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Joseph E. Berberich

Partner

Education

  • Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (J.D., 1968) (cum laude)

    • Bar admissions

    • State Bar of California, 1968
    • Federal District Court for California, Central District, 1969
    • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, 1986

    Joseph E. Berberich is the most senior member of the firm. He joined the firm in 1969, and has been practicing law for over 50 years. At one time he, DeWitt Manning, George Leaver, and Walter Bruder were all partners, and thus the name of the firm, Manning, Leaver, Bruder & Berberich.

    Throughout his years of practice, Mr. Berberich has been engaged in all areas of the firm’s practice. In addition to being counsel for many California new car dealers, Mr.Berberich is counsel for the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) and affiliated entities, the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association, the Southern California Chevrolet Dealers Association, and the Southern California Chevrolet Dealers Local Marketing Association. 

    Mr. Berberich has, for over 35 years, had an AV (highest possible) peer review rating in the well-known and highly regarded Martindale-Hubbell legal directory, which means that his peers have spoken and accorded him with the highest rating standard, signifying the greatest level of professional excellence for legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.

    Mr. Berberich was one of the originators and current editor of the California New Car Dealers Association Dealership Operations Guide, a 500 page book which is revised frequently, published by CNCDA and distributed to its members, and which covers a multitude of legal topics affecting dealership operations. He is also the author of the California Auto Dealer Advertising Law Manual,  co-author of the California Auto Dealer Franchise Law Manual, and contributor to the Callifornia Auto Dealer Finance and Insurance Compliance Manual. He has presented many seminars on advertising law to California automobile dealers.

    Mr. Berberich is well known throughout California for his expertise in representing buyers and sellers of automobile dealerships and has handled a large number of those transactions during his career. He focuses his practice in the areas of general civil law, automobile dealer law, business purchases and sales, association and commercial law, real estate sales and leases, probate and estates, and business law. 

    Mr. Berberich is the father of four sons, and he is proud to say that he survived a period of time when all four of them were under age four (there was one set of twins). He is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the National Association of Dealer Counsel (NADC), and has been involved in various civic, community, and charitable organizations. He is a director of The Fred and June MacMurray Foundation, a private charitable foundation, and  an advisor to and supporter of The National Veterans Foundation, a crisis hotline support for veterans.

    California franchise law helps dealers resist export and resale claims chargebacks

    By
    Joseph E. Berberich
    —

    In 2013 the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) was successful in having a new California Vehicle Code statute enacted that will help dealers defend themselves from factory chargeback claims for vehicles that are exported or resold outside the United States. Effective January 1, 2014, Vehicle Code Section 11713.3(y) provides that it is unlawful for a manufacturer or distributer to:

    ...take or threaten to take any adverse action against a dealer pursuant to an export or sale-for-resale prohibition because the dealer sold or leased a vehicle to a customer who either exported the vehicle to a foreign country or resold the vehicle in violation of the prohibition, unless the export or sale-for-resale prohibition policy was provided to the dealer in writing prior to the sale or lease, and the dealer knew or reasonably should have known of the customer's intent to export or resell the vehicle in violation of the prohibition at the time of sale or lease. If the dealer causes the vehicle to be registered in this or any other state, and collects or causes to be collected any applicable sales or use tax due to this state, a rebuttable presumption is established that the dealer did not have reason to know of the customer's intent to export or resell the vehicle.

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    Auto dealership buy/sell articles

    California Auto Dealer Finance and Insurance Compliance Manual

    Published 2023-01-04

    We have authored the widely used California Auto Dealer Finance and Insurance Compliance Manual which includes the Reynolds and Reynolds California F & I libary of forms with detailed explanations of how to use them. This publication is a valuable tool in training F & I personnel and in complying with the numerous intricacies of California law in the vehicle sale and leasing process. 

    California Auto Dealer Finance and Insurance Compliance Manual Download table of contents

    California Auto Dealer Advertising Law Manual

    Published 2022-06-15

    This is an extensive manual for guidance on dealership advertising in California. The manual also contains examples of good and problem advertising.

    California Auto Dealer Advertising Law Manual Download table of contents

    Dealership Operations Guide

    Published 2020-12-31

    Our firm is the author of the California New Car Dealers Association Dealership Operations Guide, an extensive and detailed guide for dealers which is distributed by CNCDA to its members. The Guide, which is regularly updated, contains an in-depth discussion of the many laws and regulations applicable to California automobile dealers, and is widely used throughout California. See the link below to view the table of contents for this publication.

    Dealership Operations Guide Download table of contents

    Dealer Franchise Law Manual

    Published 2020-07-01

    We are the authors of The Dealer Franchise Law publication which is on the California New Car Dealers Association website. This publication covers the workings of the California New Motor Vehicle Board and dealer franchise laws. The New Motor Vehcile Board is an admistrative forum where dealers can enforce their rights in various area, particularly in dealership termination proceedings and the adding or relocating by manufacturers of dealerships in a dealer's market area. The publication also discusses many of the dealer rights franchise laws. See the link below to view the table of contents for this publication.

    Dealer Franchise Law Manual Download table of contents

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    Manning Leaver is author of advertising law manual produced by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA)

    Posted on

    Manning Leaver Partner Brent Smith attended the 2015 NADA Convention and Expo in San Francisco. In connection with that event, NADA announced the release of its latest compliance publication entitled “A Dealer Guide to Federal Advertising Requirements.” This publication was prepared for NADA by Manning Leaver and authored by partner Brent Smith. Click news item link above to see the manual.

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