There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal recently stating that non-compete litigation in this country has risen by over 60% in the last decade as more employees leave their employers to open their own businesses. And that's just court decisions.

On July 17, 2013, as reported in the California Auto Dealer Newsletter, the California Supreme Court denied the petition for review filed by Downtown LA Motors, LP in the case of Gonzalez v. Downtown LA Motors, LP.

On June 12, 2013, the FTC issued a revised business guide on the Red Flags Identity Theft Rule. Recently, the California New Car Dealers Association issued a reminder about the importance of updating your Red Flags Identity Theft Program.

Earlier this year, California’s Supreme Court decided Harris v. City of Santa Monica, in which it raised the bar for plaintiffs seeking to prove that their employer illegally discriminated against them. Plaintiffs must now prove that discrimination was a substantial factor, not just a motivating factor in an employer’s decision to terminate employment.

On Monday, upholding the Federal Arbitration Act’s (FAA) strong deference to arbitral decisions, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held, in Oxford Health Plans, LLC v. Sutter, that where an arbitrator interprets an arbitration agreement to include class arbitration, even if that interpretation is incorrect, it will be upheld.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has been clear that it will not delay the July 1, 2013 start date of the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations announced in December 2011. Here's a quick status of attacks to these new HOS rules and a summary of the changes, so you can be prepared.

What happens if your franchisor terminates your franchise or business is so lousy that you can't make a go of it, but you still have two, three or as many as ten more years to go on your commercial real estate lease? Well, that depends.

Dealers are under assault by consumers and employees who, in a still-recovering economy, too often use the court system as a bonanza to address their own economic troubles, unrelated to anything the dealer did or failed to do.

Today, the FTC announced that it has issued final amendments to the Alternative Fules Rule, consolidating the labels required on alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) with those required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), eliminating the need for two different labels and reducing the burden on manufacturers and used car dealers of complying with the rule.

As of January 1, 2013, trucks and 53-foot trailers operating in California are subject to more stringent requirements under regulations being implemented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin on what it perceives as the "potential for discriminatory pricing" caused by the policies of some indirect auto lenders that allow auto dealers to mark-up lender-established buy rates and that compensate dealers for those markups in the form of reserve.

Factory image programs have long been the bane of dealers' existence. It goes something like this: In the quest for effective branding to increase market share, manufacturers require their dealers to make periodic facilities upgrades.

The FTC this week revised its thirteen year old staff guidance document Dot Com Disclosures. The revised document, .com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising, is the result of the FTC's review of public comment, hosting of a workshop and analyzing written feedback.

This should be old news to many of you. But it has recently come to my attention that it is not old news to everyone, which is why I'm posting it now.

On July 6, 2012, the President signed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). This was the first multi-year transportation authorization since 2005 and funds surface transportation programs at over $105 billion for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. According to the Department of Transportation, it transforms the framework for investments to guide the growth and development of the country’s vital transportation infrastructure.

I'm sure everyone has heard about the tussle (that's an understatement) between Elon Musk's Tesla Motors and the New York Times concerning that paper's negative review of the Tesla Model S. When Musk countered the review in his blog by citing information that the car gathered about where and how the Times reporter drove the Model S, as recorded by the car's "black box," he sparked a flaming debate about the information that our cars record. And, whether he meant to or not, he put the privacy implications of such recording technology at the forefront of public concern.

On January 31, 2013, Senator Padilla introduced a bill in the California legislature aimed at curbing factory incentive and warranty charge-back abuse, providing better rates for warranty work, clarifying factory audit rights and dealer protest rights, and allowing freedom of choice in vendors when conducting facilities upgrades.

I just returned from the NADA conference in Orlando. Amidst the talk about new federal regulations on the horizon, avoiding fraud and embezzlement at dealerships and, of course, the excitement over the new NADA president, Peter Welch, there was a lot of emphasis on internet marketing.

On Friday, February 1, 2013, as many have reported, the FTC issued a staff report with recommendations for improving mobile privacy practices. The recommendations were issued for mobile app platforms (like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon), app developers, advertising networks and other third party analytics companies, and app trade associations.

CSI is the industry benchmark for customer service. Many new tech companies talk about their products as enhancing CSI scores, but I am not aware of anybody whose product is addressing the fundamental analytical flaws in the factory's methods of gathering CSI data.