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A Valensi Rose Client Alert

The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ (OBBBA) narrowly passed by the Senate and House just ahead of the July 4 holiday included a broad range of tax and spending measures aimed at supporting President Trump’s second-term agenda. A fierce, often partisan debate over the bill’s economic and political impacts erupted when it was first proposed, which has not abated.

But setting aside the controversy, you may be wondering how this legislation will affect California taxpayers and business owners.

Employers in a wide range of industries routinely ask employees to sign agreements requiring any work-related disputes to be resolved through arbitration rather than via litigation. They argue that arbitration is less costly, faster, and more private than going to court, thus benefitting workers and companies.

Settling even a relatively modest estate can sometimes require asking for intervention by a court. What squabbling heirs may not realize is that the first question a judge may consider is if all the parties have the legal right to participate in the dispute – what lawyers call “standing.”

While most wills and trusts are clearly worded and straightforward in expressing their intentions, it is not uncommon for some to contain phrases that are confusing or ambiguous, requiring a court to determine how the terms should be interpreted.

California law requires employers to provide a 30-minute meal break to non-exempt employees who work between 5 and 6 hours in a single shift, unless the meal break is “waived by mutual consent of both the employer and employee.”  But the Labor Code, and the orders of the Industrial Wage Commission, the state agency which formulates California’s wage orders, don’t specify what form the waiver must take, or whether an employee can provide consent before working a particular shift.

Companies often spend significant time and resources negotiating contracts before entering into business relationships, especially where the parties intend to have a longstanding, on-going relationship. The expectation is that the terms negotiated in the contract will apply if any questions arise in the relationship, and courts typically enforce these terms if one business brings a claim that the other breached the agreement.