When a Pricing Algorithm Becomes a Price-Fixing Problem

Horst Legal CounselUncategorized

If your company sets prices with help from a third-party algorithm, one that quietly runs on data pooled from your competitors, the setup can feel like nothing more than smart operations. But California’s First District Court of Appeal just looked at an arrangement like that and gave it a different name. The name was price-fixing. The decision is VHS Liquidating …

What Your Audience Thinks You Meant Isn’t the Test for Defamation

Horst Legal CounselAppellate Law, Business Litigation

If your business publishes anything to the public, a documentary, an article, a review, a marketing campaign, a social post, you already know the risk that someone will read an accusation into it that you never made. When that happens, the plaintiff usually points to the reaction. Look at the comments. Look at what people assumed. A new California decision …

In California, You Can’t Amend Your Way Out of a Defective Debt Collection Lawsuit

Horst Legal CounselBusiness Litigation

If your business buys, sells, or collects charged-off consumer debt in California, there’s a habit worth breaking. When a collection complaint goes out with the wrong paperwork attached, the instinct is to amend it, swap in the right documents, and move on. But a new decision from the Court of Appeal says that instinct won’t protect you. The defect is …