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  • LANDLORD LEFT HOLDING THE BUCKET!

    Landlords…. did you think that your lease requires that your tenant indemnify you for injuries suffered by the tenant’s independent contractors?  Think again!

    This week the California Court of Appeals (Division Eight) LA B2559800 (LASC Case BC504083) decided Morlin Asset Management LP et al., v. Murachanian against the Landlord.

    The Plaintiff in the underlying case was a carpet cleaning company employee.  He was hired by a Dentist/tenant to clean the tenant’s carpet in his dental suite.  Sounds simple enough.  As he walked up a flight of stairs carrying heavy buckets of soapy water, the bucket caught on the step, soapy water spilled out and the carpet cleaner slipped and was injured.  The carpet cleaner sued the building’s owners.  (By the way, the owner’s maintenance engineer had instructed the tenant in the past to inform management before the carpet cleaners come on the premises because in the past, they had pulled hoses up the stairs and he wanted to be sure that the hoses were properly set up – but the tenant didn’t notify management.) 

    Landlord cross complained against tenant for equitable indemnity and express indemnity under the terms of the lease.  The tenant moved for summary judgment contending that the lease agreement did not provide express indemnity for this plaintiff’s alleged injuries because the accident did not occur within the leased premises, but instead in the common areas. 

    And, the court agreed!

    Read the case at http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B259800.PDF. 

    © 2016 Beryl Weiner for Selvin & Weiner, a professional corporation

    NEW RULES!  CALIFORNIA REQUIRES EMPLOYERS TO GIVE EACH EMPLOYEE A COPY OF YOUR COMPANY'S POLICY AGAINST HARASSMENT AND DISCRIMINATION.  California's Fair Employment and Housing Council issued regulations that apply to every employer.  Please call attorney Joyce Craig if your company's Employee Handbook has not been reviewed recently and she can help you bring your company's policies and procedures up to date.  

  • IS MEDIATION RIGHT FOR YOU?  WE CAN HELP YOU FIGURE THAT OUT.  Mediation has historically been used as a relatively inexpensive way to resolve disputes without the risks and costs associated with litigation.  While, admittedly, litigation has been our bread and butter as attorneys over the years, we have become fans of mediation.  Any one who has litigated recently knows that California's courts are congested, there are long waits between hearings, trials may be 4-5 years away from the initiation of a case, and in the end, most cases settle before trial but after the parties have spent thousand upon thousands of dollars (discovery costs, experts, briefs, motions, legal research, negotiations, strategy sessions, reporter fees, pre trial prep, and days off work to participate, etc.).  A mediator may be hired by the day or half-day to work with disputing parties to facilitate their conversation and a compromise/resolution of their claims.  Each party to a dispute has a story to tell.  Usually, it's difficult for the other parties to listen.  We can help by serving as a mediator for your dispute.  See also http://www.joyceicraig.com
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  • Joyce Craig's background was as a Social Worker and she has the correlated skill set in working with and listening to clients.  Beryl Weiner spent years as a judge pro-temp for Small Claims and as an arbitrator, and Kathy Stanton is an experienced Bar fee arbitrator.  Ronit has led charities and their boards and is involved in local Beverly Hills politics.  Through the firm, we have participated as counsel in many mediations and we would like to help you -- as an outside counsel to strategize with -- as counsel to work with your own lawyers -- or as the independent neutral, who can help facilitate the conversation among the parties to a dispute.  See Joyce's website at http://www.joyce.i.craig.com
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  • ARE YOUR LITIGATION COSTS OUT OF CONTROL?  ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT YOUR LAWYER'S PERFORMANCE?  Selvin & Weiner apc and its of counsel attorneys are well experienced in litigation and are available to help you assess your own legal team.  Are fees being spent appropriately?  Are the costs necessary, reasonable, and optimized?  Are there alternative strategies that may get your a better result or a less costly result?  Talk to us and we can help you talk to your attorneys!

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