U.S. Supreme Court, Government, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Rights
Recent Egbert decision allows misconduct to fester
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
Egbert is disheartening because the court returns to its peculiar tradition of selectively shaving and trimming rights and rem...
Labor/Employment
The Great Resignation: Recent developments in the enforceability of noncompete agreements
By Jeanne A. Fugate
To the extent the Great Reshuffling continues, there are likely to be more challenges raised to restrictive covenants, and mor...
Construction, Civil Litigation
Construction litigation strategies
By Joseph M. Barrett
Against the backdrop of a lingering pandemic and a jammed court system, California’s civil trial lawyers harness their creativ...
Tax, Entertainment & Sports
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard face taxes too
By Robert W. Wood
It’s hard to consider Depp’s defamation of Heard (which was actually done by Depp’s lawyer) as business-related. If a payment ...
This was Fritz Lang’s first American film after fleeing Nazi Germany. He based the story on an odious chapter in California hi...
Ediscovery
The need for mediation in e-discovery – the way forward
By Daniel B. Garrie, Gail A. Andler
Through the mediation of e-discovery issues, litigants can help address outsized litigation costs, curtail the time and costs ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Litigation & Arbitration, California Supreme Court
The United States and California Supreme Courts are not on the same page
By Marc D. Alexander
Now, the California rule rests on a shaky frame: The leading California case, St. Agnes, extols the United States Supre...
The anti-abortion states will not be satisfied with an abortion ban defined by the state line. The writing is on the wall. The...
Labor/Employment, California Supreme Court
California Supreme Court rules missed break premiums are “wages”
By Kyle Wende
This decision dramatically increases the value of meal and rest period claims in class actions and representative actions unde...
Law Practice, Appellate Practice
A mid-year push on collections can avoid headaches later
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
Labor/Employment
Shorter workweeks could make for a more productive workplace
By Ronald L. Zambrano
A full workday would remain eight hours, and employers would have to pay overtime to employees working longer than four full d...
Government, Constitutional Law
Scapegoating detracting from meaningful gun reform
By Eugene M. Hyman
The NRA doesn’t care that children have died as a result of their politicking, and they’re not even pretending they do anymore...
Legal Education
Did Yale doctoral theses unfairly put Serranus Hastings in the middle of the Yuki massacre?
By Kris Whitten
Richard White, Naming America’s Own Genocide, The Nation (August 17, 2016) Thus, the horror depicted in its presentation does ...
Labor/Employment, Covid Columns
The abandonment of working women before, during and after COVID
By Jessica Fink
The fact that it was largely women who stepped up to pick up the slack should surprise no one. For years, women have taken on ...
Government, Civil Rights
Fewer gun laws, more shootings and viable solutions elude law enforcement
By A. Marco Turk
Now SCOTUS is looking to expand Second Amendment rights through its consideration of the pending case of New York State Rifle ...
Using Bluebook style in state court is like talking with a foreign accent: you will be understood and accepted, but it’s not h...
Judges and Judiciary, Civil Rights
Inconsistent court websites prevent access to justice
By Anthony Pinggera
Though we do not have a duty to actively assist our opponents in litigation in navigating an arcane system, we should make mor...
Litigation & Arbitration, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Appellate Practice
How not to screw up your case in arbitration, part one
By Christopher David Ruiz Cameron, Kathy Fragnoli
In our view, it is a mistake bordering on malpractice for the respondent's counsel to put off the opening statement.
Tax, Law Practice, Appellate Practice
‘Pay me tomorrow’ may not defer tax on lawyers
By Robert W. Wood
Plaintiff lawyers can actually use a benefit most other people – including other lawyers – can’t: structured legal fees. Reduc...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Appellate Practice
Dressed to deceive
By Myron Moskovitz
Dressing a client to mislead a jury? It’s time to call it what it is - rank deception - and somehow put some limits on it.
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation
Attorney public/private partnerships receive a boost
By Charles H. Abbott
The 4th District affirming the agreement between San Diego and private lawyers may encourage more public-private partnerships ...
Administrative/Regulatory
SEC suffers judicial setbacks for administrative hearings
By Nicolas Morgan, Kenneth Herzinger
These decisions will likely bring most SEC administrative proceedings to a screeching halt, at least in the Fifth Circuit.
State Bar & Bar Associations, Legal Education, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Elimination of the bar exam would be a dangerous development
By Jason Tolerico
A “non-exam pathway” would undoubtedly allow many students to obtain licensure who are not minimally competent. Internship pro...
Judges and Judiciary, Government, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Connecting California to the Courts
By Paul A. Bacigalupo
To combat misconceptions about our courts and return the public’s trust in the judiciary, it is essential for the entire legal...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
In defense of old White men – A vanishing breed. On second thought – good riddance
By Arthur Gilbert
To my ear the tone was tinged with derision. I tried to shrink my slight, elderly frame into the grain of my big leather chair...
Entertainment & Sports
Stream It Tonight! Presumed Innocent (1990)
By Michael Asimow, Paul Bergman
The film begins with a shot of an empty courtroom and Sabich’s voice-over solemnly explaining that if a jury “cannot find the ...
Land Use, Government, California Courts of Appeal
Government cannot bind itself, nor its successors, not to govern
By Michael G. Walker
Nonetheless, boards persistently try to do just that. A common route they take to reach that result is by settlement of litiga...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Ego and insecurity hinder diversity
By Christopher C. Melcher
Environmental & Energy, California Courts of Appeal
Can a bee ever be a fish? Ah, definitions…
By Michael M. Berger
“The issue presented here is whether the bumble bee, a terrestrial invertebrate, falls within the definition of fish, as that ...