Can My Employer Legally Fire Me for That? Understanding Wrongful Termination
By: Noah Phillips Getting fired feels devastating, especially when the reasons seem unfair. You might wonder: “Can they really do that?” The frustrating answer is often yes—but not always. California is an “at-will” employment state, meaning employers can generally terminate employees at any time, for almost any reason, or even no reason at all. Your […]
Written Discovery and Depositions: Do, Depends, and Definitely Don’t!
By Talar “Tal” Guedikian Introduction I finished paralegal school in 2012. A few months later, I was invited back to be an instructor in the program. For the next 13 years, I used every opportunity I had to push for a class about discovery. It’s that important. The discovery phase can and willshape the trajectory […]
Altair Law Clients Benefit from California Limits on Abuse of Motions to Compel Arbitration
By: Jeremy Cloyd California law has recently been changed and clarified to curb corporations’ ability to abuse inapplicable arbitration agreements. One of Altair Law’s clients has benefited from these changes while attempting to hold the manufacturer of a defective product responsible for the amputation of his hand. Altair Law represents several individuals whose upper limbs […]
American Association for Justice: Strengthening Workplace Sexual Assault Claims
Adding an employment claim to a sexual assault case can strengthen your client’s case and expand their recovery options. Here’s how to spot this scenario and avoid common pitfalls. By Tamara Prevost When a client walks into your office claiming sexual assault by a co-worker or supervisor, your first instinct may be to file a straightforward intentional tort case. But overlooking the employment law claims hiding […]
Altair Law Attorney Tamarah Prevost is Representing a Former Venture Capital Executive
Altair Law Attorney Tamarah Prevost is Representing Former Venture Capital Executive Kate Lowry By: Tamarah Prevost Altair Law attorney Tamarah Prevost is representing Kate Lowry in a California civil lawsuit against Insight Venture Partners. The lawsuit alleges gender and disability discrimination, retaliation related to protected medical leave, unequal pay practices, and wrongful termination under California […]
Reaching Outside the Courtroom: Why Community Matters
Reaching Outside the Courtroom: Why Community Matters By: Craig Peters As trial lawyers, we spend a lot of time talking about advocacy in terms of what happens in the courtroom—how well we prepare, how clearly we present the facts, and how effectively we tell our clients’ stories. But over the years, I’ve realized that real […]
The Business of Law: Lessons from the AAJ BOSS Summit
The Business of Law: Lessons from the AAJ BOSS Summit By Mee Mee Wong, MBA As part of a firm that values professional development and invests in its leadership team, I had the privilege of attending the AAJ BOSS Summit in Denver—an exceptional conference focused on the business operations and profitability of plaintiff-side law firms. […]
Profile: Josh White
Trial lawyer takes a teamwork approach to ‘doing good for people’ By Stephen Ellison The concept of teamwork comes natural to Josh White. He learned it early in life, and he’s continued to embrace it as a young professional. To this day, it plays a huge part in his success as a seasoned plaintiffs’ personal […]
Prop 22 Was Never Meant to Let Uber Off the Hook: Why App Companies Remain Liable for Driver Negligence
California’s Proposition 22 and TNC Liability California’s Proposition 22 (“Prop 22”) has stirred confusion about whether Uber and Lyft can be held vicariously liable for harms caused by their drivers. Prop 22, passed by voters in November 2020, established that app-based drivers are independent contractors “with respect to” their relationship to the hiring network company. […]
Case Management: Building a Stronger Case Together
Litigation moves quickly. Deadlines stack up, discovery demands arrive in waves, and a single missed task can set back months of preparation. At Altair Law, we know that success in high-stakes cases doesn’t begin in the courtroom—it begins with the systems and preparation we put in place from day one. At Altair, we design our […]
Construction Site Deaths: Building the Case
Construction is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Every day, workers face risks from heights, heavy machinery, and fast-moving projects. When safety rules are ignored or corners are cut, those risks can turn deadly. We’ve seen how preventable hazards on construction sites lead to devastating, life-changing losses for families. In wrongful death cases, […]
Jury Finds Napa Police Department Discriminated Against Det. Darlene Elia
Napa, CA, July 28, 2025 — Last week, a jury found that the City of Napa, through the Napa Police Department (NPD), engaged in unlawful discrimination when it denied Detective Darlene Elia a promotion to Special Operations Lead Officer in 2022. The jury concluded that Det. Elia’s age, gender, or disability was a substantial motivating […]
How to Streamline Issues for Trial and Recover Attorney’s Fees through a Motion for Summary Adjudication
Motions for summary judgment and/or adjudication are primarily used by defendants to dispose of a particular cause of action or of an entire lawsuit. Plaintiff’s attorneys find themselves routinely opposing these motions in personal injury and employment cases. However, it is rare for plaintiffs to turn the tables and use this type of dispositive motion […]
Strategic Use of 998 offers: Shift Costs to Unreasonable Defendants
Many insurance companies delay payment of claims. Even when their insureds are clearly at fault and cause serious injuries, or even death, they drag their feet, delaying and denying legitimate claims. The reason for this is apparent: why pay now when you can pay later? This is unfair and incredibly frustrating for people and families […]
Profile: Tamarah Prevost
From living paycheck to paycheck, she now enjoys a satisfying and successful career in employment law By Stephen Ellison On her path into law, Tamarah Prevost worked a lot of different jobs alongside scores of co-workers; and in the end, that plethora of labor experience served a purpose. It now speaks volumes to her success […]
Successfully Navigating a Rideshare Accident Case Against Uber and Lyft
Why You Need A Lawyer That Specializes In Uber / Lyft Accident Cases Over the last decade, the transportation landscape has changed dramatically. Taxis have gone the way of the VCR (nearly extinct, but can be found if you look really, really hard), and driverless cars appear to be the way of the future. While […]
The Roadmap to Early Investigations in Elder Abuse Cases
California’s population is aging rapidly, creating an urgent need to prioritize the prosecution of elder abuse cases. But elder abuse litigation is not for the faint of heart—the facts are often harrowing, and the legal journey is demanding for both clients and counsel. To better advocate for this vulnerable population, it’s critical to make informed […]
The Role of Defective Products in Workplace Injuries
In two recent cases, Altair Law partners Craig Peters and Jeremy Cloyd showed the role of defective products in workplace injuries and overcame attempts to blame the victims. In both cases, the
Anatomy Of A Scaffolding Case
The U.S. Labor Department estimates that 65 percent of the construction industry works on scaffolding. And every year people die or sustain serious injuries when they fall from scaffolding
Consumer Attorneys Applaud Governor Newsom Signing the Protect California Drivers Act into Law
SB 1107 Modernizes Mandatory Minimums for Auto Insurance in California
California Law Expands the Definition of Childhood Sexual Assault
In California, preexisting childhood sexual abuse law provided a limited timeframe, otherwise known as statute of limitations, to file a civil lawsuit against individuals or entities, limiting a survivor’s ability to file a lawsuit. The California Legislature recently provided a recourse for childhood sexual assault survivors by enacting The California Child Victims Act.
Court of Appeal Agrees With Altair Law Granting a Reversal on Uber Dooring Case
Altair Law partners Joshua White and Kevin Morrison recently obtained a notable victory in the Court of Appeal concerning an Uber driver’s failure to use reasonable care in selecting a place to offload passengers.
Altair Law Honors Worker’s Memorial Day
On April 28, 1970, the United States Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (“OSHA”) to guarantee every worker the right to a safe and healthful workplace. Since then, April 28 has been commemorated in the US as Workers’ Memorial Day.
Polaris Offroad RZR Vehicle Design Defects Cause Hand and Arm Injuries and Amputations
A colleague recently asked if I could help a client whose hand was amputated by his brand-new Polaris RZR offroad vehicle. When the vehicle rolled, his hand was ejected and crushed between the roll cage and the ground.
Covid-19 Negligent Exposure Cases: Not a Plaintiff’s Paradise
by J. Kevin Morrison and Noah A. Phillips
The extent of the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, to both life and health, continues to be carefully calculated and assessed by governments and public health agencies since the outbreak of the virus. As expected, the legal establishment has also kept a close watch over the effects of the pandemic on the legal system, paying particular attention to the rate of increase in pandemic-related tort litigation and to the types of lawsuits most likely to account for that increase.
2022 President’s Message, Who We Are
As the largest organization of California plaintiff attorneys, CAOC finds itself, once again, in perilous times. We find ourselves faced with impending ballot initiatives from corporate America that will try to prevent our clients from getting the justice they deserve. Simultaneously, the State Bar is working with powerful forces to undermine consumer protections by trying to institute a “sandbox” approach to our legal system. In any single year, either of these challenges would be a massive battle. In 2022, we will face them both.
Hazardous Trees
Poor tree management results in death and disability every year. Two of the top ten personal-injury settlements in 2018 were on behalf of people catastrophically injured by hazardous trees.