Daily Business Report-June 11, 2020
The program will help move civil cases forward.
Attorneys form RESOLVE Law San Diego, a pro bono
program to help litigants in face of COVID-19 crisis
A group of San Diego lawyers have joined forces to create RESOLVE Law San Diego, poised to be the largest legal pro bono program in San Diego County to handle cases arising out of the coronavirus pandemic.
The launch of RLSD is in response to the San Diego Superior Court being closed for all civil matters, creating a backlog of over 8,000 missed hearings, dozens of trials and an inability to move cases forward.
Designed to streamline the law and motion and mediation processes, the program – created by San Diego County Bar members and supported by virtually every bar association in the county – will help move civil cases forward by providing local attorneys a free venue for dispute resolution outside of the constrained court system.
According to RESOLVE Law San Diego chair Amy R. Martel, a partner with Chihak & Martel, the new program will offer litigants the opportunity to connect with a retired judge or a qualified local attorney to hear matters free of charge.
Hearings are conducted by telephone or video conferencing and briefing is limited. The program is scheduled to last for 120 days while the San Diego Superior Court grapples with the backlog of cases after a two-month closure.
“Our community’s access to justice is in jeopardy while the court struggles to reschedule hearings and pushes jury trials out to 2021. Parties can agree to use RESOLVE Law for mediation, discovery disputes or law and motion and have their matter resolved within weeks,” Martel said. “We created this program to make it as easy as possible to help our colleagues who need cases acted upon expeditiously.”
Partnering with the San Diego Bar Foundation, RESOLVE Law San Diego was created and is led by Martel, along with David S. Casey Jr. (Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP), Heather Rosing (Klinedinst PC.), Benjamin Bunn (Bunn Law Group), William Low (Higgs Fletcher and Mack), Alan Brubaker (Wingert Grebing Brubaker & Juskie), Deborah Dixon (Dixon Diab & Chambers), N. Ben Cramer (Carroll Kelly Trotter & Franzen), John Gomez (Gomez Trial Attorneys), Ana M. Sambold (Sambold Law & ADR Services), Janice Brown (Brown Law Group), Jenna E. Hackett (Feuerstein, Murphy & Beals), Patricia A. Coyne (Kimball, Tirey, & St. John LLP), Shannon N. Montisano (Hughes & Pizzuto) and Sean Ponist (Ponist Law Group).
The over 220 lawyers and retired judges who have volunteered to participate in the program can be accessed at www.resolvelawsandiego.com. For more information, contact RESOLVE Law San Diego at sdcbf.org or contact Amy Martel at (858) 481-7252.
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SANDAG economist predicts
economic recovery will be long and slow
By Dave Schwab | sdnews.com
An economist with San Diego Association of Governments believes the nearly three-month shutdown of much of San Diego’s economy will translate into a long, slow and painful recovery.
“It’s going to take longer than we hoped, that’s for sure,” said Ray Major, chief economist with SANDAG, the region’s transportation planning agency comprised of city and county officials, which sets and oversees planning and fares for public mass transit.
“If we’d been shut down for two weeks, which was the original plan in March, reopening April 1, it would have been just a small blip. The problem we’re running into now is that the business re-openings are coming with lots of strings attached.”
Added Major: “Not everyone can go back to work now the way they did before the pandemic. And new health rules and regulations that have been put in place are reducing the possibility of businesses being profitable.”
A case in point, said Major, is the restaurant industry.
“Restaurants are marginally profitable at 100 percent capacity,” said Major. “Now with them at 25 percent to 50 percent capacity, there’s no fix for that, no way they can make as much money. So they won’t need as many waiters, waitresses, and chefs for a prolonged period.”
Concerning the impact of the pandemic on tourism, Major noted, “The industry was completely decimated, and with not many people flying, you’re not going to get back that business and convention business this year. That could take 1-2 years for that to come back. I don’t know of many businesses right now that would mandate that their employees go in-person to a convention. As with 9/11, it took about two to three years to get air travel back.”
Major pointed out that “just because we’re reopening businesses doesn’t mean everybody is opening evenly.”
The SANDAG economist predicted that “2020 is going to be a bust,” adding 2021 could follow suit if there were to be an increase in coronavirus cases, and the government was to partially shut down the economy again. “Then you would see a tremendous amount of pain and suffering in the economy,” he said.
Read more…
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County Report: Indoor movie
theaters can reopen on Friday
Indoor movie theaters join a growing list of businesses that can begin to reopen this Friday. Businesses must follow state guidelines and are required to fill out a Safe Reopening Plan before resuming operations.
Movie theater operators must limit the number of attendees in each theater to 25 percent of theater capacity or a maximum of 100 guests, whichever number is lower. They must also ensure employees and customers practice good hand hygiene, use face coverings when not eating or drinking, maintain physical distancing and are screened for symptoms.
“Several communities across the nation have seen a spike in case numbers after reopening their economies,” said Wilma J. Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “We need to remain vigilant and continue to use the measures that have slowed the spread of COVID-19.”
The following businesses can also begin to reopen June 12:
Gyms
Bars and wineries
Swimming pools, including condominium and community pools
Hotels and other rental properties for tourism and individual travel
Card rooms, racetracks and satellite wagering facilities
Family entertainment (bowling alleys, batting cages)
Zoos, galleries, museums and aquariums
Film/TV production
Professional sports without spectators
Steps for business owners to follow and guidance are on the county’s Safe Reopening Page.
The following activities are not permitted until further notice:
Nail and facial salons
Tattoo parlors
Therapeutic massage businesses
Conventions
Concerts
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USD to receive $100,000 grant
for its Children’s Advocacy Institute
The University of San Diego’s Children’s Advocacy Institute will receive a grant of $100,000 as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Voices for Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge, an initiative supported by eight philanthropic organizations.
The grant was announced by The Schultz Family Foundation. USD’s institute was one of three organizations awarded $100,000.
USD’s Children’s Advocacy Institute – Fostering Fairness will use the money to launch a peer-to-peer education campaign to raise awareness of the unfair policies that prevent former foster youth from escaping poverty. Around 20,000 young adults age out of foster care each year in the U.S.; members of this population, which includes an overrepresentation of African American or Latino youth, suffer disproportionately from mental health problems and have little preparation and support to become self-sufficient.
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Up to 45 percent of SARS-CoV-2 infections
may be asymptomatic, new analysis finds
Study of data from 16 groups of COVID-19 patients suggest “silent” carriers may exacerbate efforts to stop spread of the disease.
An extraordinary percentage of people infected by the virus behind the ongoing deadly COVID-19 pandemic—up to 45 percent—are people who never show symptoms of the disease, according to the results of a Scripps Research analysis of public datasets on asymptomatic infections.
The findings, recently published in Annals of Internal Medicine, suggest that asymptomatic infections may have played a significant role in the early and ongoing spread of COVID-19 and highlight the need for expansive testing and contact tracing to mitigate the pandemic.
“The silent spread of the virus makes it all the more challenging to control,” says Eric Topol, MD, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and professor of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research. “Our review really highlights the importance of testing. It’s clear that with such a high asymptomatic rate, we need to cast a very wide net, otherwise the virus will continue to evade us.”
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New outplacement and career counseling
firm Leo & Loy launched in San Diego
Leo & Loy announced its official grand opening during a Zoom event with key stakeholders earlier this week. The virtual ribbon cutting was the appropriate kick-off for the outplacement and career consulting firm, whose business model is entirely virtual. Founded by Katie Molloy and Keegan Leopold, the firm provides personal and compassionate one-on-one coaching and assistance in all aspects of career transitions.
Leo & Loy supports small to midsize companies (up to 5,000 employees) that are going through a reduction in force, guiding individuals through career transitions.
Their nationwide team of professional recruiters has expertise in all aspects of the job search, from resume creation to guidance on job interviewing. The firm’s mission is to help make downsizing and career transitions more affordable and manageable for the employer, employee and individuals who are ready for change.
“I’ve worked in just about every aspect of recruiting and placement over the past two decades,” said Katie Molloy, founder and president. “What I’ve enjoyed most is helping people get back on their feet after a layoff and working with them through career transitions. It’s incredibly rewarding to help someone identify their skills, create a compelling resume and give them the confidence to find the next wave of their career.”
Molloy has more than 25 years of professional experience in recruitment, workforce solutions, sales and operations.
“By employing recruitment professionals, we’re able to provide insight from the perspective of a potential employer,” said Keegan Leopold, co-founder and head of operations. “Recruitment professionals know how to write effective resumes faster, how to clean up or set up attractive social media profiles and teach our clients how to use the top job aggregators.”
Leo & Loy packages start at $190 for individual career consulting and $490 for outplacement.
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Former Taco Bell executive Rich Pinnella
named president of Luna Grill
Rich Pinnella has been named president of Luna Grill (www.LunaGrill.com), a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant with 50 locations throughout Southern California and the Dallas, Texas metro area.
A former Taco Bell executive, Pinnella came to Luna Grill in the summer of 2019 as chief brand officer and has been instrumental in the implementation of processes and operational planning.
Company CEO and co-founder Sean Pourteymour has handed day-to-day operations over to Pinnella and will focus on long-term expansion moving forward.
Luna Grill has also recently added a new culinary vice president and first-ever digital catering director, focusing exclusively on online/mobile and take out order execution.
Pinnella will continue to direct the overall Luna Grill brand position and marketing efforts, working with the team already in place, with modifications to team member roles and possible new additions coming in the future.
Before making the move to Luna Grill in 2019, Pinnella was an executive with Taco Bell for 20 years, serving the last seven as a vice president and general manager. During that tenure, he directed U.S.-based and International functional heads to deliver results across marketing, beverage, culinary, operations, and supply chain, through an international expansion to over 500 restaurants.
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USS Kidd departs San Diego on deployment
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd departed San Diego on Wednesday for her latest deployment, a return to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to continue its mission in support of SOUTHCOM Enhanced Counter Narcotics Operations in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
“I am extremely proud of my crew and their coordination with Navy Region Southwest, U.S. Surface Forces Pacific and U.S. Third Fleet as we navigated through our COVID-19 outbreak on board,” said Cmdr. Nathan Wemett, Kidd’s commanding officer.
As part of the Navy’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak on board the guided-missile destroyer, the ship arrived at Naval Base San Diego April 28 to provide medical care, quarantine, and monitoring for its sailors, and to clean and disinfect the ship.
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Marie Mendoza promoted to SVP ranks
at Kratos Defense and Security Solutions
Marie Mendoza, vice president and general counsel of Kratos Defense and Security Solutions since late 2015, has been elevated to a senior VP role at the San Diego-based contractor.
As SVP and general counsel, Mendoza will continue oversight of Kratos’ corporate legal functions, communications with its outside counsel and strategic efforts related to all business and legal matters, the company said.
She assisted the defense firm’s legal team along with its compliance and contract management executives across all business units over the past eight years.
Before joining Kratos in 2011, she was a partner at GCR LLP and Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP.
Mendoza’s more than two-decade career includes experience representing public and private sector entities in matters such as contract disputes, trademarks, governance, labor and employment.
