Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

--- CLASS WILL BE HELD VIA ZOOM. ZOOM INFORMATION WILL BE EMAILED TO REGISTRANTS PRIOR TO CLASS START TIME ---

New and growing businesses must enter into a variety of contracts, with landlords, suppliers, and clients, to name a few. Learn how to read common “boilerplate” contractual language and negotiate contractual terms to your advantage.

Class covers:

• Contract law basics
• Essential terms of a commercial lease: what is negotiable and what is non-negotiable
• Essential terms of a contract for goods or services
• “Typical” contracts negotiated by business people
• Caveat emptor: how to avoid problematic contracts

Participants are encouraged to join by video as class may involve sharing of visual information and writings, participation via the chat function, and the opportunity to interact with others. Virtual networking reception to follow class.

Presented by Gina Pak:
Gina Pak is the COO and Co-founder of Lawgood, a legal tech company that is helping business owners with their everyday legal contracts through a combination of real lawyers and artificial intelligence. Prior to Lawgood, Gina was as a corporate lawyer at large firms in New York and Los Angeles working with Fortune 500 companies. She was also a law professor at Peking University. Gina graduated from Columbia Law School.

Registration fees: FREE - sponsored by the Friends of the Los Angeles County Law Library through the generous support of Pacific Western Bank.

No legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The Law Library is pleased to offer our patrons the opportunity to obtain assistance from third party legal service providers at this and other events within the Library. However, the Library does not control and is not responsible for the content or scope of any assistance given by those providers.

Tuesday, April 5, 2022: 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

--- CLASS WILL BE HELD VIA ZOOM. ZOOM INFORMATION WILL BE EMAILED TO REGISTRANTS PRIOR TO CLASS START TIME ---

Effectively communicating the value of your product or service is essential to your business success. Learn how to attract and retain your customer base through creative branding, channel marketing, and smart promotion.

Class covers:

• Defining and protecting your brand
• The different marketing channels available, and the strengths and weaknesses of each
• How to integrate branding and marketing across multiple channels and platforms
• Basing your marketing initiatives on research and data
• Approach to marketing on a budget

Presented by: Erin Kapczynski (https://www.linkedin.com/in/erink)

Erin Kapczynski has built her career as a marketing executive for technology, media and advertising companies. 

Erin’s passion for marketing centers on looking at how a business can transform and grow, leveraging data and user experience, while building customer trust. Currently serving as consultant and advisor to leading startups and mid-stage businesses, Erin helps clients plan and execute customer acquisition, content creation, and branding – tying these pieces together to generate growth.

She has helped B2B (Business to Business) SaaS (Software as a Service) companies such MomentFeed and Greenfly; media companies such as Ranker and Demand Media (now LeafGroup); and AdTech giants such as System1 tell their stories and acquire new customers. Erin has also worked with DTC (Direct to Consumer) companies such as Wrench and OneRep, accelerating their marketing efforts.

Coming into the role via acquisition, Erin was formerly VP of Marketing for the media and technology platform Purch (Space.com and TomsGuide.com), where she oversaw all global consumer and corporate marketing that grew audiences and accelerated ad sales and lead-gen deals for partners to well over $100M in annual revenue. At Purch, Erin was also part of the executive team, seeing through multiple acquisitions, app launches, and a $135M equity round of financing. 

Prior to Purch, Erin served as VP of Marketing at Panache, an early mover and market-leading digital video ad tech business (B2B SaaS) that was acquired by WPP.  She also held senior-level marketing positions at Herbalife's HQ and Move.

Erin currently serves as an advisor at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce's tech incubator Bixel Exchange, part of SBA’s SBDC (Small Business Development Centers) program, where she helps local startups establish product-market-fit and position them for capital infusion.

Registration fees: FREE - sponsored by the Friends of the Los Angeles County Law Library through the generous support of Pacific Western Bank.

No legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The Law Library is pleased to offer our patrons the opportunity to obtain assistance from third party legal service providers at this and other events within the Library. However, the Library does not control and is not responsible for the content or scope of any assistance given by those providers.

Class recorded May 21, 2020.

For updated information on COVID-19 sick leave under the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act, which expired December 31, 2020, but which some employers may choose to extend, click here and here. For information on COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave in California starting March 29, 2021, click here and here. For information on the “right of recall” that some California workers may have to be rehired to jobs lost due to the pandemic, click here and here.

If your employment has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, it’s hard to know what your rights are and which benefits are available – and it can be even harder to figure out what to do if your rights are violated or your benefits denied. In this class, learn about new protections for California employees, how pre-pandemic laws may also protect you if you have been fired, discriminated against, or retaliated against due to the impact of COVID-19, and the remedies available if your rights are violated.

Class covers:

• Your rights not to be harassed, discriminated against, or retaliated against due to the impact of COVID-19
• Your rights to paid and unpaid leave under new laws enacted in response to COVID-19
• Protections for you and your family due to “serious health conditions” and disability under pre-pandemic laws
• How to request an accommodation when you or a family member become ill
• What you’re entitled to if your employer violates the law
• Resources available to learn more, report violations, and claim benefits

Course Materials: If you would like to receive a copy of the course materials for any of the classes, including any PowerPoint used, please register at the Register Now! button for the class, provided below. A staff member will email you the course materials (usually within one business day)."

Video Recordings: We recognize that not everyone can attend in person classes, so even if you can't make it in, please watch any of these recordings and remember that we are still here to help! Call us at (213) 785-2513, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or chat with us online to get help finding information and resources on any legal (or not-quite-legal) question. Access to the video recordings is free.

Dated Material: Please note that the law changes. The original recording date for each class is provided on the display page. To be certain that you receive up-to-date information, please attend the in-person class, or contact us for help researching or updating your specific legal issue.

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022: 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

--- CLASS WILL BE HELD VIA ZOOM. ZOOM INFORMATION WILL BE EMAILED TO REGISTRANTS PRIOR TO CLASS START TIME ---

Every business decision must be made with an eye toward the bottom line. Learn to accurately assess your business’ financial outlook and plan for the future by understanding the basics of business accounting and finance.

Class covers:

• How to apply the fundamentals of financial modeling to set realistic, achievable goals
• How to apply basic accounting concepts to ensure an accurate financial snapshot of your business
• How to use key financial statements like income, balance sheet, and cash flow
• Apply what you learn to real-life “case studies” of businesses in different financial situations
• Pros and cons of different accounting software available to small businesses

Participants are encouraged to join by video as class may involve sharing of visual information and writings, participation via the chat function, and the opportunity to interact with others. Virtual networking reception to follow class.

Presented by: Gary Krauz (https://www.gursey.com/persons/gary-l-krausz/)
Gary Krausz provides audit, accounting and consulting services to middle-market businesses and not-for-profit organizations in Southern California. He is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA.) He also holds the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) credential offered by the AICPA. Gary serves on the Accounting Principles and Auditing Standards Technical Committee which is the highest technical committee of the California Society of CPAs on accounting and auditing issues; Gary also helps plan the annual Accounting and Auditing Conference of the CalCPA Education Foundation. Gary regularly teaches undergraduate level accounting courses at UCLA Extension.

Gary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, San Diego and a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Southern California. Outside of work, Gary serves on the Board of Directors and is the Treasurer for The Executives, a support group for the Los Angeles Jewish Home, volunteers for his children's school PTA, and various other community outreach and educational committees of the California Society of CPAs.

Registration fees: FREE - sponsored by the Friends of the Los Angeles County Law Library through the generous support of Pacific Western Bank.
Classes fill up fast, register today to reserve your seat! All registrants must check-in 10 minutes prior to class time to ensure your seat is not reassigned to waiting-list and walk-in attendees when classes are full.

Photography / Videography:
If you register for this class, you may be photographed or recorded. By registering for this class you are giving the LA Law Library your consent to photograph, videotape, record and broadcast your picture, likeness, voice and statements.  

No legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The Law Library is pleased to offer our patrons the opportunity to obtain assistance from third party legal service providers at this and other events within the Library. However, the Library does not control and is not responsible for the content or scope of any assistance given by those providers.