The Janssen Law Firm is pleased to announce that Shanti Michaels has joined the firm as an associate. Ms. Michaels is a 2009 graduate of the University of California Hastings College of Law and a member of the California and Humboldt County Bar Associations. She served as an Executive Editor of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly and was a member of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Journal staff. Ms. Michaels’ undergraduate work was at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA with study abroad at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Ms. Michaels is fluent in Spanish.
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If you’re an employer in California, you know the difficulties associated with proving an employee meets an exemption from overtime. Last month, a California appellate court issued an opinion highlighting those difficulties. The case is entitled Pellegrino v. Robert Half International, Inc. (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 713 (out of the Fourth Appellate District). In Pellegrino, six former employees of a temporary staffing agency, most of whom were “account executives” sued the agency for Labor Code violations, primarily failure to pay overtime and failure to provide meal periods. The agency defended the lawsuit by arguing that the employees fell under the Administrative Exemption from wage requirements. The appellate court decided in favor of the employees.
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The Janssen Law Firm recently resolved a semi-truck/vehicle head-on collision case for the trucking insurer’s one million dollar policy limit. The semi-truck driver employed by a trucking company out of Washington State fell asleep at the wheel while traveling Southbound on Interstate 5 North of Williams, California. The big rig traversed the center median area and collided head-on with a young couple driving Northbound on Interstate 5. The impact demolished the car our clients were in, and caused serious injuries to the driver, including an open left humerus fracture, splenic lacerations, chest pulmonary contusions, and left transverse fractures of cervical vertebral level 7 and thoracic vertebral level 1. The driver’s open fractures required two separate bone graft surgeries, including the acute care surgery to implant hardware to reconstruct the limb.
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A Northern California carpenter’s union has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city for allegedly violating their right to freedom of speech by citing a group of protesting carpenters and confiscating their protest banner under a city sign ordinance. According to the lawsuit, protesters had set up on a public curb in November in front of a Citation Homes Central sales office to protest unfair wages. Lawyers representing the union said that since the sign was political speech and not advertising, the citation is invalid and their rights to free speech were violated. “If we don’t stick up for our standards, it brings down everyone’s wages,” said Shaun Kinney, the veteran union carpenter named as a plaintiff in the suit. “You need to make as much as you can when you do work, to cover the times when you’re not working.” Tracey Kaplan, San Jose Mercury News 01/24/2010.
If you have questions regarding rights of Humboldt County employees regarding prevailing wages or free speech issues please contact the Janssen Law Firm to meet with a Humboldt County Employment Lawyer.
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As most of the readers of this blog are aware, Humboldt County experienced a 6.5 earthquake on Saturday, January 9, 2010. United States Geological Survey record of the quake and The Eureka Times-Standard complete earthquake coverage.
By all accounts, while the quake did cause damage to Humboldt County, the North Coast was generally lucky to avoid major damage or serious injuries. The court and attorneys in Eureka reported only relatively minor interruptions of business due to damage and loss of electricity. As many government agencies have noted, all residents and businesses should take this opportunity to review their earthquake preparedness and emergency planning. Humboldt State University, Department of Geology, provides a useful link to earthquake and tsunami preparedness information.
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While Humboldt County residents should always periodically review their retirement plans and accounts as a part of their estate planning and business planning, now is a particularly good time to consider whether you should convert your traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.
As of January 1, 2010, a significant change occurred in the conversion rules for Roth Individual Retirement Accounts. The $100,000 adjusted gross income limit that has prevented many individuals from converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA has been lifted enabling all individuals to take advantage of conversion without any income or filing status limits.
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On January 5, 2010, the Eureka City Council unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, putting any new or pending dispensary applications on hold. They also passed a motion that would bring a draft ordinance back to the city counsel by the end of the 45-day moratorium.
According to an article in the Eureka Times-Standard, an effort is underway to create dispensary guidelines that will regulate the industry — providing safe access to medical marijuana while also confronting grow house issues. Eureka City Council members have been meeting with other jurisdictions throughout Humboldt County to discuss developing consistent countywide guidelines using Arcata’s recent land use codes as a guide.
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Eureka City Officials Looking to Create Guidelines for Medical Marijuana
The Eureka City Council will be deciding Tuesday, January 5, 2010, whether to impose a 45-day temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, as city council members work on creating regulations on the dispensaries. The Eureka Times-Standard recently reported that following the footsteps of the City of Arcata, other jurisdictions are hoping to create guidelines to regulate medical marijuana distribution through land use codes.
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The Humboldt County Bar Association (”HCBA”) met for its December meeting at the Sea Grill Restaurant in Eureka and elected officers for 2010. Current President Tim Needham was replaced by current Vice President Cat Koshkin. Humboldt County Public Defender Kevin Robinson was elected Vice President. The Janssen Law Firm’s Patrik Griego was reelected Treasurer. David Dibble was elected secretary.
The HCBA is a social organization that organizes continuing legal education classes and assists the underprivileged in our community with time and resources.
If you are a lawyer in the Humboldt County area and interested in joining the HCBA please contact Mr. Griego for dues information. The HCBA generally meets the first Friday of each month for lunch.
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In 2009 Legal Services of Northern California (“LSNC”) celebrated its 53rd year of advocacy on behalf of low income folks in Northern California. The program encompasses 23 counties, and provides a full range of legal services throughout that area, including from the Regional Office in Eureka, Humboldt County. In addition to the services provided by the staff at the Eureka Regional Office, that office works with members of the local private Bar to provide, on a case by case basis, private attorney referrals, pro bono, for people meeting the legal services income eligibility requirements.
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