As California has long taught schoolchildren, the 21 California missions were key in our state’s history. For better or worse,...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
Ethics, schmethics — this is property litigation!
By Michael M. Berger
The point is simply this: Government agencies, like all citizens, have an obligation to act not only legally, but morally.
On appeal, no less so than in any other legal discipline, “credibility is everything.” Klein, “The Evolved Appellate Brief,” v...
Real Estate/Development, Land Use
Land use bills SB 9 & 10: Much ado about nothing
By Lee Kaplan
The bills, while symbolic victories for the pro-housing movement, were heavily negotiated in the Legislature, resulting in dil...
Tax, Immigration
Taxing those controversial border legal settlements
By Robert W. Wood
Not long ago, reports about potential federal government legal settlements sparked outrage. The news broke that the Biden admi...
Entertainment & Sports
Name, image and likeness in college basketball: Solution to ‘one and done’?
By Frank N. Darras
In 2005, the National Basketball Association passed a rule that dramatically altered the draft, impacted the lives of thousand...
Technology, State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
Multijurisdictional lawyering in an AI era
By Lance Eliot
Ongoing angst about state-by-state admissions rules for practicing lawyers is a pronounced and seeming unending and rancorous ...
Criminal
Selective statistical analysis may promote longer federal sentences
By John Hanusz
Using selected data points, a new system created by the United States Sentencing Commission allows judges to compare sentences...
Labor/Employment, Immigration
NLRB memo emphasizes protecting rights of immigrant workers
By Eli M. Kantor
In a major policy shift, the new general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a memorandum ...
Torts/Personal Injury, Entertainment & Sports
Breaking down a music festival organizational disaster
By Richard J. Idell
Houston, Texas' 2021 Astroworld festival may be one of the worst managed live entertainment performance events in recent histo...
Government, Civil Rights
We can do more to safeguard houses of worship and combat hate
By Hydee Feldstein Soto
Houses of worship must be kept safe, secure and welcoming for all members and visitors. And we must come together to stand in ...
Criminal
Why Rittenhouse was acquitted: a criminal defense attorney’s view
By Louis J. Shapiro
Only those in the jury room on Friday can truly tell us why they decided to acquit Kyle Rittenhouse of all the charges.
Judges and Judiciary, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
No debate over one transfer of power: A new chief judge ascends the 9th Circuit
By Ben Feuer
The daughter of Mexican immigrants who settled in one of the poorest parts of Kansas, Judge Mary Murguia next week will become...
Tax, Labor/Employment, Health Care & Hospital Law
Fines for vaccine-mandate violation: Tax deductible?
By Robert W. Wood
Like so much else related to COVID-19, vaccines have long been politicized, and that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soo...
Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
EPA outlines key PFAS regulatory developments on the horizon
By Patrick F. Veasy, Madeline Weissman
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a “Strategic Roadmap” that sets forth the agency’s comprehensive plan...
Education Law, Criminal
Title IX: Campus assaults shine spotlight on schools’ responsibilities
By Angela Reddock-Wright
It is imperative that schools fairly and thoroughly investigate all allegations of sexual assault, wherever they occur on camp...
Letters, Law Practice, Consumer Law
Once again, corporations try to limit Californians’ access to justice
By Robert Herrell
If past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, then Californians will veto the latest attempt by a cabal of deep-p...
U.S. Supreme Court, State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
Discord in our district courts
By Julian Sarkar
The majority of federal district courts -- including those in California -- have enacted local rules requiring admission to th...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
Not so fast on California paralawyers
By Brandon V. Stracener, David A. Carrillo
This isn’t a “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” scenario — it’s more don’t make a bad situation worse.
Technology, Data Privacy, Civil Litigation, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit brings us a step closer to holding spy-tech companies accountable
By Matthew Guariglia, Sophia Cope
The federal appellate court recently issued an important ruling that helps clear the way for accountability for the private co...
Technology, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Net neutrality: the next chapter
By Bennett L. Ross
With Democrats poised to hold a majority of the seats on the Federal Communications Commission, the agency is almost certain t...
Family
Rethinking move-away orders in the time of COVID-19
By Noreen M. Evans, Deirdre T. Kingsbury
How should parents and courts approach a move-away case in the time of COVID?
Newton’s laws of motion have been applied to fields as diverse as professional football and NASA’s spaceflights. They also hav...
U.S. Supreme Court, Letters
Column on ‘political’ Supreme Court argues against judges’ conduct code
By Mark B. Baer
Kris Whitten basically argues that the U.S. Supreme Court was designed to be populated by justices who lack the character and ...
On November 2, Michel and Ellen Shane attended the first parole hearing of the man who intentionally and deliberately murdered...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation
Uncapping medical malpractice damages — a law of unintended consequences?
By Louie H. Castoria
By this time next year, following the November 8, 2022, midterm election, we should know whether the California Changes to Med...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Data Privacy
Spyware companies flagged, raising questions about legal ethics, cybersecurity
By Anita Taff-Rice
James Bond, the dashing and impossibly clever spy, always bested the bad guys thanks to the deep pockets of technology and int...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
By its very design, the US Supreme Court is ‘political’
By Kris Whitten
Criticism of U.S. Supreme Court justices who are identified in the media as “conservative” proceeds apace and seems to have re...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court
Crawford today: Tasting great or less filling?
By Brian M. Hoffstadt
For several decades now, the federal and California courts have been debating -- blessedly, not to the point of fisticuffs -- ...
Letters, Criminal
Criticism of Gascón policies leans on discredited myths about youth crime
By Eric H. Schweitzer
Kathleen Cady's predictive judgments conclude that Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is not committed to public safety.