Letters, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Attack on use of paraprofessionals makes weak case
By Mark B. Baer
The Oct. 19 column by James A. Gorton and William L. Winslow, “Evidence to support use of paraprofessionals is missing,” conta...
Immigration, Criminal, Civil Litigation, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit misses the mark on California’s private detention ban
By Jackie Gonzalez, Hamid Yazdan Panah
On Oct. 5, the court struck down Assembly Bill 32, California’s ban on private prisons and detention facilities.
Law Practice, Appellate Practice
My Most Memorable Client Part I: The Alleged Crime
By Myron Moskovitz
The following the first installment of a story in four parts, the next three to run Nov. 1, Nov. 15 and Dec. 6. It is adapted ...
Law Practice, Criminal, Books
‘Darrow’s Nightmare: Los Angeles 1911-1913,’ by Nelson Johnson
By Michael L. Stern
In a new book, “Darrow’s Nightmare: Los Angeles 1911-1913,” Nelson Johnson uses trial transcripts, newspaper accounts and othe...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
Evidence to support use of paraprofessionals is missing
By James A. Gorton, William L. Winslow
Among all of the reports and analysis commissioned by the State Bar, there is no empirical justification for the proposition t...
Native Americans
NAVRA takes steps to increase the promises left unfulfilled by the Indian Citizenship Act
By Torey Dolan, Blair Tarman
The Native American Voting Rights Act seeks to address ongoing barriers that Native Americans face when voting and preempt or ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Labor/Employment, Civil Litigation
Washington agency boots Santa-clad right-to-work advocates
By Deborah J. La Fetra
The Washington Department of Ecology allows public employee union representatives to communicate with workers in the building’...
Labor/Employment, Health Care & Hospital Law
What to know about LA’s ‘proof of vaccination’ ordinance
By Tal Burnovski Yeyni
The ordinance states that, beginning Thursday, a covered location must display “prominently on its premises” a notification ad...
Labor/Employment, Health Care & Hospital Law
Proceed with caution handling religious exemption requests
By Jamaar M. Boyd-Weatherby
A few issues to consider when an employee requests a religious exemption from a vaccination mandate.
In recent union actions, the vote was not simply about worker pay. With a record number of job openings nationwide and more em...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Paraprofessionals in a new age: creative solutions for the justice gap
By David M. Majchrzak, Heather L. Rosing
Those who may be opposed to licensing paraprofessionals opine that the failure of these new entrants may negatively impact pub...
A primer on Penal Code Section 1001.36, enacted in 2018, which permits a court to order pretrial diversion for clients with ce...
Labor/Employment, Civil Litigation
Tesla verdict provides simple lesson the hard way
By Leonid M. Zilberman
The recent $137 million jury verdict against Tesla in a racial discrimination case brought by Owen Diaz, a former African-Amer...
Antitrust & Trade Reg.
Antitrust verdict provides lessons for cannabis businesses
By Leo Caseria, Thomas Tyson
A California jury last month handed down what has been reported to be the first antitrust jury verdict involving the cannabis ...
Government
Senate report could be bad news for Trump, former White House staff
By John H. Minan
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued an interim staff report on the use of the DOJ by Donald Trump and his allies.
Labor/Employment, Constitutional Law, Civil Litigation
In invalidating Prop 22, court overlooked basic constitutional law
By Steven G. Churchwell
In August, a trial court in Alameda County invalidated Proposition 22 — a statutory voter initiative that classified many app-...
Immigration, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Courts confront racist immigration law
By Ahilan Arulanantham
A pair of 9th Circuit cases will examine what the Constitution requires Congress to do when confronted with the present-day ef...
Technology, Law Practice
Gluing together a benchmark for AI natural language legal understanding
By Lance Eliot
There are a veritable plethora of computer-based natural language processing systems these days, such as the widely popular Al...
U.S. Supreme Court
There is no such thing as value-neutral judging
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Over a century ago, the Legal Realists exploded the myth that judges can mechanically apply the law without making value choic...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
Paraprofessional program: problems and proposals
By Peter M. Walzer
The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers adopted a resolution last November opposing the nonlawyer ownership of law firms a...
Securities, Corporate
Why are venture firms focusing on seed stage funding?
By John Eden
Andreessen Horowitz recently announced its new $400 million seed fund to serve startup founders at the earliest stages of comp...
This article discusses the “nuts and bolts” for merging two California nonprofit public benefit corporations. Typical reasons ...
Health Care & Hospital Law, Administrative/Regulatory
The US FDA must lead by example on lead exposure
By Vineet Dubey
Last week, the Congressional Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy issued a scathing report.
How legal settlements are taxed often surprises people, including many plaintiffs. Most things are taxed, but there is often f...
I had worked hard, I was ready to go, fully prepped, and engaged trial mode for the first time in my career. And then lost.
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Limiting liability for legal malpractice
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
As wide-ranging as the practice of law is, so too is the range of potential legal malpractice claims. But, at their core, many...
Insurance, Construction, Civil Litigation
Construction defect damages may exceed cost to repair
By Peter S. Selvin
Construction defect cases often involve damage claims beyond simply the cost to repair the allegedly defective unit or compone...
Civil Rights, Civil Litigation
Ruling makes ADA visual web-access claims a bit clearer
By Katherine S. Catlos
An Americans with Disabilities Act web-access case went to trial and the result rested on a creative and legally accurate jury...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Letters, Law Practice
Column on paraprofessional program contains factual inaccuracies
By Leah Wilson
Bradley Wallace’s Oct. 5 opinion piece, “Could law firms run by VC’s and big corps become reality?” contains inaccuracies that...
Criminal
‘Re’sentencing is retraumatizing victims and endangering public safety
By Kathleen Cady
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón’s focus is not on prosecuting crimes, but on resentencing defendants who were conv...