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“Everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives.” – William Wallace, Braveheart And not everyone has a functional estate plan in place when they die. A carefully crafted estate plan can save your family, heirs and loved ones a tremendous amount of time and money. In addition, it will help protect their privacy and keep your…

As court-appointed co-lead counsel representing one of two shareholder-Plaintiffs derivatively on behalf of Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. (“Brookdale”) in Anders v. Baier, et al., Case No. 3:21:cv-00373 (M.D. Tenn.), Johnson Fistel recently defeated Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ operative complaint.  In seeking dismissal of the complaint, Defendants argued Plaintiffs failed to adequately plead wrongful refusal…

On September 28, 2022, a California appeals court dealt a significant blow to Road Runner’s latest effort to avoid defending against a class action lawsuit challenging Road Runner’s auto-renewal practices relating to its “VIP” loyalty program. The court of appeal affirmed denial of a motion to compel the case to arbitration. Road Runner must now…

The charitable remainder trust (CRT) is a useful tool to generate a stream of income for a term of years or for life for yourself or others while helping you recognize a tax deduction. A CRT involves giving a gift of cash, appreciated assets, or other property to an irrevocable trust which pays a stream…

1. Where were you born and what makes that city special?  I was born in Brooklyn, New York, which is a diverse city both in terms of race and religion.  Because of this diversity, Brooklyn is home to amazing music, art, and food.  We moved out of Brooklyn when I was just a toddler, to…

On June 9, 2022, The Hon. Mark H. Cohen granted final approval of a shareholder derivative settlement which resolved consolidated shareholder lawsuits pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia as well as a related shareholder lawsuit pending in Georgia superior court. Johnson Fistel, court-appointed lead counsel, negotiated the settlement…

On June 16, 2022, the San Diego Superior Court granted final approval of a consumer class action settlement resolving allegations that Massage Heights’ membership agreements with thousands of its California members caused them to forfeit prepaid massage services upon membership termination in violation of California law. Johnson Fistel, court-appointed class counsel, negotiated the settlement following…

On June 15, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued an 8-1 opinion in the highly anticipated in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, addressing whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts California law prohibiting mandatory arbitration of claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). Justice Thomas was the sole dissenter.…

On June 2, 2022, a Los Angeles County jury awarded $440 million dollars in punitive damages to two men who claimed they were forced to quit their jobs at Southern California Edison (“SCE”) due to retaliation for reporting sexual and racial harassment.  Attorneys for the men have stated that this is the largest victory for…