In “The Godfather,” when hot-headed Sonny wanted to take an emotional and vindictive approach towards a conflict with the family’s rivals, consigliore Tom Hagen famously admonishes him to remember that: “It’s not personal. It’s business.”
Business owners know there are consequences to every decision they make. Good strategic, operational, and financial choices can spur profits and growth. Conversely, poor business decisions can send a company on a downward spiral from which it may never recover. (more…)
If you own a California business and want to prevent your employees from competing against you or soliciting your customers after they leave your employ, you will find that your options are extremely limited. Any “non-competition agreement” that you may be considering or which you had your employees sign, separately or as part of an employment agreement, will almost certainly do you absolutely no good and will not be enforced, except under very limited circumstances not usually present between an employer and employee. (more…)
In May 2014, the California Supreme Court adopted a new rule that modifies the oath new attorneys must take upon admission to the California bar. In addition to pledging to support the U.S. and California constitutions and to faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney and counselor at law, newly minted California attorneys must now solemnly swear that, “As an officer of the court, I will strive to conduct myself at all times with dignity, courtesy, and integrity.”
(more…)If you are a business owner with 15 or more employees, you are subject to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). One of the fundamental obligations of employers under the ADA is to provide “reasonable accommodation” for individuals with disabilities, unless it would cause undue hardship to the business. A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way a job is performed that enables a person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities. (more…)