Notices by Alyson Decker (alysondecker@mstdn.social)

I had a checklist of what a firm needed to put on the table (other than expected compensation) for me to walk away from my own law firm. Three of those big boxes were: (1) continue working on high end litigation matters; (2) actually do trials; (3) work with other talented attorneys. In six months, Taylor|Anderson checked all three of those things off my list.

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#norestforthelitigator #lawandmotionninja #trialattorney #firstchair

Earlier this week, I wrapped up my first trial with my new firm, first chairing a 10 day/2.5 week bench trial up in Sacramento involving claims of fraudulent transfer and alter ego in a case potentially worth several million dollars. (Liability and damages won’t be decided until the jury trial, set to start in a few months.) As you can imagine, this was right up my alley and there is nothing like the adrenaline rush of getting tagged in for a trial just a month before it starts.

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Now, because this is a bench trial, and we will be submitting written closing briefs and rebuttals, we won’t get a “verdict” until sometime in late March/early April, but this was one of those trials where every day walking back to the hotel it felt like a day of “wins”. From prevailing on various evidentiary issues to getting so under the skin of opposing counsel that they felt compelled to complain on the record that the Judge liked me more than them.

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Not to mention, this was the first time I got to work with one of our firm’s talented associates– and Dylan Contreras did not disappoint. We made such a great trial team that everyone was asking how many times we had tried cases together before and then giving us shocked gasps when we explained we’d never even worked together prior to me joining the case a month ago.

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Airports: Let’s put the ride share pickup spot in a super inconvenient place that’s not well lit, safe, or useable if the weather is bad.

Like all the other LinkedIn-fluencers, I did my 2024 #LinkedInRewind and it was a little bittersweet.

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The Good:
> I try to have a pretty consistent presence on LinkedIn and I was psyched to see that I averaged one post a week, which was a goal of mine.
> I’ve somehow amassed over 7,100 followers! Thanks guys!
> I love my top quote, which is pulled from a presentation I did at the beginning of the year, and my superpower. I love the space law work I do- and it really is all about helping my aerospace clients turn their space dreams into business realities.

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The Bad:
> For the first seven months of 2024 I was still the owner of my own law firm. One of the areas I focused on was building up my space law practice and presence. But, I ended up closing my law firm and joined a national trial firm. And, don’t get me wrong, I love litigation, but I had to take a big step back from a lot of the space law thought leadership I was doing. And that stings a bit. But I am still working with amazing aerospace companies.

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Look- I can’t really deal with more than one major crisis of democracy a week. So, France, you have to wait, this is South Korea’s week.

Ugh. Schumer was absolutely unable to act as an effective Senate minority leader during the last Trump presidency. It was basically Pelosi running the show for him from the House.

Spring Street Courthouse for the morning!

A long and exciting Hamventure today! Took the cat on a 2+ mile hike- hiked on the wrong trail for at least 45 minutes. Then hit up a favorite brewery for lunch (not his favorite since it plays music and is close to a busy road) and the cat got water spilled all over him when I tried to hold him and put his water bowl down. But he survived like 3.5+ hours outside the house which is a new record for him!

This new dialogue of don’t worry about mass deportation because they can’t put millions of people onto planes and fly them to X or Y country ignores that work camps and detention centers are perhaps crueler, does not involve planes, and that there were major campaign donations from private prisons.

Did Yoga with Adriene’s “Yoga for After a Disaster” video this morning. I have a lot of work to deal with today- but trying to squeeze some self care in too.

Well, I’m all official and up on the Taylor | Anderson LLP website now! (First professional headshot since 2018-ish.) Check out the full bio here: https://www.talawfirm.com/alyson-decker (Scroll all the way to the bottom for a surprise.)

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Another fun day at Knott’s! Some not ideal experiences with cold food that had to be remade but was yummy in the end and a ride breaking down after we waited in line for ages- but lots of great seats on other rides and cute decorations.

If it wasn’t already confusing enough for California employers trying to figure out who can be an independent contractor and what test applies (when in doubt treat everyone like a W2 and if you need a legal analysis, reach out, because these are not easy questions to answer), SB 988, the “Freelance Worker Protection Act”, was just signed into law last month. (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB988)

Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash.

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Starting January 1, 2025, the FWPA requires a written contract for all new or renewed agreements involving freelance workers earning $250 or more within a 120 day period. (In the past, only certain categories of independent contractors required written agreements.) And the contract must include (on top of any other requirements already codified into law):
1. “The name and mailing address of each party.” (Yes, an actual mailing address, not just an email address.)

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2. “An itemized list of all services to be provided by the freelance worker, including the value of those services and the rate and method of compensation.”
3. The date payment is due or a description of how that date will be determined. (If unspecified, then payment is due no later than 30 days after completion of the services.)
4. The date the services are to be completed by to allow for timely payment.

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Freelance workers are also to be protected from retaliation and hiring parties cannot, as a condition of timely payment, change the terms of the agreement (specifically the amount of compensation, the services to be performed, or the IP rights) once performance has begun.

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