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Divorces are costly: Mediators and private judges can reduce those costs

Mar. 9, 2026
By Dianna Gould-Saltman, Michèle Bissada

This second installment explains how combining private mediation with a privately compensated temporary judge can streamline c...


A recent 5th Circuit decision clarified that for federal self-employment tax purposes, a "limited partner" is defined by state...


Family

Separating together? California's new joint petition allows spouses to do just that

Mar. 9, 2026
By Jennifer J. Winestone, Jeffery S. Jacobson

On Jan. 1, California introduced a new Joint Petition process for divorce and legal separation. It is an important step toward...


Ethics/Professional Responsibility

Why civility still wins in the courtroom

Mar. 6, 2026
By Nancy Wieben Stock, Scott M. Gordon

Civility isn't just good manners -- it's a strategic advantage that can enhance your credibility, persuade judges, and ultimat...


Family, Alternative Dispute Resolution

Stipulations can streamline custody cases, even in domestic violence matters. But as the Court of Appeal reminds us, in Sectio...


Torts/Personal Injury, Technology, Contracts

AI is hiring

Mar. 6, 2026
By James Mixon

When an AI agent hires a gig worker to photograph equipment in a warehouse and the worker breaks an ankle, who is the employer...


Tax practitioners must prioritize ethical duties and thorough research over timing and efficiency concerns when advising clien...


Evidence

Admitting testimony regarding business records

Mar. 6, 2026
By Jay M. Spillane

When contract disputes reach trial, the outcome often turns not just on what was written, but on what was said, intended and p...


Legacies in the law: Celebrating the families who shape our profession

Mar. 6, 2026
By Paul R. Kiesel, Lauren M. Kiesel

"Legacies in the Law" celebrates attorney-parent teams and raises scholarships for first-gen law students--June 25 at the Cali...


Ethics/Professional Responsibility

The February 2026 Heppner decision marks the first U.S. case addressing whether client communications with generative...


Casual emails, recycled opinions, and unchecked client facts can turn routine tax advice into Circular 230 violations, penalti...


The crumbling infrastructure of federal courthouses is not merely a crisis of bricks and mortar but a profound human tragedy t...


Technology, Intellectual Property

Federal courts are the right venue for IP disputes, but they are not well positioned for AI-driven conflicts. A mediator with ...


Criminal, Constitutional Law

Los Angeles County jails are failing the people they hold

Mar. 5, 2026
By William M. Paparian

Los Angeles County jails are failing: preventable deaths, overdoses and suicides reveal unconstitutional conditions that deman...


Technology, Ethics/Professional Responsibility

Generative AI may speed up legal work under tight deadlines, but overreliance risks creating hallucinated case law, profession...


Class Action, Civil Procedure

Recent 9th Circuit decisions are reshaping how federal courts handle equitable claims in California consumer class actions, cr...


President Donald Trump and his administration have escalated efforts to challenge court decisions, call for judges' impeachmen...


Judges and Judiciary, Evidence, Criminal

Dead data walking

Mar. 4, 2026
By Michael J. Raphael

California courts keep citing the "roughly 1 in 200" armed-robbery-death statistic, originally from a single 1980 Supreme Cour...


Labor/Employment, Alternative Dispute Resolution

ABA Formal Opinion 518 limits mediators from advising on a party's "best interest," making opening demands, mediator choice an...


Civil Litigation

The promise is the lie: A litigator's guide to pleading promissory fraud

Mar. 3, 2026
By H. Mark Madnick, Armound Ghoorchian

A promissory fraud claim lives or dies on facts showing the promisor never intended to perform when the promise was made--mere...


Education Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative/Regulatory

States challenge HHS grant conditions as an unlawful expansion of Title IX

Mar. 3, 2026
By Misa K. Eiritz, Zoe L. Ginsberg

Twelve states have sued HHS, CMS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and others over Executive Order 14168, arguing that conditioning fede...


Ethics/Professional Responsibility

When California attorneys learn they are the target of a State Bar OCTC investigation, they should strongly consider retaining...


Technology, Ethics/Professional Responsibility

AI and the problem of plausible answers

Mar. 3, 2026
By Neal J. Fialkow

Artificial intelligence systems can reason their way to a clean, confident answer -- and still get it wrong in ways that matter.


Guide to Legal Writing

The Appellate Bar-tender

Mar. 3, 2026
By Benjamin G. Shatz

This article playfully maps appellate law practice to cocktail mixology, using creative drink recipes--each inspired by motion...


Judges and Judiciary

What's in a name?

Mar. 2, 2026
By Arthur Gilbert

Names--whether of institutions, leaders, or individuals--carry lasting influence on reputation, authority and personal identity.


California's recent e-bike laws read as a buyer-beware cautionary tale: Once a device is "out-of-class," it is a motor vehicle...


Technology, Appellate Practice

'Will AI replace me?' Let's ask AI

Mar. 2, 2026
By Myron Moskovitz

Asked whether AI will ever outperform experienced appellate lawyers, ChatGPT quickly responded: It may surpass humans in narro...


Cannabis, Administrative/Regulatory

California ABC declares Kratom and 7-OH illegal on alcohol-licensed premises

Mar. 2, 2026
By Ralph B. Saltsman, Stephen Allen Jamieson

Kratom and 7-OH products have been on shelves for years, but as sales pick up, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage...


Space Law/Aviation/Aerospace

With clearer pathways for AAM certification and operation, at least enough legal infrastructure now exists to support a real-w...


The Uber initiative is far more harmful than the 1975 Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), threatening the rights o...