Are you sure your employee payment policies and record keeping are compliant with California's complex labor laws?  Are you willing to bet your business on it?  Because with the significant potential fines, penalties, and costs the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement ("DLSE") can impose on your business for even the smallest, most innocent payroll mistakes or misunderstandings, that is exactly what you could be doing.

In Forecast Homes, Inc. v. Steadfast Ins., a homebuilder ("Forecast") retained several subcontractors to perform portions of work at a residential project. As part of the subcontractor agreements, Forecast required the subcontractors to add Forecast as an additional insured on their commercial general liability policies.

Faced with a personally guaranteed, multi-year lease entered into at the height of the commercial real estate boom in downtown San Diego, NB Attorneys sued a prominent international hotel and property management chain for failing to live up to its own lease terms.

Is your company doing enough to protect its confidential information?  A recent court ruling made it clear that simply inserting a contractual provision in your employment agreements is not enough to protect a company's valuable information.  Companies must do more.  In order for information to qualify for protection under California law, it must qualify as a "trade secret." 

EMPLOYERS BEWARE.  Do your hourly employees send and receive work related emails or texts after their workshifts are over?  If so, your company may be in danger of becoming a defendant in the next wave of "wage and hour" lawsuits.

A former employee of a NB client brought an action seeking damages for unpaid wages and overtime. Though faced with the prospect of paying the former employees attorneys fees if unsuccessful, NB refused to settle, standing behind the defense that the employee was exempt. At the conclusion of trial, the court ruled in favor of NB's client, awarding the former employee nothing on these wage claims.

Secure Award of Over $35,000 for Residential Landlord 

NB attorneys filed an unlawful detainer action to evict problem tenants for one of its landlord clients.  The defendants, represented by a local attorney specializing in tenant representation, raised multiple defenses, including claims of toxic mold and breach of the implied warranty of habitability.  

NB attorneys successfully prosecuted an action for conversion against a client's employee. The employee was found liable for a substantial cash deposit that went missing under very peculiar circumstances. Michael Battin, the lead trial attorney on the case said "there must be consequences for wrongful conduct. These consequences must apply to everyone, especially employees who steal from their employers."

Net Clients Over $1 million in Damages and Loan Forgiveness

NB attorneys were faced with a complex real estate development scam in the Salton Sea area.  A small group of clients unwittingly fell victim to a scheme involving developers, a vast array of straw entities, and several layers of fraudulent behavior.  

NB attorneys filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against a publicly traded company, several hedge funds and their principals seeking in excess of $100 million in damages for interference with a corporate merger opportunity.  Several Defendants were represented by large national law firms.