QUESTION: My cousin, who is a lawyer, asked me to act as a receiver in a case where he represents the plaintiff. Is there some prohibition on my doing so? Am I ineligible to act as receiver because of our family relationship?

ANSWER: In California, Code of Civil Procedure § 566(a) sets forth who is ineligible to be appointed a receiver. It provides: “No party, or attorney for a party, or a person interested in an action, or related to any judge of the court by consanguinity or affinity within the third degree, can be appointed receiver therein without the written consent of the parties, filed ...

QUESTION: I have noticed language in a number of receivership orders providing that the receivership entities’ officers and directors are removed and their powers are vested in the receiver and further enjoining the officers and directors from filing a bankruptcy petition on behalf of the entity placed in receivership. Are such provisions effective in preventing former management from commencing a bankruptcy for the receivership entity and, if a petition is filed, can the receiver easily have the case dismissed because the persons filing the bankruptcy petition have no ...

We recently posted information concerning OSHA’s new training requirements that are designed to align its Hazard Communication Standard with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (see post here). Since that time, I have been asked if the requirements apply to office environments. The short answer is that the requirements apply to every employer that has hazardous chemicals in the workplace. OSHA estimates that this includes about 5 million employers in the United States, a figure which undoubtedly includes more than a ...