Labor/Employment
Employment law’s future in the remote-controlled workplace
By Robert J. Hudock
Along with all the other social impacts, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reshaped the workplace and much of employment...
Legal Education, Constitutional Law
Legislature cannot constitutionally remove 'Hastings' name
By Kris Whitten
Under Article IX, section 9, the Legislature has no authority to rename the college, and that constitutional provision more br...
Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
NEM 3.0 final design will determine fate of California’s solar market
By Addison Berry, Elizabeth Levin
Though a fair amount of uncertainty remains about the timing and final design of NEM 3.0, the critical question is whether sta...
Government, Criminal
Our public defender offices must be fully funded and staffed
By Christine Rodriguez Tyler
Nearly 60 years after the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright, we still see public defender offices across t...
Labor/Employment
Sexual harassment and FEHA: The shrinking scope of arbitration and confidentiality clauses
By Steven H. Kruis
Recent changes in federal and state law that shrink the scope of arbitration and confidentiality clauses will affect how cases...
Labor/Employment
Courts should dismiss PAGA suits when plaintiff isn’t competent
By Chet Kronenberg, Jacob Waschak
Let’s say a PAGA plaintiff has a past felony conviction for armed robbery or is going to be incarcerated during the pendency o...
I wish I could name two or three factors to look for, but alas, there isn’t a checklist or litmus test for identifying wrongfu...
Consumer Law, California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal
Subrogated guarantors should get all the fruits of underlying obligations
By Suzanne Span
Subrogation is commonly described as a legal device that allows one person to "step into the shoes" of another in relation to ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Government
Supreme Court unanimously bolsters the state-secrets doctrine
By Elizabeth M. Pipkin
Since 9/11, the circumstances in which agencies have wielded this doctrine have become increasingly less exceptional. A recent...
Data Privacy, Criminal, Constitutional Law
California’s feeble privacy right is cold comfort
By Brandon V. Stracener, David A. Carrillo
San Francisco’s District Attorney Chesa Boudin recently revealed that the city’s police department has a practice of saving DN...
Intellectual Property
Recovery for IP infringement under PREP
By Lena G. Streisand, Jessica Bromall Sparkman
It is clear that the PREP Act is meant to provide broad immunity, but few cases have examined the contours of that immunity — ...
Labor/Employment
New law helps sexual harassment, assault victims seek justice
By John D. Winer
A federal law signed by President Joe Biden on March 3 is changing the way sexual harassment and sexual assault cases are han...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
How to fire a client
By Dan L. Stanford
This has probably never happened to you: The facts turn out to be very different than initially relayed by your client. Or a c...
Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court, Banking
When duty doesn’t call: Sheen v Wells Fargo Bank
By Jonathan D. Fink
The California Supreme Court has resolved — for now — one of the most hotly contested legal theories upon which borrowers have...
Law Practice
Silence of the Lambs: The Mental Wellbeing of Junior Attorneys
By Kaiyi A. Xie
Study your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and California’s powerful Fair Employment and Housing Act, among o...
U.S. Supreme Court, Government
State secrets rulings favor ignorance over knowledge
By Erwin Chemerinsky
In the first week of March, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions which expand the “state secrets privilege” and make it...
Notably, Assembly Bill 2289 isn’t an income tax at all; rather, it would be America’s first bona fide wealth tax.
California Supreme Court, Banking
State high court sides with lenders in loan modification process
By Ian A. Rambarran
In a landmark decision sure to have a significant impact on the real estate banking industry, the California Supreme Court dec...
Law Practice, Civil Litigation
ADA lawsuits filings continue steady annual pace upward
By Kristina M. Launey
Lawsuits filed by individuals with disabilities alleging they were denied access to a business’ goods or services due to acces...
Constitutional Law, Appellate Practice
The ‘advisory opinion’ doctrine of our appellate courts
By David M. Axelrad
If you settle a case on appeal and then ask the court to dismiss the case as moot, don’t be surprised, particularly where a de...
Probate, Family
Appellate ruling shows trust’s modification method must be followed
By Michael J. Fedalen, Bruce Givner
A recent decision is a helpful caution that the modification provisions of a trust must be carefully followed and that there i...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Rights, Books
Justice John Marshall Harlan's vision of America, founded on the concept of equality for all
By Michael L. Stern
In "The Great Dissenter," Peter S. Canellos delves into Justice John Marshall Harlan's life experiences and judicial philosoph...
Family, Contracts
Unconscionable spousal support waivers will not be enforced
By Franklin R. Garfield
Whether an unconscionable waiver of spousal support in a premarital agreement signed prior to 2002 is enforceable has been the...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Government, California Supreme Court
What the ‘endemic’ means for the courts
By Saveena Takhar
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is fully embracing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s endemic phase and seeks to transition the courts to “...
Law Practice, Family, Covid Columns
Masks in court: Longing for the old days while embracing the new norm
By Travis I. Krepelka
The job of a judge or jury is made much harder if they can see only someone’s eyes, or only the upper portion of a person’s bo...
Technology, Data Privacy
Bad blood between Meta, EU sends troubling free speech signals
By Joshua R. Lastine
Legislators in the European Union are drawing plans to dictate how its citizens’ user data gets transferred to the U.S., and a...
Law Practice
Battle for Eastman’s emails: Scenes from the courtroom
By Michael Stockstill
Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, Carter issued a decision: He will read the emails and their attachments in camera, and the...
Criminal
Mental health diversion provides for pretrial resolution of serious felony cases
By Dmitry Gorin, Alan Eisner
Given its broad scope and promise of a complete dismissal of charges upon completion of a treatment program, effective defense...
The latest round of ballot measure insanity attempting to restrict fees in contingency matters is extremely dangerous.
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal
An 'occasion' to reconsider policies leading to mass incarceration
By John R. Mills
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt with an issue that could provide a roadmap for limiting the excesses of creatively sta...