Reason #91836218 not to have nexus in California.
Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
51–60 of 364 posts
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#52Their only penalty was $75,000? Sounds like "ask for forgiveness not permission" worked out pretty well for them here. I assume they also have to come into compliance to avoid further fines, but given that they provide a legit educational service, that shouldn't be too hard for them.
To be clear, we were never trying to ask for forgiveness, we were told we didn’t need to ask for permission :)
We’re lucky to be big and VC-backed and growing fast. $75k would be near deadly to a lot of smaller schools, so I’m sure the BPPE sized the fees accordingly.
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#53It’s true. Our counsel informed us that we didn’t need to register. Counsel was wrong. Now we have new counsel :) We’ve submitted all the paperwork and have worked closely with California. This all happened a long time ago. I’m not sure what the right level of regulation is (it’s hard taking care of 50 states at once - one state registration was 2,277 pages and weighed 25 pounds https://twitter.com/austen/status/1153…
I would be an even bigger fan of Lambda if you guys fought this or left CA all together.
Not the hill I want to die on
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#54It’s true. Our counsel informed us that we didn’t need to register. Counsel was wrong. Now we have new counsel :) We’ve submitted all the paperwork and have worked closely with California. This all happened a long time ago. I’m not sure what the right level of regulation is (it’s hard taking care of 50 states at once - one state registration was 2,277 pages and weighed 25 pounds https://twitter.com/austen/status/1153…
I would be an even bigger fan of Lambda if you guys fought this or left CA all together.
Why?
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought lawyers are liable for bad advice?
If that were actually true they’d all go out of business.
They do/should have insurance for this kind of thing.
And usually lawyers are personally liable, so there is no “going out of business” unless they go personally bankrupt.
Dunno how true all of the above is in CA.
Get your own lawyer’s advice :)
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#56It’s true. Our counsel informed us that we didn’t need to register. Counsel was wrong. Now we have new counsel :) We’ve submitted all the paperwork and have worked closely with California. This all happened a long time ago. I’m not sure what the right level of regulation is (it’s hard taking care of 50 states at once - one state registration was 2,277 pages and weighed 25 pounds https://twitter.com/austen/status/1153…
Not directing this at you, but to all - this is a concrete example of why you shouldn’t blindly trust legal (or medical, or spiritual) advice. Ask questions, make sure you understand, and think critically. No one is infallible.
Reminds me of this story:
https://a16z.com/2014/02/06/why-i-did-not-go-to-jail/
TL;DR, A widely respected CFO makes a suggestion regarding stock and being competitive as far as employee compensation. CFO says that they have done the same thing at numerous companies. The CEO is not very knowledgeable and asks the general council (who unlike a lot of places at the time reports directly to the CEO, not the CFO) to weigh in. General council says don't do it, so they don't. 2 years later, CFO goes to jail, CEO and everyone else stays out of jail because of a good decision.
I would extend your lesson and say to be sure you are asking a lawyer who has knowledge / experience in the area of law you're asking about.
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#57It’s true. Our counsel informed us that we didn’t need to register. Counsel was wrong. Now we have new counsel :) We’ve submitted all the paperwork and have worked closely with California. This all happened a long time ago. I’m not sure what the right level of regulation is (it’s hard taking care of 50 states at once - one state registration was 2,277 pages and weighed 25 pounds https://twitter.com/austen/status/1153…
I would be an even bigger fan of Lambda if you guys fought this or left CA all together.
But why? It's not California's fault that these guys got themselves bad legal counsel.
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not directing this at you, but to all - this is a concrete example of why you shouldn’t blindly trust legal (or medical, or spiritual) advice. Ask questions, make sure you understand, and think critically. No one is infallible.
I thought lawyers are liable for bad advice?
Legal counsel is about risk mitigation: do we fire this person?
The question isn’t whether it’s moral or ethical. It’s what the risk exposure? What are the likely outcomes? Do we have our bases covered?
Fire them! (Or, we can’t, it overexposes us, create a new department, assign them and then dissolve the department some time later and declare them redundant).
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would be an even bigger fan of Lambda if you guys fought this or left CA all together.
I think they're in the business of teaching people, not fighting anti-government crusades.
It sounds like you're unfamiliar with the Higher Education Bubble and it's root causes.
Re: Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]
#60These things happen when you're just getting starting its normal we live and learn.
Just hoping they start a slightly more flexible cohort for people who are working and looking for the next promotion