Constitutional Law
Supreme Court revives lawsuits by terror victims against Palestinian Authority, PLO
By Baruch C. Cohen
In a unanimous and forceful decision in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ...
Civil Rights
A.J.T.: Trojan horse or hollow win for disability rights?
By Caroline Jackson
Despite a conservative tilt, the Supreme Court just made it easier for special education plaintiffs to sue for damages under d...
Letters
Outdated codes, uneven justice: Time to hit refresh on local laws
By Eugene M. Hyman
Local laws should be reviewed yearly to reflect new legislation, cultural shifts and fairness in enforcement -- San Francisco'...
Artificial intelligence in law, especially large language models like ChatGPT, works by predicting the next word in a sequence...
Could a New Jersey township's plan to condemn a church for pickleball courts eventually become the U.S. Supreme Court case tha...
Tax
Are you conducting business in California? Beware the Golden State's tough stance
By Robert W. Wood, Alex Z. Brown
If you have California customers sending you money -- even if you've never set foot in the Golden State -- California's tax au...
Torts/Personal Injury
When medical expenses from personal injury become injured property under RICO
By James G. Perry
A new Supreme Court ruling hints that medical expenses from personal injuries might now open the door to RICO claims -- but ...
Legal institutions must condemn intimidation of judges and actions that undermine the judicial system.
Antitrust & Trade Reg.
DOJ reevaluates corporate monitorships: What antitrust counsel need to know
By Nana Wilberforce, John W. O'Toole
The DOJ's growing skepticism of corporate monitorships may signal a shift for the Antitrust Division -- companies should seize...
Government, Constitutional Law
Behind the mask: Why federal agents won't bow to California's SB 627
By Tom Yu
In the face of escalating violence and political resistance, federal ICE and CBP agents, attacked by rioters and left without ...
Military Law, Constitutional Law
The Constitution is quiet while the missiles fly
By Allan Lee Dollison
As tensions escalate between Israel and Iran, the United States faces renewed pressure to weigh military involvement -- raisin...
Judges and Judiciary, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Silence isn't strength when the courts are under attack
By Curtis E.A. Karnow
Judges face rising threats and disinformation, yet ethics rules keep most silent, leaving attacks on the courts dangerously un...
Banking
Banking on neutrality: Rising tensions and the new risks of debanking
By Diane Cafferata
As accusations of politically motivated "debanking" grow louder, from religious groups to crypto firms, regulators and courts ...
Health Care & Hospital Law, Criminal
Involuntary medication and pretrial detainees: What the law says
By Dmitry Gorin, Alan Eisner
Many clients with mental health challenges face struggles in criminal court, where expedited procedures -- including involunta...
Criminal
When confidentiality meets crime, California lawyers face a fine line
By Joanna L. Storey Mishler
The American Bar Association's guidance about reporting criminal acts of a client does not necessarily apply in California.
Torts/Personal Injury, Government
School's out, liability's gone
By Michael E. Rubinstein
Under California law, school districts are generally immune from liability for student injuries that occur off school property...
Technology
Georgia court tosses AI defamation suit against OpenAI in first-of-its-kind ruling
By Kevin L. Vick, Jean-Paul Jassy
A Georgia court's dismissal of the first AI hallucination defamation suit underscores just how early -- and unsettled -- the l...
Torts/Personal Injury, Government
Will California's pursuit immunity protect public safety or set dangerous precedents?
By Tyler Sherman
California's Vehicle Code section 17004.7 provides public entities with immunity from liability in pursuit-related crashes i...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
St. Thomas More: A good or bad role model for lawyers and judges?
By Dan Lawton
St. Thomas More, long celebrated as a martyr of conscience and hero of faith, was also a zealous persecutor who used state p...
Letters
In family court, justice is being delayed and children are suffering
By Eugene M. Hyman
The family law crisis in California is driven by overwhelmed and underfunded courts, a high percentage of self-represented l...
Technology, Intellectual Property
Everything old is new again as voracious GenAI systems turn to 600-year-old texts for training
By Anita Taff-Rice
Generative AI platforms are turning to centuries-old public domain documents to train their systems and sidestep billion-dolla...
Ediscovery
Don't let an adverse party commit to producing 'relevant' documents
By Ian Pike
While responses to Requests for Production that promise to produce only "relevant" documents may seem reasonable, they in fact...
Torts/Personal Injury, Technology
Kids are dying and it's time to hold big tech accountable
By Lori Andrus
Devastated parents and bipartisan leaders are calling for urgent reform of Section 230, as Big Tech continues to hide behind t...
Torts/Personal Injury
Roots and routes: Untangling tree-fall cases from trail immunity
By Robert Glassman, Joe O'Hanlon
Public entities often invoke trail immunity in tree-fall cases, but Toeppe v. City of San Diego draws a clear line--if...
Torts/Personal Injury, Civil Litigation
Lead and mercury exposure in firefighters: What to look for and what comes next
By Kathleen N. Mastagni Storm, Jonathan Drake Char
As urban fires grow more toxic, firefighters face mounting exposure to dangerous substances like mercury, lead, and carcinogen...
True democracy requires not domination or division, but humble, courageous collaboration across our differences.
Real Estate/Development
Replacing homes, replacing intent: LA's housing law dilemma
By Sheri L. Bonstelle
Real Estate/Development
Are condos a solution to underperforming commercial properties?
By Shannon Mandich, Brooke Miller
Real Estate/Development
Buyer-broker relationship overhauled: Key changes under AB 2992
By Bryan Mashian
Real Estate/Development
The 'abundance agenda' and alternative dispute resolution
By Gideon Kracov, Darrell Steinberg