The Fresno California Law Offices of Lang, Richert and Patch
Traditional Values, Innovative Solutions
By Christian D. Jinkerson
In Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (2007), the United States Supreme Court recently ruled that attorneys’ fees can be recovered in connection with an unsecured or undersecured claim pursuant to a contractual or statutory right in the context of a bankruptcy case. The Supreme Court’s decision overruled the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and changed the law with respect to all bankruptcy cases in California.
By Scott J. Ivy
Lang, Richert and Patch
Regardless of the industry, almost every business has been faced with an increasingly common dilemma. Your star salesperson or employee, to whom you have devoted significant amounts of time and money training and developing, suddenly announces he or she is leaving to join a direct competitor. Will your customers follow? Will the employee divulge your confidential information in an attempt to lure his or her former customers to his new firm? The hiring company faces similar issues. Will the employee’s former customers follow him or her to your business, a key issue given that you have likely agreed to pay a sizable salary or bonus with the expectation that is exactly what will occur. Will the former employer sue, thereby preventing those very customers from transferring their business and/or at the very least tie your company up in expensive litigation for the next several years? Unfortunately, as many companies learn too late, whether or not the former employer can successfully prevent the new employer from “stealing” these customers is often set in stone by the time litigation is commenced.
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The Law Offices of Lang, Richert and Patch provide legal advice and representation for companies and individuals in Fresno, California, and communities throughout the California Central Valley including Avenal, Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Bakersfield, Bass Lake, Cambria, California Valley, Cayucos, Clovis, Coalinga, Grover Beach, Hanford, Heritage Ranch, Kingsburg, Los Osos, Madera, Merced, Millerton Lake, Modesto, Morro Bay, Nipomo, Oakhurst, Oceano, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, Porterville, Sanger, San Luis Obispo, San Miguel, Selma, Shaver Lake, Tulare, Turlock, Templeton, and Visalia, California. In addition, we represent companies and individuals with federal complaints on Lemoore Naval Station and while visiting Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, Sierra National Forest and Yosemite National Park.