsuits and Stimulate Production
WSHB Co-Founder Stephen Henning Steps Into the Spotlight at this Year's West Coast Casualty Seminar
Professional Liability Expert Weighs In On Protecting Your Practice From Opioid Doc Arrest Fallout
Penalties, Punitives, and Granny Cams: The Escalating Lure of Elder Abuse Litigation
Are Structured Settlements Still Relevant
Game Changing Trends Affecting Construction
He's Not My Guy: The Joint-Employer Doctrine
WSHB Case Update: DOL Proposes Increase to Minimum Salary Threshold
WSHB and DWF Announce Exclusive Association
DOL Proposes Rule to Clarify Independent Contractor/Employee Test
California Jury Returns Defense Verdict in Employment Matter Following Trial During Covid Pandemic
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On January 6, 2021, the Department of Labor ("DOL") announced a final rule aimed at trying to clarify the standard for determining whether someone is an "employee" or "independent contractor" under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). Absent any change in direction from the new Biden administration, the rule would go into effect on March 8, 2021 and would amend 29 CFR Chapter V by adding sections 795.100 through 795.110. In setting forth this new rule, the DOL aimed to provide less uncertainty in application of this test, especially in light of the novel issues raised by app-based, gig economy workers, among others. It is likely no coincidence that this new rule was promulgated on the heels of the passage of Proposition 22 in California, a ballot initiative that excepted app-based transportation and delivery companies from other laws that would have required these companies to classify their drivers as "employees" as opposed to "independent contractors."...
Trial Results
California Jury Returns Defense Verdict in Employment Matter Following Trial During Covid Pandemic
WSHB’s elite national trial team obtained a defense verdict from a jury in Orange County, California, on behalf of a property management company that specializes in community associations. The defendant was accused of wrongfully terminating an 11-year tenured employee while he was out on medical leave for treatment of Stage 4 cancer. This trial, the team’s second case taken to verdict during the Covid-19 pandemic, was conducted under less than ideal circumstances with social distancing being enforced by spreading jurors throughout the courtroom, impacting sight lines to witnesses and exhibits, and everyone being required to wear masks, which made both hearing and judging credibility difficult. Through extra effort, strategizing, planning and physical positioning during different phases of the trial, WSHB’s trial team was able to navigate the new difficulties created by the distancing requirements....
On January 21, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the long-standing principle in Florida that extra-contractual and consequential damages are not available to an insured who has not brought a "bad faith" action against their insurer. Instead, when an insured has only alleged that an insured has breached the terms of the policy, the insured is only entitled to recover the "amount owed pursuant to the express terms and conditions of the policy." As a consequence of its decision, the Supreme Court rejected the lower appellate court's finding that an insured could seek "consequential damages" for its lost rents even when the policy did not provide coverage for lost rental income so long as such those damages were "contemplated" or foreseen at the time the policy was issued....