Articles/News
Donahue Fitzgerald Attorneys Recognized in the Best Lawyers in America© 2020 Edition
OAKLAND (August 15, 2019) – Donahue Fitzgerald LLP is pleased to announce that three attorneys have been included in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America©: Dawn Newton, Franchise Law Kristin A. Pace, Tax Law Merrill J. Schwartz, Corporate Law Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as […]
Read »What is Happening With Minimum Wage in Emeryville?
As originally enacted in 2015, the ordinance set a lower minimum wage rate for small businesses, with all businesses beginning to pay the same CPI-indexed rate as of July 1, 2019. In response to concerns about the burden on local restaurants, earlier this year Emeryville adopted an exception for “small independent restaurants.” The exception would […]
Read »Considerations for Businesses With Seasonal Hiring
Sexual Harassment Training This year California expanded sexual harassment training requirements to include all employers with 5 or more employees and to require training for both supervisory and non-supervisory employees. If seasonal hiring is typical for your business or industry, seasonal employees count toward the employee threshold. Seasonal employees must receive sexual harassment training within […]
Read »Associate Kristoffer S. Jacob Joins Donahue Fitzgerald
Kristoffer is a litigation associate with experience in defending retailers and manufacturers of products and industrial equipment in litigation involving product liability, toxic exposures, and catastrophic injury. He assists clients in all stages of litigation including discovery, drafting motions, attending depositions, and trial preparation. Kristoffer graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and received his […]
Read »Tips to Hiring and Managing Employees
Classifying Workers (Independent Contractor v. Employee) Before looking for the right candidate, it’s important to first ask, “Is the worker an independent contractor or an employee?” Due to the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903, it’s become much more difficult to classify an employee as […]
Read »California Consumer Privacy Act
Compliance with the CCPA will require many companies to reevaluate certain practices relating to the collection and use of Personal Information. This short note provides information related to who needs to comply with the CCPA and what is required to begin the assessment of the impact of CCPA on your organization. Important Dates January 1, […]
Read »Donahue Fitzgerald Attorneys Named 2019 Super Lawyers
Kristin A. Pace: Estate and Probate Mary M. Rudser: Estate and Probate Elizabeth M. Engh: Estate and Probate Jonathan McNeil Wong: Immigration Practice areas represented include estate and probate and immigration. All recognized attorneys have been honored for seven years or more. The Northern California Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a rating service […]
Read »Berkeley, Emeryville, SF, and San Leandro Employers: Don’t Forget Mid-Year Minimum Wage Increases
Of the four, Emeryville’s is the highest, at $16.30/hr, and the same rate will apply to all businesses, big and small. San Leandro’s minimum hourly pay jumps to $14.00 on July 1, as Berkeley and San Francisco’s new minimum rate of $15.59/hr takes effect. Note that in prior years, Berkeley’s minimum wage increases occurred in […]
Read »Of Counsel Barbara L. Friedman Joins Donahue Fitzgerald
With over 20 years of experience in dispute resolution and intellectual property counseling, Barbara’s experience covers from domestic and international trademark selection, clearance, registration, and enforcement, to negotiating and drafting assignments, licenses, and related agreements. Barbara received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo […]
Read »GDPR-Year One: Practitioners’ Perspective
According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, over the last year in the EU, more than 94,000 individual complaints have been filed, 200,000 cases have been received by Data Protection Authorities, and GDPR enforcement actions have resulted in over €56,000,000 in fines.1 There is little question that data privacy and security has become a […]
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