Carl Kanowsky, Esq. In the employment law field, everyone’s talking about AB 5, the new law that’s supposed to address all the confusion about who is and who isn’t an independent contractor. You remember how, in April 2018, the California Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Dynamex case. That...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Taking up from my last column, I’m talking with Jim, the owner of the traffic school, “Fun While Drinking and Driving,” about the lease he’s thinking of signing for his new location. We’ve already discussed 1) renewal periods – were there any, and at what rate; 2)...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. You might remember my last column: Jim, owner of the traffic school, Fun While Drinking and Driving, had come to see me about the lease for his new space. He was skeptical about the need to pay an attorney to review the document. So, I challenged him with eight issues he had not considered....

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Jim came in to see me the other day. He was really excited. He was about to open his own comedy driving traffic school. He was going to name it “Fun While Drinking and Driving.” He even selected a location for the classes. He met with the landlord and agreed on a 5-year term at...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. As you might recall from my last column, Charles Lee, that 15-day wonder from Dynamex (the document-delivery service company), sued Dynamex, challenging that he should have been considered an employee rather than an independent contractor, contrary to the agreement he’d signed when...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. The relationship between workers and the companies that hire them has undergone a sea change in the past 15 months, at least in California. The next three columns will track what the situation was in early 2018 and the fundamental alterations since then. Terry and I were in San Francisco...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Greed or sloth can lead to the unintended separation of you and your money. This truth guides some current schemes targeted at those who lust after easy money. Squarely in the crosshairs is the greedy attorney. Now I know, all of you are aghast that there might actually be such practitioners...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. I’m reading “Button Man,” a novel by Andrew Gross. The protagonist, Morris Raab, a successful New York clothing manufacturer, battles organized crime in the 1930s. The bad guys want to infiltrate Morris’ business by way of unionizing his workers. On its face, given some of...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. If you’ve been to any nonprofit event in our valley, you know Greg Amsler either by sight or by reputation or both. Greg, proprietor of Salt Creek Grille, ranks at the top of the list of most giving restaurateurs in the Santa Clarita Valley. Beyond having a big heart, Greg owns...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Here’s a hypothetical situation: In 2007, John convinced his wealthy friends Paul, George and Ringo to invest with him in a surefire plan to develop some vacant Santa Clarita land into what we all know we need more of out here — a strip mall attached to more than 100 condominiums. Back...