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2018 has been a pivotal year for consumer data protection, with sweeping new laws being passed to ensure increased consumer data privacy around the world. In May, Europe’s General Data Protection Law, or GDPR, took effect. In June, the California Legislature passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), a bold new digital data privacy law that is the first of its kind in the United States. The California law becomes effective on January 1, 2020, and will launch a new era of d

On August 23, 2018 the California Supreme Court issued a far-reaching decision in the case of King v. CompPartners, Inc. (S232197) which positively impacts the workers' compensation system and represents a significant victory for the utilization review industry and the physicians with whom they work. The Riverside County Superior Court sustained a demurrer, without leave to amend, on behalf of defendants, a utilization review company and a utilization review physician, to a complaint filed by an

In Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP v. J-M Manufacturing Co., Inc. (8/30/2018 No. S232946), the California Supreme Court held that the conflict of interest of the law firm (“Sheppard Mullin”) rendered its engagement agreement, including an arbitration provision, with its client (“J-M”) unenforceable because the agreement violated the California Rules of Professional Conduct (“RPC”). Although the agreement included an “advance” conflict waiver, the Court deemed it ineffective because She

In Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp. v. Ledesma & Meyer Construction Co., Inc. (No. S236765, filed 6/4/18) (L&M), the California Supreme Court ruled that the liability insurance requirement that injury be caused by an “occurrence,” defined as an “accident,” does not preclude coverage of an employer’s independent tort liability for injury deliberately caused by its employee.In L&M, Liberty insured a construction company that contracted to manage a construction project at a middle school in S