Tax, Government
Assessor: Wildfire victims would be hit with $10k extra tax under Measure A
By Jordan Marks
San Diego County Assessor Jordan Marks argues that Measure A would unfairly impose costly taxes on wildfire victims, grieving ...
Although AI may transform--and even threaten--the future of human work and decision-making, it cannot replace the distinctly h...
Consumer Protection Law
California fashion compliance enters a new era
By Warren Koshofer
California is turning fashion compliance into full-spectrum accountability, binding brands to labor, climate and supply-chain ...
Civil Procedure
A court's own remedy for the civil backlog: the early 'enabling hearing'
By Robert J. Shulkin
California's severely under-resourced and overburdened court system should adopt an early case-screening "enabling hearing" to...
As the nation turns 250, access to justice remains one of the clearest measures of whether America is living up to its foundin...
Torts/Personal Injury
Uber executive and Kamala Harris's brother-in-law could benefit from Trump-backed tort reform
By Jamie Court, Will Pletcher
If President Trump signs Uber-backed legislation shielding the company from lawsuits over driver misconduct, one of the bigges...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
How meditation and Stoicism help lawyers manage stress and improve legal practice
By Ben Kassis
Meditation and Stoicism can help attorneys manage stress, improve focus, and respond more effectively to the pressures and con...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Pre-mediation discovery: Get key cards on the table
By Scott Hengesbach
In complex medical cases, the more critical expert evidence parties can surface before mediation, the greater the chance of tu...
Guide to Legal Writing
How figurative language makes complex ideas more persuasive
By Jamie A. Jacobs-May
Figurative language is the food processor of persuasion: It purees emotional resistance, slices through entrenched positions a...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
When the unexpected happens: Succession planning as an ethical imperative
By Rachel Brewer, Jake Glaser
California lawyers have an ethical duty to maintain a succession plan so that client matters, funds, and representation are pr...
International Law, Corporate
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement faces major shift
By Omer Ilter, Julie A. Werner-Simon
Trump's rollback of federal anti-corruption enforcement may ease pressure on multinational businesses, but states and foreign ...
Entertainment & Sports
YouTube's 'partner' era changes the monetization game
By Nyanza Shaw
As YouTube takes a more active role in creator monetization and brand partnerships, new legal and business questions will emer...
Law Practice, Law Office Management
What AI and CRM actually mean for lawyers
By George Brandon
Law firms are embracing AI not for flashy innovation, but because it can quietly strip out the friction in client development,...
Consumer Protection Law
Not sold as advertised: E-bike liability after Amazon's California sales halt
By Annie Dovel
When Amazon agreed earlier this month to stop selling high-speed e-bikes in California, headlines called it a recall; it is no...
A rare church-state showdown is brewing at Mount Cristo Rey, where the federal government's bid to seize Catholic Church land ...
Family
Good parents, bad moment, wrong outcome? The problem with overbroad dependency cases
By Noel E. Guth
In re Gilberto G. makes clear that a single lapse in parental judgment cannot, on its own, sustain a dependency petitio...
Labor/Employment
When the benefits end: Workers' comp timelines vs. human recovery
By Yosi Yahoudai, Melissa Jamero Herbito
California's workers' compensation system is built to resolve claims at defined statutory endpoints, even when recovery from t...
Labor/Employment, Civil Rights
How to be an effective LGBTQ+ ally in the workplace
By Ashlee Difuntorum
Effective allyship empowers LGBTQ+ professionals to show up fully, unlocking stronger collaboration, deeper insight and a more...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Don't sign blind: How Campos redefines judicial responsibility
By Bernard C. Barmann Jr.
Generative AI has shattered the legal system's long-standing trust in cited authority, and the Campos decision makes clear tha...
Tax
When disputing taxes, should you pay first or wait until it is resolved?
By Robert W. Wood
Most people know that if you owe taxes, you'll also owe interest. But fewer consider what happens to that interest while they'...
Trump's Justice Department quietly handed his convicted allies--including Jan. 6 insurrectionists--a $1.776 billion taxpayer-f...
Civil Rights
Josefina Fierro de Bright and the power of advocacy: Lessons from the Sleepy Lagoon case
By William M. Paparian
How one young Mexican-American organizer exposed judicial bias and helped secure justice in wartime Los Angeles.
Torts/Personal Injury, Technology
Beyond the warning label: Why 'design defect' is the new frontier in social media litigation
By Lem Garcia
Big Tech's "blame the user" defense is collapsing as courts start treating addictive social media design like a defective pro...
Corporate
How Mission-Driven Corporations Are Reshaping Corporate Governance
By Roberto Escobar
A federal jury in Oakland dismissed Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI on procedural grounds, underscoring the growing importa...
Labor/Employment
9th Circuit rejects employees' use of offensive issue preclusion to avoid arbitration
By D. Andrew Quigley, Andrea Oguntula
In O'Dell v. Aya Healthcare Services, Inc., the 9th Circuit held that employees cannot use prior arbitral rulings to bl...
Litigation & Arbitration
Can federal courts confirm or vacate your arbitration award?
By Rex S. Heinke
The Supreme Court held in Jules v. Andre Balazs Properties that federal courts can confirm or vacate arbitration awards...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
7 ways to communicate more effectively with your mediator
By Michael R. Wilner
Practical tips and strategies to improve the likelihood of settlement.
Constitutional Law
The flawed Comey indictment and the high bar for prosecutors
By David T. Ryan
The Comey indictment over the "86 47" post raises First Amendment concerns because the charges require proof that he personall...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Musk v. Altman: When 'all in' egos litigate what mediation could have fixed
By Leonid M. Zilberman
Mediation was the only alternate universe where everyone could have walked away a partial winner--but after three weeks of tri...
Health Care, Pharmaceuticals, Biotech
California Supreme Court hears Gilead Tenofovir Cases, weighs scope of 'duty to innovate'
By Tommy Huynh, Jocelyn A. Wiesner
The California Supreme Court heard arguments in the Gilead Tenofovir litigation as justices examined whether drugmakers...