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Gregory F. Brucia has joined FSG as a shareholder. Greg is a transactional attorney and member of the Corporate & Business Practice Group.  He spent the first several years of his career working in the capital markets practice groups in the New York offices of Baker & McKenzie and Shearman & Sterling, where his focus was on public securities transactions including mergers and acquisitions.  In 2004, he moved to California and diversified his practice beyond securities and mergers and acquisitions to include a wide array of general corporate matters.

Greg regularly works with entrepreneurs to structure and finance their business opportunities, including activities such as forming new business entities, structuring the relationships among the promoters, investors and various other stakeholders in the business, crafting technology protection and development strategies and helping companies raise sufficient capital to finance and grow their business.  Capital raising transactions include seed money financings, friends and family financings, angel investments and venture capital investments.  Once a startup business is established, Greg provides on-going assistance as outside general counsel to help clients achieve continued success by effectively and efficiently managing the myriad legal challenges they may confront as their businesses grow.

NEWS RELEASE

FSG shareholder Bryan Friedman and associate Jennifer Stroffe recently represented Irvine-based Loomworks Apparel in its acquisition by branded and private label apparel products manufacturer Delta Galil Industries, an Israeli company.  Delta Galil agreed to acquire the P.J. Salvage brand and other assets from Loomworks Apparel for an undisclosed amount.

Loomworks Apparel, Inc., doing business as P.J. Salvage, manufactures and distributes loungewear and intimates for women.  It markets and sells its products through retail boutiques and department stores in the United States. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Irvine, California.  P.J. Salvage is known for its luxury fabrics that are available in leading high-end department store chains and specialty boutiques.

Per Bryan Friedman, “We have represented a number of clients this year in M&A deals; the market has been very active.  We were pleased to help Loomworks Apparel achieve its legal objectives in this important transaction.”

NEWS RELEASE

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Minimum Wage in Los Angeles Set to Increase to $15.00 by 2020.

By Susan Arduengo

The Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have approved a measure to increase the minimum wage from $9.00 to $15.00 an hour by 2020. This nearly 67 percent increase from the current state minimum wage of $9.00 will affect private-sector businesses in both the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County including Hacienda Heights, La Crescenta, and Marina Del Rey.

Los Angeles’ minimum wage hike will be executed over five years: $10.50 in 2016; $12.00 in 2017; $13.25 in 2018; $14.25 in 2019; and $15.00 in 2020, each increase taking effect on July 1. Smaller businesses with fewer than 26 employees will be given additional time to comply with the minimum wage increases as follows: $10.50 in 2017; $12.00 in 2018; $13.25 in 2019; $14.00 in 2020; and $15.00 in 2021.

By 2020, Los Angeles’ minimum wage will more than double the current federal rate of $7.25. Los Angeles will join the ranks of several other California cities which have adopted their own local minimum wage rates. San Francisco has approved a similar graduated minimum wage hike which increases the minimum wage to $15.00 by 2018.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has already signed the City’s minimum wage increase into law. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, having approved a proposal that would mirror the City’s graduated minimum wage hike, will consider signing the proposal into law for unincorporated areas of the County later this year.

If you have any questions regarding your company’s pay practices in light of the coming changes to the minimum wage rate, you should contact competent employment counsel.

About the author:

Susan Arduengo is an Associate at Friedman Stroffe & Gerard, P.C. Susan specializes in representing businesses in all aspects of employment law, including counseling/advice, compliance, litigation prevention, single plaintiff litigation, and class actions. Contact her at sarduengo@fsglawyers.com or 949.265.1133.

This article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact legal counsel to obtain advice with respect to your particular issues.

FSG's  provides practical legal advice to achieve our clients’ business objectives in an economically reasonable manner either through early resolution of disputes or through zealous advocacy in the courts.

Current and recent matters that our Litigation Practice Group attorneys have handled include:

• Anthony Chavez took over a case after the client lost at trial. The plaintiff obtained a damages award of $7,200, then filed a Motion for Attorney’s Fees seeking $200,000 in fees. That’s when the client brought Anthony in.  Anthony painstakingly picked apart the record and found myriad factual and legal reasons why the fee demand was overstated.  After briefing and a hearing, The court awarded only $40,000 in attorney’s fees. Anthony is currently appealing this award, with hopes of reducing it to zero.

• Andy Nelson and Susan Arduengo (with supervision from Robert Gerard) won an anti-slapp motion. In response to a cease and desist letter regarding misappropriation of trade secrets, the opposing party sued FSG’s client. Andy and Susan recognized that the lawsuit implicated the protections provided by California’s anti-slapp statute. They filed a Special Motion to Strike, requiring plaintiff to demonstrate at the outset that she was likely to ultimately prevail on the merits. She was unable to do so because Andy and Susan persuaded the court that the letter was protected by California’s litigation privilege. Therefore the motion was granted, three of the claims in the lawsuit were thrown out and plaintiff was ordered to pay $5,400 in sanctions.

• Bill Tran, with assistance from Rob Adel, won a complete dismissal on behalf of FSG’s client. The client is a Taiwanese-based manufacturer of speaker components for companies like Harmon Kardon and JBL. The client was one of several cross-defendants in a complex case alleging interference and misappropriation of trade secrets. Bill filed a Motion to Quash the Summons, on grounds that the client was not subject to jurisdiction in the California court where the action was pending. The motion was delayed to allow the opposing party to conduct discovery on the jurisdiction issues. After exhaustive briefing and a lengthy hearing, the court dismissed FSG’s client from the case.

If you have any questions about our Litigation Practice Group, please contact FSG.

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FSG shareholder Rob Adel and other executives from the O.C. business community recently created a new networking group called the “Orange County Transactional Network,” or “OCTN.”  OCTN is a forum for professionals to meet and discuss mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions, and to share leads and business information.  The group meets monthly and is composed of leading experts in the field, including private equity managers, investment bankers, attorneys, CPAs, commercial bankers, strategic advisors, consultants, turnaround experts and insurance brokers. The group hosts presentations on topics of interest to its members.  Meetings are at lunchtime and include networking and a presentation.  For further information, contact Rob at radel@fsglawers.com.