Originally published in Chief Executive Magazine As the boundaries between work and home continue to blur, how companies respond to social and political issues is more important than ever. Employees are taking note of their employer’s stance on key issues and subsequent actions, and creating an environment of trust, support and psychological safety can help leaders p [...]

In the past 18 to 24 months, two acts were signed into law that could have a significant impact on plan 2020 year audits — namely, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act (passed in December 2019) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act (passed in late March 2020). Each act contains provisions that will affect [...]

The state of California offers several programs to restaurants, those in the food supply chain and other small food and beverage companies. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) announced a grant program to support the agricultural producers and businesses in this industry with pandemic assistance funds. Qualifying food and beverage companies may ta [...]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 brought about several significant changes to the federal tax code. One notable change relates to the state and local tax deduction for individual taxpayers. Prior to 2018, an individual who itemized deductions on his or her personal income tax return could deduct 100 percent of state property taxes as well as either state incom [...]

Originally published in Risk Management Magazine There is no way around it—in the current environment, organizations cannot prevent social and political views from being shared in the workplace. Especially after the events of 2020, from politics to police violence to the pandemic, the lines between work and social discussions have increasingly blurred. This is not n [...]

GHJ Entertainment Partner Ilan Haimoff and Jason Squire, Professor Emeritus at USC School of Cinematic Arts and editor of The Movie Business Book Fourth Edition, are back for another episode of GHJ’s “Movie Business Podcast Series.” In this episode, Ilan and Jason interview Banc of California Senior Director and Market Executive Adrian Ward to discuss the financi [...]

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established several new funding sources to support healthcare entities in their response to the coronavirus pandemic. One such source is the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), for which HHS allocated $178 billion to be distributed to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19, and as of the end of July 2021, over $118 [...]

Coauthored with Alexander Anderson and Viqar Shariff, O’Melveny A Special Purchase Acquisition Company, commonly referred to as a “SPAC,” has become so popular that hardly a day goes by without hearing about it in the media. As the name implies, a SPAC is formed in order to acquire another company. This blog will provide a high-level overview of SPACs and discuss [...]

Governor Newsom signed the California State Budget 2021-2022 (the Budget) on July 12 with total funding of $262.6 billion. The key economic and tax highlights of the state Budget are as follows: SALT DEDUCTION WORKAROUND AND ENTITY-LEVEL TAX FOR PASS-THROUGHS The Budget includes the SALT workaround of the $10,000 federal cap on individuals’ deductions for state and [...]

“That is the way the cookie crumbles” is an idiom often used when something bad happens and one must accept the outcome. But for Loren Brill Castle, founder and CEO of better-for-you cookie company Sweet Loren’s, that is a phrase she cannot accept. After beating a cancer diagnosis in her 20s, she embarked on a new healthy lifestyle. As a result, she created Sweet Lore [...]