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2025

2024

Jake J. Glicker and Alec Simpson Join Firm

Reicker Pfau is excited to welcome Jake J. Glicker and Alec Simpson as associates at the firm. Jake will be joining the firm’s Corporate Practice Group and its Real Estate Practice Group and Alec will be joining the firm’s Litigation

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Corporate Transparency Act – Reporting Procedure

The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA“) went into effect on January 1, 2024 (the “Effective Date“). The purpose of the CTA is to assist law enforcement in combatting money laundering, fraud, and other illicit activity. The CTA requires most entities to

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2023

Reicker Pfau represents VitalMetrics in its sale to Watershed

Reicker Pfau represented VitalMetrics, the world’s most comprehensive multi-regional greenhouse gas emissions database, in its sale to Watershed Technologies, a software platform that helps companies measure, reduce, and report on their carbon footprint.  VitalMetrics had been measuring organizations’ climate impact

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Maximum Insurance Coverage for Trust Owners under the FDIC

On Friday, March 10, 2023, the Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) of Santa Clara, California was shut down by California regulators, who next appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) as receiver to guarantee customer deposits. SVB’s collapse continues to

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2022

ProductPlan sold to Bow River Capital

Reicker Pfau represented ProductPlan, a SaaS firm providing cloud-based product management systems across all industry verticals and all sizes of organizations, in its sale to Bow River Capital. The Reicker Pfau team was led by Michael Pfau and Nicholas Behrman.

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Diane Byun Joins Firm

Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy LLP, Santa Barbara’s Business Law Firm, is pleased to announce that Diane Byun has joined the firm as an associate of the firm’s transactional practice group. Ms. Byun commenced her career by serving as law

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Barton Clemens has Joined Reicker Pfau as a Partner

It is with great pleasure that Reicker Pfau announces that Barton Clemens has joined the firm as a partner. Bart has over 45 years of experience assisting clients in real estate, financial and business transactions. He represents companies through the

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2021

2020

Updated PPP Loan Forgiveness Applications and Instructions

On June 16, 2020, the SBA and Treasury Department released updated Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan forgiveness applications and instructions. The updated applications incorporate  changes to the PPP that were recently implemented by the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act. There

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Necessity Requirement under the PPP

Last Updated: May 13, 2020 UPDATE: On May 13, the SBA and Treasury Department released FAQ #46, which provides that: Any borrower that, together with its affiliates, received PPP loans with a principal amount of less than $2m will be

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Loan Forgiveness under the PPP

Last Updated: May 15, 2020 UPDATE: On June 5, 2020, President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (the “Act“), which changes many of the terms and features described in this note. Among other things, borrowers now

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Cory T. Baker Joins Firm

Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy LLP, Santa Barbara’s Business Law Firm, is pleased to announce that Cory Baker has joined the firm as an associate

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Reicker Pfau Secures Trial Victory for St. George & Associates

Reicker Pfau congratulates Partner Robert Forouzandeh and Associate Cory Baker and its longtime client St. George & Associates (“SGA”) and Edward St. George after they prevailed at trial in the class action case Tran v. St. George & Associates before the Santa Barbara Superior Court.

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2019

Seed Financing for Startups – Let’s Talk About SAFEs

When a startup is ready to raise its initial round of financing – known as a “seed” or “friends and family” round – the startup and prospective investors must determine how to structure the financing. The conventional way to structure a modest seed round is through the sale and issuance of convertible notes.

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2018

2017

John G. Busby has Joined Reicker Pfau as a Partner

John G. Busby has joined Reicker Pfau as a partner. Mr. Busby has over thirty-five years experience in the areas of business transactions, estate planning, real estate and taxation. His practice will continue to focus on these areas and he will serve as the head of the firm’s estate planning department.

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2016

Business Cases and the Roberts Supreme Court

The statement that the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roberts, and more specifically the Court majority of five Republican-appointed Justices, has been unusually favorable, even biased, toward business interests is a familiar one in the media and much-repeated among liberal legal commentators (including, with respect to the 2010 Citizens United decision, the President of the United States)

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Catalyst MINDS Features Mike Pfau: ‘Picking Winners — Making New Businesses Work’

Mike Pfau recently engaged an intimate crowd in a discussion about his experiences, ranging from business activity and formation to mergers and acquisitions. Pfau offered a wealth of stories about his experiences in business and legal ventures that illustrated the strategic steps he believes every entrepreneur and business owner should be aware of in order to maximize control and success.

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Expanding Your Business Through Franchising

uppose you own a successful restaurant. Business has been steadily improving and your best customers keep telling you that you should open another store. Maybe they even offer to invest in the venture because they love your food so much.

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California Prescriptive Easements

As real property values continue to recover, Californians should be wary of the dangers prescriptive easements pose to their property rights. An easement is a certain narrow right to use the real property of another without owning it

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Barristers, Legal Aid, and SB College of Law Collaborate on New Clinic

Beginning in the fall of 2012, low-income individuals in Santa Barbara who cannot afford to pay for legal representation will find easier to get free legal representation on matters such as landlord-tenant and family law thanks in part to a new program created by the Santa Barbara Barristers and implemented with Santa Barbara Legal Aid and the Santa Barbara College of Law.

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Santa Barbara Lawyers Highlights 7 Business Accounting Firms

Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy, LLP is the premiere business law firm on the Central Coast. The firm provides exceptional business, transactional and litigation services to a wide variety of businesses. The firm has an outstanding reputation for its effective, creative and cost-effective approach to helping businesses with their legal issues and concerns.

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New Disability Access Lawsuit Rules in California

Disability access lawsuits against business and property owners have long been a hotbed for “drive-by” litigation in California. Pursuant to California Senate Bill 1186, the laws pertaining to disability access lawsuits in California have been modified in the hopes of curbing this practice.

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Preparing for the 2013 California Building Standards Code

The California Building Standards Commission (“CBSC”) recently announced that it has adopted the 2013 California Building Standards Code (the “2013 Code”).1 The California Building Standards Code was last published in 2010, and the 2013 Code will be available online on July 1, 2013

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Arbitration Agreements in California: Are they enforceable or not?

A constant question posed by employers is whether an arbitration provision in an employment contract is enforceable in California. Recently, much of the discussion on this topic has been focused on the enforceability of class action waivers in arbitration provisions which are generally not applicable to small and medium sized employers.

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Top 10 Reasons to Choose Reicker, Pfau, Pyle and McRoy

You cannot form, manage and secure your business without following legal obligations enforced by state and/or federal laws. To accomplish this, you need the assistance of an experienced law firm. Below are ten reasons why customers choose Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy as legal counsel.

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The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 and Issues for Digital Distributors of Software in California

On Monday, May 6, 2013, the Senate approved Senate Bill 743, known as “the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013,”[1] a bill authorizing online retailers that have gross annual receipts in total remote sales in the United States exceeding $1,000,000 to collect a sales tax from residents of states where they sell goods, even if such online retailers do not have a physical presence in these states

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An Employee’s Right to Inspect His/Her Personnel File

One of the many changes to California’s numerous labor laws in 2013 was the modification of California Labor Code Section 1198.5. Pursuant to that statute, an employer must maintain a copy of each employee’s personnel records for at least three years following the end of that employee’s employment.

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Affordable Care Act Implementation Delayed

On Tuesday, July 2, 2013, the Obama Administration announced that it will delay implementing the so-called “employer mandate” of the Affordable Care Act from 2014 until 2015.[1] Section 1513 of the Affordable Care Act added section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code, which, among other things, imposes a tax on “applicable large employers”

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Delaware Court of Chancery Holds that Anti-Reliance Provisions of Purchase Agreement Do Not Preclude Buyer’s Claim for Fraudulent Concealment of Material Information

In an unpublished opinion, TransDigm Inc. v. Alcoa Global Fasteners, Inc., 2013 WL 2326881 (Del. Ch. May 29, 2013), the Delaware Court of Chancery has held that even if a buyer disclaims reliance on any representations and warranties outside of a stock purchase agreement, the buyer may nevertheless pursue claims that the seller fraudulently concealed material information.

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How to Protect Your Property from A Prescriptive Easement

Santa Barbara County, with its many large parcels of real property is an area rife with potential prescriptive easement claims. A prescriptive easement is just like any other type of easement, except that the person who acquires it does so without the landowner’s consent. The process to acquire a prescriptive easement is similar to, but different from, adverse possession.

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Making a Loan? Be Careful of Usury Laws

The lender on a usurious loan is subject to the following civil penalties: (1) forfeiture to the borrower of all interest on the loan, not just the usurious part; and (2) payment to the borrower of triple the amount of interest collected in the year before the borrower brings suit.

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The End of Software Patents?

On December 6, the Supreme Court granted certiori to review CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. to determine the patent eligibility of computer-implemented methods and systems.[1] The Court will address whether claims to computer-implemented inventions, which include claims to systems and machines, processes, and items of manufacture, are directed to patent-eligible subject

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New Laws in 2014 Affecting California Real Estate Transactions

Effective July 1, 2014, the TDS has been revised to require disclosure of the seller’s knowledge of certain construction defect claims for newly constructed homes (less than 10 years old). As amended, the TDS will inquire as to whether a seller is aware of any claims or lawsuits involving construction defects threatening to or affecting the real property,

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Amendments to Delaware’s Limited Liability Company Act

As reported earlier in Robert Forouzandeh’s article New Limited Liability Company Law to Take Effect in 2014 the California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (“RULLCA”) made substantial changes to California’s limited liability company law and is now in effect.

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Should Family Business Succession Plans Include The Family?

It seems that over the last few years, large successful family businesses have started developing programs to pull family members back into the business. Perhaps this was triggered by the recession and subsequent jobless recovery, and maybe this was going to happen anyway, but certainly is happening.

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Dont Rely On IRS Taxpayer Guidance- It Isnt Binding

RS guidance isn’t “binding precedent” or even sufficient “substantial authority” to get a taxpayer excused from penalties if he follows that guidance and the IRS’s interpretation of the tax law turns out to be wrong. So said U.S. Tax Court Judge Joseph W. Negra on April 15th 2014.

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The IRS Scandal Just Got More Interesting

Even as the Internal Revenue Service continues to evade questions regarding the way it handled applications for tax-exempt status from organizations with the “wrong” political view, on May 27, 2014, a federal judge for the District of Columbia has forced the agency to defend itself in court.

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Nothing Is As Miserable As Family Business Litigation

Every business has its own unique culture, and family businesses are no different. What is different about many family businesses though, is the difficulty they have in holding employee/owner family members accountable for their roles in the business. With the lack of accountability comes a lack of consequences when family members fail to deliver for the team.

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Do Not Fire Employees If You Suspect That They May Be a Whistleblower

Most employers understand that they cannot retaliate against an employee who has filed a report to a government agency regarding any of the employer’s business practices. What most employers do not know is that California law prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee who the employer simply believes has filed a complaint, even if that employee has not filed such a complaint or the complaint turns out to be false.

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New California Law Makes Businesses Liable for Unpaid Wages to Employees of Outside Service Providers

January usually brings about a slew of additional draconian labor laws in California. January 2015 was no exception. As of January 1, 2015, California restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses that bring in workers through other companies–such as outside valet parking, security, landscape maintenance and even temp agencies will be liable for the wages of the employees of the service providers

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Reicker, Pfau, Pyle, and McRoy LLP is proud to congratulate their partner Robert B. Forouzandeh for being selected to the Pacific Coast Business Times Class of 2015 40 Under 40

Reicker, Pfau, Pyle, & McRoy LLP is proud to congratulate their partner Robert B. Forouzandeh for being selected to the Pacific Coast Business Times Class of 2015 “40 Under 40 “. Robert handles a variety of business/corporate, real estate and employment litigation matters and serves as outside general counsel for several local companies.

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