QUESTION: Can a receiver be appointed to sell intellectual property to satisfy a judgment?

ANSWER: Yes. A receiver in aid of execution is an excellent way of liquidating intellectual property assets to satisfy a judgment. Because these types of intellectual property assets are intangibles, a writ of execution cannot be used. It is important, however, to do it the correct way so that a buyer will be able to prove the chain of title needed in any later infringement action. A method approved in California is to obtain an order compelling the judgment debtor to assign the copyright ...

Each year, the IRS issues contribution limits for Health Savings Accounts for the upcoming year. The 2015 contribution limits are outlined below.

• The maximum contribution for individual coverage is $3,350;
• The maximum contribution for family coverage is $6,650; and
• In addition to the annual contribution, if you are 55 or older, you may add up to $1,000 in additional monies as part of a "catch up" contribution.

This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP.  It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war ...

In Stern V. Marshall, ____ U.S ___, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011), the Supreme Court held that bankruptcy courts cannot issue final judgments on state law counterclaims even though they are “core proceeding”. Stern V. Marshall is the bankruptcy courts’ equivalent of Dickens’ “Bleak House”. Like in “Bleak House”, by the time the litigation concluded, all the initial participants were dead. Although the litigants are deceased, the case continues to haunt the bankruptcy court system. Stern V. Marshall’s meaning and effects are still being litigated. Indeed, there have ...

QUESTION: I have concluded my work as a receiver in a case, and the parties have requested that I enter into a stipulation with them waiving my final account and report discharging me as a receiver so they can avoid the cost and delay of my preparing a final account and report and the hearing on same. Is this a good practice?

ANSWER: Although in the past parties would sometimes enter into stipulations with a receiver to waive his or her final account and report and stipulate to the receiver’s discharge, so as to avoid the cost involved, in 2002, Rule of Court 1908 was adopted, which changed the ...

QUESTION: I am a receiver for a shopping center. I want to enter into a five year lease for one of the stores. Is there a statute or rule that limits the term of leases a receiver can execute?

ANSWER: There is no California statute or case that limits the term of leases a receiver can execute. However, limits are often placed on the term of such leases by the order appointing the receiver and often depend on the type of receiver appointed, i.e., a rents, issues and profits receiver versus an equity receiver. You don’t indicate which you are. In rents cases, the practice developed, at least in ...

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently ratified all the decisions made by the NLRB, including those made in administrative and personnel matters, during the period of time when it did not have a proper quorum. This was the period from January 4, 2012 to August 5, 2013, during which the United States Supreme Court held in NLRB v. Noel Canning, that the NLRB did not have a proper quorum due to improper recess appointments. The NLRB ratified its prior actions in an attempt to eliminate any questions concerning the validity of the decisions it made during this period. Will ...

QUESTION: I am counsel to a receiver for a corporation and things aren’t going too well. The receiver is thinking of filing a bankruptcy petition for the corporation. If this happens, are my fees in jeopardy?

ANSWER: They might be. Generally when a bankruptcy petition is filed for an entity in receivership, the receiver becomes a “custodian” under the Bankruptcy Code. 11 U.S.C. §101(11). As a custodian the receiver has certain duties as set forth in 11 U.S.C. §543, including delivering property in his or her possession, custody or control to the trustee and filing an accounting of ...

As is increasingly reported, there is a battle raging in today’s marketplace between companies with new technology platforms and content creators from the entertainment community. On the one hand, are computer science engineers and programmers developing new and better code, creating more complex algorithms, and building ever expanding server farms at a breakneck pace, all to give the consumer cheaper, faster, and more mobile access to music, movies and television. On the other hand, are musicians, writers, movie and television producers and broadcasters, all trying to ...

Ever wonder how your employees would handle a life-threatening situation? Well, four supervisors of the West Kern Water District apparently did. And they didn’t just wonder; concerned about robberies in the area and following staff training, on July 29, 2011, they decided to test their cashiers by staging an armed robbery of the District’s office.

The supervisors put on quite a show. They kept their plans secret until one of the supervisors entered the District's office wearing a ski mask and sunglasses. He approached cashier Kathy Lee, slammed a paper bag on the counter in front ...

That may be what the NLRB and others are thinking right now. Remember all those rather aggressive decisions made by the NLRB about a couple of years ago? It is as if they never happened. In a unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court has invalidated all decisions of the NLRB since January 2012, when President Obama appointed 3 of the 5 member NLRB during a time when Congress was convening every 3 days, to July 2013, when the Senate confirmed a 5 member board. In National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, the Supreme Court held that the president lacked authority to make the ...