Divorces are costly: Mediators and private judges can reduce those costs
By Dianna Gould-Saltman, Michèle Bissada
This second installment explains how combining private mediation with a privately compensated temporary judge can streamline c...
5th Circuit clarifies 'limited partner' status for self-employment tax purposes
By Phil Jelsma
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
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
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
Facts, not findings: What practitioners get wrong about stipulations under Family Code § 3044
By Jackson Lucky
Stipulations can streamline custody cases, even in domestic violence matters. But as the Court of Appeal reminds us, in Sectio...
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
They actually put that in writing? Common mistakes in written tax advice--Part II
By Sharyn Fisk, Shane Nix
Tax practitioners must prioritize ethical duties and thorough research over timing and efficiency concerns when advising clien...
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
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
Heppner case shows client AI interactions can break attorney client privilege
By William Slomanson
The February 2026 Heppner decision marks the first U.S. case addressing whether client communications with generative...
Tax
They actually put that in writing? Common mistakes in written tax advice - Part I
By Sharyn Fisk, Shane Nix
Casual emails, recycled opinions, and unchecked client facts can turn routine tax advice into Circular 230 violations, penalti...
Judges and Judiciary
Inside the federal courthouse infrastructure crisis and the case for Real Property Authority
By Selwyn D. Whitehead
The crumbling infrastructure of federal courthouses is not merely a crisis of bricks and mortar but a profound human tragedy t...
Technology, Intellectual Property
AI-driven IP disputes: Own yourself and your strategy
By Stuart Shanus
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
By William M. Paparian
Los Angeles County jails are failing: preventable deaths, overdoses and suicides reveal unconstitutional conditions that deman...
Technology, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
When AI does the lawyering and ethics take a back seat
By Anita Taff-Rice
Generative AI may speed up legal work under tight deadlines, but overreliance risks creating hallucinated case law, profession...
Class Action, Civil Procedure
Recalibrating equitable jurisdiction in federal court: The 9th Circuit's post-Sonner landscape
By Bryan Weintrop, Adel Kelifa
Recent 9th Circuit decisions are reshaping how federal courts handle equitable claims in California consumer class actions, cr...
Constitutional Law
Fools,' 'lapdogs' and a 'disgrace to our nation': Trump's latest attacks on the judiciary
By Joseph W. Cotchett Jr.
President Donald Trump and his administration have escalated efforts to challenge court decisions, call for judges' impeachmen...
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
How ABA Formal Opinion 518 impacts whether, how and with whom employers should mediate
By Michael S. Kun
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
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
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
How to level the playing field at the prefiling settlement conference
By Christine C. Rosskopf
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
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.
This article playfully maps appellate law practice to cocktail mixology, using creative drink recipes--each inspired by motion...
Names--whether of institutions, leaders, or individuals--carry lasting influence on reputation, authority and personal identity.
Torts/Personal Injury
Parental liability in the e-bike era: Classification law, enforcement and litigation risk
By Lem Garcia
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...
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
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
Advanced Air Mobility takes shape through US regulatory initiatives - Part 2
By Robert Ehling
With clearer pathways for AAM certification and operation, at least enough legal infrastructure now exists to support a real-w...
Letters
Autonomous vehicles, ballot tricks, and the end of contingency law
By Bruce M. Brusavich
The Uber initiative is far more harmful than the 1975 Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), threatening the rights o...