Business Law Journal

Every insurance policy has a maximum limit on the dollar amount that the policy will pay for a covered claim.  Some policies also contain sublimits that apply to specific types of losses.  Policyholders may mistakenly believe that these sublimits are in addition to the primary coverage limits that are available under the policy.  In reality, sublimits restrict or cap the maximum dollar amount that a policy will pay for a risk that is subject to the sublimit, regardless of the total primary coverage amount listed in the policy. 

The California Court of Appeal recently affirmed a trial court’s decision to award costs to a prevailing defendant in a member derivative action, even though the derivative plaintiff defeated a bond motion under Cal. Corp. Code §17709.02 at the outset of the case. In Barrios v. Chraghchian, No. B341773, 2026 WL 145207, *1 (Cal. Ct. of Appeal, Jan. 20, 2026), the plaintiff, Mr. Barrios, was an investor in the limited liability company and brought derivative claims against the company's managers, including the named defendant, Mr. Chraghchian, alleging that under their direction the company engaged in unauthorized transactions.

Why This Case Matters: This case alters the normal rules of priority. Recorded agreements that say they are covenants or equitable servitudes can be deemed to be permit conditions that survive foreclosures of prior liens.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized how businesses create, communicate, and market.  For trademark owners and AI-utilizing businesses, however, AI brings not only opportunity but also significant risk.  

On December 23, 2024, with the looming January 1, 2025, filing deadline just days away, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a nationwide injunction which had temporarily prohibited the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its implementing regulations (including the mandatory beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule).

On October 29, 2024, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced it was granting limited extensions for certain business entities with respect to the beneficial ownership reporting requirements as required under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). Notably, the limited nature of this relief appears to indicate that there will be no broad extension granted to the current January 1, 2025 deadline by which time Reporting Companies formed prior to January 1, 2024 must file their BOI Report. This article provides a background to the CTA reporting requirements and breaks down which business entities may take advantage of the extension. A more detailed discussion on the CTA and its general reporting requirements can be found here. 

With the growing popularity and prevalence of generative artificial intelligence, courts are increasingly being called upon to decide novel legal issues based on never-before-seen phenomena that are challenging the traditional paradigm applied to human-generated content.  And copyright law is no exception.

In VFLA Eventco, LLC v. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC, the California Court of Appeal recently affirmed the importance of drafting a contract with a clear understanding of every word and clause, and the effect each has on the contract as a whole.

In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that when a junior trademark user uses a parody of a famous trademark as an indicia of source for its own goods, the junior user cannot rely on the First Amendment to shield it from liability for trademark infringement for artistic or so-called “expressive works,” nor the parody exception to trademark dilution claims under the Lanham Act.

[This is the first in a series of blog posts on how businesses should prepare for the California Privacy Rights Act which will enter into force on January 1, 2023]

Although since January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) has required covered businesses (as defined below) to provide notice to California employees and job applicants regarding the types of personal information that a business collects, certain key employee exemptions previously limited the privacy-related requirements for employers and corresponding rights of employees and job applicants.  However, those exemptions are set to expire on January 1, 2023.