We’ve had two pretty strange years, but like most of the rest of us, the IRS is trying to get back to normal. When it comes to...
Labor/Employment, Covid Columns
COVID workplace rules can be confusing: a guide for employers
By Sonya D. Goodwin
With the Omicron variant moving through California workplaces at an alarming rate, employers have been scrambling to keep full...
Legal Education
Wait for evidence before rushing to rename Hastings COL
By Kris Whitten
We certainly need healing, but wouldn’t it be prudent to wait until all the evidence is presented and reviewed before publicly...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Books
A judge’s perspective into the wild world of court in Van Nuys
By Gary Schons
Matt Graham, recently retired from the California Court of Appeal, brings us an unexpected, ribald and raunchy, but soulful an...
We live in a time when greater and greater claims are being made for the world of simulated things. If I find my 17-year-old d...
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Disqualifying arbitrators under the California Arbitration Act
By Gary A. Watt, Patrick Burns
The CAA requires a proposed arbitrator to provide a disclosure statement identifying issues that could raise impartiality ques...
Constitutional Law
Local gun-control ordinances likely to fall in wake of looming Supreme Court ruling
By C.D. Michel
The San Jose City Council recently enacted two firearm ordinances that impose significant new obligations on San Jose’s roughl...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Balancing ethical obligations with law firm loyalty
By Dan L. Stanford
Suppose you are a junior associate in a large law firm, serving as “second chair” on a complex litigation case or transactiona...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Public protection and the State Bar of California
By Antonio R. Sarabia II
As the mess surrounding the fall of infamous plaintiffs’ attorney Thomas V. Girardi has unfolded, we have learned more about t...
It appears that at least in part, an increasing number of Americans are shifting away from a live-to-work mindset toward the w...
Construction, Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal
Unlicensed contractor work can lead to nasty disputes, harsh remedies
By Garret D. Murai
Fights between owners and contractors under Business and Professions Code Section 7031 can get nasty and detailed. An owner’s ...
Entertainment & Sports
2022: The year California’s TAA will be enforced as written?
By Rick Siegel
At any time, empowered by the Legislature’s giving the administrative agency the power to “adopt, amend, and repeal such rules...
Law Practice, Civil Litigation
Verdict: Jury unanimously finds in favor of remote trials
By Paul R. Kiesel, Melanie M. Palmer
After nearly five months in trial, almost four of which were conducted remotely through Zoom, the San Bernardino jury in the R...
Criminal, California Courts of Appeal
Judicial diversion should be an option for DUI offenders
By Lara Yeretsian
Whether through legislative action or court decision, the outcome of a recent appellate decision must be reversed. There is no...
International Law, Corporate
A case for corporate board introspection on China
By Joe Moschella
While the U.S. government has made some recognition of its of policy regarding China, it’s important to ask whether corporate ...
Law Practice
New attorneys: Are you a litigator or a trial attorney?
By James D. Crosby
While cases often get resolved through various means before trial, the goal of my work is to get ready for trial, go to trial,...
My last column began to explore how a story changes as it moves from the initial client interview through our litigation system.
Government, Criminal
New law is latest stride toward law enforcement transparency
By Christine Wood
A newly enacted package of public safety measures, including Senate Bill 16, clarifies and expands laws requiring the disclosu...
Legal Education
Who better than We the People to decide Hastings’ future?
By Kris Whitten
Rather than self-interested public figures, who better than “We, the People of the State of California” (Cal. Const. Preamble)...
Military Law, Labor/Employment, Criminal
Sexual harassment is now a crime in the United States Military
By William W. Bruzzo
This new law gives the military a direct tool for dealing with sexual harassment and since a sentence could carry possible ja...
Law Practice, Entertainment & Sports
Stream It Tonight! ‘Young Mr. Lincoln’ (1939)
By Paul Bergman, Michael Asimow
Why watch? Celebrate Lincoln’s birth month by streaming a movie that depicts the young Abe as a crafty trial lawyer and sugges...
Torts/Personal Injury, Entertainment & Sports, California Courts of Appeal
‘Baseball Rule’ goes foul in California
By Michael E. Rubinstein
Is the "Baseball Rule" a relic of the past in California? Arguably, yes, according to the 4th District Court of Appeal ruling ...
Labor/Employment, Alternative Dispute Resolution
10 tips for a successful employment law mediation
By Eli M. Kantor
Due to the enormous backlog in the trial courts because of COVID-19, more and more cases are being resolved through mediation....
Law Practice, Insurance
Consider obligations owed to both clients and insurers
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
Lawyers may not always sufficiently appreciate their obligations to insurance companies and may assume that their only duties ...
Intellectual Property
Recognizing the value of nontraditional trademarks
By Dariush Adli
Astute businesses have begun to take notice of the the value of the nontraditional marks, to help them distinguish their goods...
U.S. Supreme Court, Environmental & Energy
High court WOTUS case will define reach of CWA
By Andre Monette
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case that could short circuit the Biden administration’s efforts to re...
Government, Constitutional Law
Critics argue Trump should be disqualified, but what’s the constitution say?
By John H. Minan
A growing chorus of critics argue that Trump should be disqualified from serving another term for his involvement in the Janua...
Corporate
Proposed regulations implementing the Corporate Transparency Act
By Roger Royse
Under the CTA, the secretary of the Treasury must prescribe implementation of regulations under the act by the beginning of 2022.
Thirty years after Anita Hill accused her boss of sexual harassment and 17 years after all California supervisors began having...
Military Law, Health Care & Hospital Law, Civil Litigation
Allegations of institutionalized racism at the VA
By Eileen C. Moore
I cannot say I was surprised when I read a complaint filed last July in Connecticut federal district court on behalf of Black ...