Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Wine is big business in California. According to the Wine Institute, during the recessionary 2009 economy, California vintners shipped 467.7 million gallons (196.7 million cases) of wine to the U.S. wine market. The estimated retail value was $17.9 billion. That’s billion with a...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. George came in for an interview at Hard Bodies, a combo auto body repair/dance revue studio.  Mary, head of human resources, checked out George’s qualifications for both aspects of the job.  In her own words, “He looked good.” After he left, she called some of his past employers. ...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Sometimes my clients do exactly the wrong thing to infuriate their customers. They’ll put up a big fight over $75, or they won’t apologize when they’ve done something wrong. On the other hand, some of my clients have an innate sense of how to keep their customers happy, returning...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Johnny, my 12-year-old neighbor, obviously had been watching too much “Leave It To Beaver” and other 1950s-era television shows.  He had a distorted view of things.  For instance, he wanted to know why we had so few blacks and Hispanics back then.  Clearly everyone was white,...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. OK, quick question.  Employer, a Delaware corporation based in California, hears rumors that its Japanese branch is having “accounting” issues.  So it conducts an investigation and hires a private investigator firm to handle it. During the investigation, the company’s CEO...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. You know how your mother always told you things like, “Be careful with that – you could put someone’s eye out?”  Or one of my favorites: “If everyone else were jumping off of a bridge, would you do that, too?” Well, my mom, foreseeing my career choice, had other truisms...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Last time, we covered some of the important steps that any prospective tenant should take before signing a long-term lease – such as confirming from third parties the things you’re told by the landlord or real estate agent, or talking with your possible new neighbors to see how...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. I don’t know about you, but the wife (she loves it when I refer to her this way) and I are embarrassingly addicted to “NCIS.”  You know, Gibbs, Tony, Ziva (boy, she’s hot), and the rest of the gang.  We used to be similarly hooked on “CSI.”  Not so much anymore –...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. A main concern for landlords in a commercial setting – as opposed to leasing residential property like a home or an apartment – is getting the property leased for as high a rate as the market will bear. Often conflicting with this goal is the landlord’s concern about...

Carl Kanowsky, Esq. Several clients seek my advice about signing long-term leases for their businesses.  I explain there are numerous factors to consider before committing themselves – obvious things like rent, common area maintenance charges, the condition of the building, personal guarantees,...