Paul Menes/ADLI Law Group

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Bright Lines, Grey Lines, and the Doldrums of Technical Labor Law Interpretation- A Summary of Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc. [9th Cir. Nos. 12-57130/12-57144; C.D.... Cal. No. 8:10-CV-00109-CJC-MLG] Anthony McClaren, Senior Counsel at ADLI Law Group writes: On May 8, 2017, the California Supreme Court published a decision that clarified the ambiguous Day of Rest that is mandated to be provided by California employers to employees. If you read this opinion, you may have to reread it, possibly several times, to absorb the stew of formulas, statutory and regulatory interpretations, technical labor law rules, and possibly even the Court’s various holdings, in order to fully understand the opinion. In addition, it may prove challenging to keep your head aloft and endure the intellectual snorefest as the Court navigates its way to its conclusions. Luckily for anyone reading this summary, however, I have poured over the decision and provide the highlights for your enjoyment. Issues Addressed At the outset, the first indication that this decision embodied confusion was the procedural posture of the opinion. To wit, although the California Supreme Court delivered the opinion, the case was actually litigated in Federal Court, and taken on appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit, in what is a rather unusual procedural punt of the ball, passed the buck to the California Supreme Court to opine on the issues of the case. The California Supreme Court answered the following questions: Question 1: Is the day of rest required by California Labor Code sections 551 and 552 calculated by a true workweek, or does it apply on a rolling basis to any seven-consecutive day period? (workweek v. rolling basis); Question 2: Does the California Labor Code section 556 exemption to sections 551 and 552 for workers employed six hours or less per day apply so long as an employee works six our or less on at least one day of the applicable week, or does it apply when an employee works no more than six hours on each and every day of the week?; and Question 3: What does it mean for an employer to cause an employee to go without a day of rest: force, coerce, pressure, schedule, encourage, reward, permit, or something else? Short Answers In an opinion spanning a tidy 21 pages, the California Court gave the following answers to the questions: Question 1: The day of rest is calculated by the seven day workweek, and not on a rolling basis. Question 2: The Court found the exemption applied only to those who never exceeded six hours of work on any day of the entire workweek. Put another way, if on any one day of a workweek an employee works more than six hours, a day of rest must be provided during that workweek, and there is no exemption to Labor Code sections 551 and 552. Question 3: An employer causes its employee to go without a day of rest when it induces the employee to forgo rest to which he or she is entitled. An employer is not, however, forbidden from permitting or allowing an employee, fully apprised of the entitled to rest, independent to choose not to take a day of rest. Analysis of Opinion Workweek v. Rolling Basis With regard to the Workweek v. Rolling Basis analysis, the Court had to decide how an employer is obligated to calculate the length of a workweek, in order to comply with the day of rest given by Labor Code section 551 and 552. Labor Code section 551 provides, Every person employed in any occupation of labor is entitled to one day’s rest therefrom in seven, while Labor Code section 552 provides, No employer of labor shall cause his employees to work more than six days in seven. The defendant employer argued that the appropriate interpretation of these statutes is based on the calendar week established by the employer. For example, if the employer classified the workweek as going from Monday to Sunday, the right to a day of rest must be calculated between those consistent start and stop days. The plaintiff employees argued that the appropriate interpretation of the statutes intended the period to be calculated on a rolling basis of any seven consecutive days. For example, if the employee began working Thursday, and continued to work all the way through the end of business the following Wednesday, that would be a total of 7 days worked, and as such the 7th day (Wednesday) should be considered a rest day, for which the employer should not cause the employee to work. In reaching its conclusion, the Court reviewed the legislative history of the California Labor Code statutes, compared that legislative history to the legislative history of statutes that predated the current statutes, and further took into consideration no less than a century of history on Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders. Though probably enthralling for legal scholars, and certainly necessary for the California Supreme Court to render its well informed opinion, it seems likely that even the average legal geek would find the Court’s analysis convoluted and intellectually demanding. For example, in performing its exhaustive review of the various Labor Code provisions and other peripheral resources, the Court analyzed a 1919 mercantile industry wage order, and its subsequent amendments in 1943, and held, Second, the IWC’s 1943 mercantile industry order uses language materially indistinguishable from the statutory guarantee, and interprets that language as ensuring a weekly, rather than rolling, day of rest. (Citations omitted). Simply one snippet of this style of literary review ensures the legal profession will forever remain professionally viable, as few other than lawyers would tolerate reading such mind-numbing material. Literary lambasting aside, and for ease of reference, the Court ruled in favor of the workweek requirement, holding that an employer need simply monitor the employee’s work activity on a weekly calendar basis, i.e.- from Monday to Sunday, to ensure compliance with Labor Code sections 551 and 552. This proves an advantage for the employer, as this interpretation does not place an additional administrative and potentially onerous burden on record keeping to ensure an employee is not working in excess of the mandated statutory scheme. Six Hours or Less Per Day and the Exemption The Court essentially performed the same technical analysis with respect to the second question. The issue was how to interpret Labor Code section 556, which provides, Sections 551 and 552 (of the Labor Code) shall not apply to any employer or employee when the total hours of employment do not exceed 30 hours in any week or six hours in any one day thereof. Put another way, an employer does not have to provide a day of rest during the workweek if the employee does not work more than 30 hours in a week, or more than six hours in a day during the workweek. The issue in the Nordstrom case was dueling interpretations of the six hours in a day component of Labor Code section 556. The defendant employer, Nordstrom, argued that so long as the employee was given at least one day during the week where they did not work more than six hours in the day, the employee could be required to work more than six days without a day of rest. Essentially, Nordstrom believed the statute permitted its employees to work multiple days in excess of 6 hours per day, but so long as the employee was given at least one day during the workweek where he or she worked 6 hours or less (and also did not exceed 30 hours in the week), the day of rest beyond six days of work need not be provided. The plaintiff employees argued that only if they worked no more than six hours a day on each and every day of the given week that they worked, could the employer then require them to work more than six days without a day of rest (or payment of premium wages). The Court agreed with the employees. It again reviewed the statutory history, the Wage Orders, and the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement rules, in reaching its opinion. It found that if an employee works any day during the workweek in excess of six hours, the employer is obligated to provide the day of rest pursuant to Labor Code sections 551 and 552. Causing am Employee to go without Rest With respect to the prohibition against an employer causing an employee to work more than six days in seven, the Court decision created future litigation fodder by articulating a rule that will be subject to varying interpretations. Applying its rationale and interpretation from Black’s Law Dictionary, as well as other cases addressing wage and hour law issues, the Court shied away from interpreting cause as instances of express requirements or compulsion and at the same time it condoned implied pressure. In reaching its holding, the Court attempted to strike a balance, and found that an employer causes its employee to work an additional day beyond six days in a workweek when it induces the employee to forgo rest to which he or she is entitled. The Court further held that an employer is not forbidden from permitting or allowing an employee, fully apprised of the entitled to rest, independent to choose not to take a day of rest. By ruling the way that it did, the Court left open the door for a fact specific inquiry regarding when an employer has caused the employee to work beyond the sixth day. This ambiguity, unlike the very bright line rules that clarified the workweek v. rolling basis and 6 hours in a day issues, and much to the disdain of the employer client, leaves open a grey area, much to the satisfaction of the lawyer litigator, who prefers to operate in the haze of confusion. Conclusion Though challenging to process, Mendoza v. Nordstrom now makes it very clear how an employer should address the day of rest provisions. In any standard workweek, the employer must not require the employee to work more than six days consecutively (unless the employee volunteers to work the seventh day, and receives commensurate premium pay for such work). Furthermore, if during the workweek the employee works any day in excess of six hours, the employer does not have the right to assert an exemption from the day of rest provisions. Finally, if the employer induces the employee to work on the day of rest, it can be liable under the Labor Code, but the employer is not forbidden from permitting or allowing an employee, fully apprised of the entitlement of the day of rest, to choose not to take a day of rest.

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Will My Employer Be Notified of My Arrest and Later On A Misdemeanor Charge? Q&A with Anthony McClaren, Senior Counsel at ADLI Law Group: Q: I work for a govern...ment agency and was arrested for misdemeanor and booked in a jail for one night and will try to do diversion. I had my work ID badge on me when I got arrested. When I anonymously asked about it from HR, they said if you've been background checked after 2014, we will be notified, and you should let your supervisor know about your arrest. Are they bluffing? My plan is to not to say anything and not to apply for new job nor promotion (which will need a background check) until the diversion is over and the record is hidden. Is there anyone here knowing about this public sector employers and the way this system works? Unfortunately no employment lawyer helped me understanding the situation as they all said this is not something they know anything about! They also said call your union, which was useless. I even thought about trying to get a very long extended unpaid leave, or conditional resign, to be able to quit now, and return when it's all over, because obviously if I'm convicted with this particular misdemeanor, I'll be terminal anyway. A: Hi. You are in an unfortunate position, and I empathize with you. I understand your thinking and intentions regarding trying to keep this matter "under the radar" for as long as possible, so that perhaps it will fall off and your employer will not become aware of it. However, any offense that resulted in a one night jail stay is not, in general terms, the sort of offense that will quickly go away. Whether or not the arresting agency reports the arrest to your employer (or the Court, or a small-town blog, or a bail bondsman), is unknown, but depending on the size of your community and other factors, the possibility is always there that your employer will learn of the arrest. Importantly, even if you are able to complete the "diversion" and the charges are ultimately dismissed, you will still have been arrested. I do not know, from your description, what sort of government employee you are (federal or state, municipal, county, city, other), though I can assume you are not law enforcement. Regardless of the type of government employee you are, however, you will presumably be governed by multiple employment documents, including, but not limited to, a Memorandum of Understanding and/or Collective Bargaining Agreement, a Federal/City/Local Charter, and potentially an employment agreement. I suggest you review those documents, again, to determine your obligations for reporting when arrested, and when convicted. It may be that you find yourself not in as bad as a situation as you think, depending on the nature of your arrest, if you informed your employer of what happened. After all, life happens, and no one is free from challenges, legal, family, or otherwise. What should be more concerning for you, however, is your intention to try and deceive your employer about the arrest. In my experience, the activity of concealing things from your employer, and particularly with government employers, is almost certainly a terminable offense. The government takes these activities very seriously. So, in summary, I suggest you review your employment documents, figure out your obligations, compare them to your current criminal charge, and at that point, perhaps, you might need a union representative or attorney to help you navigate telling your employer. Good luck. #employment #labor #employer #employee #backgroundcheck #misdemeanor #record #governmentemployers #government #employmentdocuments #criminalcharges #legal #law #ADLILawGroup

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Am I able to take legal action against U-Haul or their insurance company Repwest? Q&A with Anthony DiMonte, Head of Corporate & Business Transactions: Q: In 201...6 I rented a storage unit at U-Haul storage, but I did not get any signed contract. Now in mid September I noticed one of their windows open, now keep in mind the unit is climate controlled, well the whole section is. After realizing that I did put sensors in the unit that detect fluctuating temperatures. Now these sensors do activate once the temperature falls below 32 degrees. On 2/24/17 I went to the unit to unpack a 1939 Gerstner & Son 11 drawer cabinet. When I unpacked the cabinet it was cracked form both left and right sides. This item was packed in a box with packaging material and upon opening one of the drawers I noticed the sensor was activated. I also looked for the other 2 sensors and they also were activated. My claim with Repwest was denied and they instructed me to a paragraph in their contract which says "damage resulting from nuclear explosion, contamination, war, civil insurrection, natural deterioration, insect infestation, water, tear and atmospheric condition change" was not covered. I have sent certified letters to the managing owner of U-Haul stating I did not sign any contract and also asked if there is a signed contract I would like a copy and no response. A: The language of the contract will ultimately determine whether you have a claim or not. The way one would analyze this type of a problem is in two basic steps: (1) Isolate the scope of the service that U-Haul agreed to provide; and (2) evaluate strength of proof that U-Haul failed to provide the full scope of agreed services. The first step is typically determined by reference to the contract. Although it may have been your expectation and you were getting a strictly climate controlled unit (and, indeed, it may have been marketed that way), the contract may have manifold exceptions or exclusions that lay out of much more narrow scope of conditions that U-Haul could be liable for. On the second question: It seems you may have some substantive evidence on the condition of the unit and it would be wise to scrupulously document and memorialize that evidence and sensor readings to insulate yourself from a future challenge that these readings were contrived. However, be mindful that no matter how convincing your evidence of the condition of the unit may be, the efficacy of such evidence is totally subject to the answer to the first question (i.e. the scope of what U-Haul could be liable for). With respect to getting a copy of the contract that you may have signed, I want to make it very clear that I would never advocate lying. I issue this caveat because I am unclear as to whether, on the one hand, you recall signing a contract and simply never received a copy or, on the other hand, you are unsure as to whether you ever signed a contract. Assuming you meant to convey the latter, one approach to U-Haul would be to inform them that you never signed any agreement with the language they cited and are not bound by any written contract. Your position may follow that the only agreement between the two sides is your agreement to pay a certain rate (which I assume you paid) and their oral promise to keep the unit climate controlled - an agreement that was clearly breached when the unit fell below freezing. Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised at the speed with which they refresh your memory by providing a contract purportedly signed by you. #contract #business #u-haul #legal #law #transactions #ADLILawGroup #document #service #agreement #liable #legalaction

What is Specimen for Trademark Application? Peter Huang, IP Associate Attorney at ADLI Law Group writes: When you are filing Use-In-Commerce Trademark Applicati...on, Statement of Use or Section 8 Declaration of Use, you are required to submit something called specimen. Some clients got confused by the word, and thought that they need to send samples of their product to the U.S. Trademark Office. Fortunately, that’s not the case. In plain words, the term specimen refers to evidence (mostly photo or screenshot) that shows the applied-for mark is used in commerce and in association with goods or services identified in the trademark application. For example, if you applied the mark ABC for toy car, the proper specimen would be a photo showing a toy car with the mark ABC on it, and preferably another specimen showing that the toy car is on-sale (e.g., photo that the car was on store shelf or screenshot of website where the toy car can be purchased). Not providing a proper can cause your application to be delayed, or even abandoned. Consult with a trademark attorney if you are unsure how to provide specimen. #trademark #application #specimen #Use-In-CommerceTrademarkApplication #StatementofUse #Section8DeclarationofUse #copyright #USTrademarkOffice #USPTO #ADLILawGroup #law #legal

Annual Performance Reviews Brandon Takahashi, Head of Labor & Employment at ADLI Law Group writes: This topic goes hand in hand, in my mind, with the continued ...use of honesty policies in employee handbooks. While some employers have been doing away with annual performance reviews, the general reticence in all industries still comes from the fact/question/belief that annual reviews serve two important purposes: (1) to enable to gauge an employee’s performance, meriting a salary increase at the end of the year; and (2) to provide written proof of performance, in order to support termination decisions and manage the risk of exposure to lawsuits. The efficacy of annual reviews lies, in large part, with strong, properly-trained managers who will ensure that reviews are completed. Of course, in order to ensure strong managers, then they too must be reviewed, and disciplined if their performance is under par. Some of the best ways to ensure that annual reviews don’t fall off are to set procedure in place with a designated human resources professional, if a company is large enough to have one. If a company is smaller, and is without a human resources professional, then the duty must fall to upper management in the hierarchical organization structure. There are also several stages of review; not just the annual performance review. In the other school of thought, some companies believe that smaller reviews without one big annual review are more practical. This can be a more real-time evaluation, as the evaluations are broken up throughout the year, instead of delivered in one large review at the end of a year. Depending on the nature of a company and the industry it is in, either approach can be fine so long as the time is taken to fulfill either. #employment #labor #law #legal #annualperformance #reviews #policy #employee #employer #handbook #company #evalutation #humanresources #hr #ADLILawGroup

Solar Contractor Do's and Don'ts! Marina Manoukian, Head of Family Law at ADLI Law Group writes: In recent years, installation of solar panels has become a lucr...ative and growing business. Many contractors have chosen to forego their conventional construction projects and get into the business of selling, financing and installing solar panels. As solar panel installations on homes have increased, so have complaints to the Contractor’s State License Board (CSLB). In 2010 there were only 59 complaints to the CSLB in connection with solar panels. Between January 1, 2015 and May 1, 2016, however, the complaints surged to 535. The majority of the complaints stem from the sales/lease process rather than the quality of the installation work. The complaints include misrepresentations regarding the electric production claims and cost savings, as well as offers of financing that are not really in the consumer’s best interest. For example, a solar salesperson can tell a homeowner that they can save $400 per month on their electricity bill if they install a solar panel and then offer a financing plan of $350 per month to pay for the solar panel. If the homeowner takes that deal and then realizes that the savings on electricity are only $100 per month, that means that the homeowner went into the deal thinking he or she would save $50 per month just to find out that he or she is now paying $250 more per month. Based on a rise of complaints to the CSLB, the CSLB is taking measures to aggressively investigate the complaints, including establishing a Solar Task Force. So how should a solar contractor avoid complaints by consumers? Here are a few tips: 1. Make sure you are properly licensed as a solar contractor under a C-46 license. This license covers installation, modification, maintenance and repair of solar energy systems. 2. Make sure that you register your sales staff through the Home Improvement Salesperson program with the CSLB. Note that if you have a business establishment where your products are on display and potential customers come into your store, the sales staff there are not required to be registered. But if they solicit homeowners directly, then make sure they are registered. 3. Train your sales people properly so they avoid misrepresentations regarding performance and cost savings. It is impossible to give exact predictions regarding performance and cost savings because the outcome is dependent on the equipment, site location and weather patterns. Any promises otherwise, will get the contractor/sales person in trouble. 4. Make sure to follow and comply with the permit process for the city, county or municipality. Marina Manoukian is Head of Family Law at ADLI Law Group and a construction attorney with 22 years of experience in construction litigation and counseling. She can be contacted at (213) 623-6551. #construction #constructionlaw #legal #law #litigation #counseling #solarcontractor #contractor #business #CSLB #sales #lease

How to handle copyright infringement and someone impersonating me online selling my pictures. Q&A with Paul Menes, Co-Head of Entertainment and Media at ADLI La...w Group: Q: I am a photographer, but stopped taking pictures 10 years ago. Recently I found out that someone is making accounts in my name and selling my pictures to companies online. Those companies are making posters, prints, and different products. One company is international the others in the US. I understand these companies probably thought they were dealing with the actual photographer, but does that make it ok? Can I still ask for compensation? I think measures should be in place to verify identity of seller. I thought about sending a message to these companies, but doubt they will give me any compensation. In addition to that, who is this person using my name selling my pictures? If I message these companies he will probably run and never be heard from again, and I doubt they will give me his info. There are 3 or 4 websites involved in this. I have extremely limited resources for this. This person has been unable my pictures without any watermarks, or anything making a account in my name, its all so bad. What can I do what type of lawyer do I try to contact? Is there a type of investigator or lawyer that might handle this based on compensation earned as I have limited resources? A: You need to contact and have a consult with an experienced IP attorney as soon as possible. There appear to be a lot of moving parts here. However, there are a few preliminary things that I believe you should or consider. Do you own the pictures? Were they shot for someone else or just for your uses? If they were shot for someone else, did you sign a work for hire agreement, giving ownership of the photographs to the contractor? If it's determined that you do own these photographs, you should immediately register them for copyright in the US Copyright Office, if you haven't done so already. You can do this yourself without a lawyer. The site is www.copyright.gov. Many of the photographs can be registered under one registration, for one filing fee, which is pretty nominal. One reason registration is important is because it’s a prerequisite to filing a federal court copyright lawsuit. Registration also allows you to get certain types of damages and attorneys’ fees not available without registration. Registration is also a good idea before any DMCA take down notices are sent to websites. It would help prove you were in fact the copyright owner, which is a requirement of a take down request. If any of the photographs are of people, do you have releases from them to make commercial use of their names, faces and likenesses? There are also ways through litigation to have the identity of this infringer made known to you. #copyright #trademark #IP #IntellectualProperty #ADLILawGroup #rights #ownership #USCopyrightOffice #registration #law #legal #attorney #lawyer #IPattorney

What can I do if I signed a bad contract? Q&A with Dr. Dariush Adli , President of ADLI Law Group: Q: What can I do if I signed a bad contract? I signed a cont...ract with an indie publisher who agreed to publish my novels and pay me royalties. The contract was for 2 books with first choice on publishing a third. I published three books for this author. My mistake and ignorance led to me signing this contract with incorporating a "get my rights back" date. As of January 2016, this publisher has not paid me any royalties and blatantly ignores any questions I ask in reference to them. She responds to other portions of the questions I ask, but not any pertaining to royalties. Side note, I'm in the US army and when I originally signed this contract I was deployed to Honduras. A: A contract is a two-way obligation, it is not one sided. You agreed to do A, in exchange for the other contracting party doing B. It sounds like you have fulfilled your part, while the other side has not. You need to refer to the contract itself to see how it defines a breach and what remedies are provided for the breach. Many contracts have arbitration clauses, which require disputes to be submitted to arbitration, rather than the courts. If your contract does not have such a clause, then you are free to file a complaint in court. However, that can be expensive. I suggest that you consult with an Entertainment Law litigation attorney and ask that he/she start by sending a demand letter to the publisher. That may get her attention and resolve the issue. Otherwise, you have to resort to legal options. #contract #business #breach #breachofcontract #arbitration #arbitrationclause #dispute #litigation #entertainmentlaw #attorney #losangeles #california #ADLILawGroup #law #legal #lawyer

Salary History Bans and the Gender Wage Gap Shanda Y. Lowe, Associate Attorney at ADLI Law Group writes: Laws prohibiting employers from asking job applicants a...bout their salary history may not have been passed in every state yet, but employers should be paying attention to the issues the law raisesespecially in light of a bill introduced in Congress that would ban salary history questions during job interviews nationwide. Massachusetts was the first state to ban public and private employers from asking about a candidate’s salary during the interview process. Instead, hiring managers have to state what the salary is upfront, though they can base that number on what they feel an individual candidate is worth to the company. In January, New York City’s mayor issued an executive order prohibiting hiring managers at public city agencies from asking the salary question as well. A second bill banning private sector companies from requiring potential employees to give their salary history is also in the works. Other jurisdictions, are considering similar legislation, particularly in more liberal jurisdictions where new "equal pay" measures are a political priority, and, on the federal level, the Pay Equity for All Act of 2016, introduced last September, would fine companies up to $10,000 for seeking out a candidate’s salary history. The salary history bans are designed to foster greater pay equality by forcing employers to develop salary offers based on job requirements and market pay levels rather than an applicant's current salary or salary history, which may be lower than current market rates for some individuals' skills and experience. This will require employers to "show their work" by making a clear, market-based case for what they want to offer a job candidate, which could foster greater pay transparency. However, opponents argue that it may backfire and hurt employees if employers simply end up lowballing the salaries of new employees. While the connection to the gender wage gap may not be readily apparent, it stands to reason that since a worker’s salary history follows her from job to job. If this disparity can begin from the moment you go to your first job, and it follows you throughout your career, it will never be rectified and the wage gap itself will never be rectified, said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (Dem.-DC) who introduced the Pay Equity for All Act of 2016. It is a hidden form of discrimination that many employers may think is reasonable to ask and may not understand the discriminatory effect. Low pay at an early job can affect salary at a later one, because hiring managers often base their offer on previous pay. Even candidates who negotiate and advocate strongly for themselves at the salary phase can wind up with a lower offer than someone who happened to earn more at an earlier position. In California, Assembly Bill 1676 was approved in September 2016 amending Section 1197.5 of the Labor Code with regard to wage discrimination. That bill, while aimed at the wage gap, does not ban inquiries into salary history, but California Employers should still start thinking about the ramifications of stopping previous-pay discussions, whether or not their state or locality passes measures banning these inquiries, or if federal legislation doing so goes forward. #salary #gender #genderwage #wage #salaryhistory #interview #employment #employmentlaw #labor #laborlaw #employer #employee #ADLILawGroup

What to Do If You Are Sued for Patent Infringement Peter Huang, Associate Attorney at ADLI Law Group writes: I’ve heard and met clients, mostly small business o...wners, who were sued for patent infringement, but thought the allegations were untrue and their product do not infringe plaintiff’s patent, so they simply ignored the lawsuit. This is absolutely the wrong choice as the plaintiff can simply enter default against you. Even if the plaintiff is a non-practicing entity (also known as patent troll), you need to respond to the plaintiff’s complaint and hiring a patent counsel is must. In recent years, some patent owners are becoming far more litigious because the stake in patent litigation is high. In addition, with the rising of non-practicing entities, where certain patent owners seek to enforce dubious patent rights against those who are engaged in a business vaguely related, more businesses are being sued for patent infringement every year. While some people do not like to hire a lawyer, sometimes you really need the assistance of someone with the experience. Litigation can be time consuming, but a patent attorney can take up the fight for you, represent you and allow you to the greatest extent possible to continue to focus on business rather than being distracted. So, if you are being sued for patent infringement, the first advice I can give you, is to find yourself a patent attorney immediately. Being sued will not be a pleasant experience, but it might not be as ordeal as you think if you find yourself a good patent attorney. #patent #infringement #sued #lawsuit #ADLILawGroup #attorney #litigation #trademark #copyright #IP #IntellectualProperty #business