Insurance, Health Care & Hospital Law, Civil Litigation
An accidental opinion
By J. Benjamin Blakeman
Two years ago, Kathy Williams, a Missouri woman, fell down a flight of stairs in her home and died. Her blood alcohol level wa...
How fortunate we are to have Professors Paul Bergman and Michael Asimow again offering invaluable insights into the movies we ...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Entertainment & Sports
Legal ethics lessons learned from TV lawyers
By Joanna L. Storey Mishler
You know that feeling you get when you want to yell at the screen because a fictional lawyer in a television show mishandled a...
Technology, Law Practice
In-person trial gone remote: training the jury
By Paul R. Kiesel
In his latest installment documenting his in-person trial gone remote, Kiesel discusses training the jury to participate remot...
A recent case questions whether a single “co-registered” owner could validly consent to the tracking of a vehicle driven prima...
A recent appellate opinion will serve as a stark warning to defense counsel to advise their clients about the risks, and not j...
I’d like to think Judge Romero was my friend. When I thought about applying to the bench, his was the first advice I sought. H...
I usually opine that attorneys smart enough to give good advice are smart enough to give none. I will now ignore my own advice...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Using clawback agreements to lessen the blow of inadvertent disclosure
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
Every litigator knows the anxiety of getting ready to press send on a big document production and, no matter how carefully the...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
20 years later: The bar’s response to 9/11
By David S. Casey Jr.
When American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:45 a.m., followed by United Airli...
Labor/Employment, Civil Rights
Equal pay in America and the Golden State
By Betsy Butler
A review of the development and future of pay equality.
Insurance, California Supreme Court
Life insurance ruling highlights legislative awareness
By Samuel Bruchey
In 2013, the California Legislature passed a consumer-friendly law requiring life insurers to comply with enhanced notice requ...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
For just outcomes, the arbitration process can hold more promise than trial
By Wayne D. Brazil
When does it make the most sense to choose arbitration, and what are the advantages?
Anyone immersed in the law knows that discretion is a cornerstone to our form of jurisprudence. Discretion is powerful. It can...
Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Energy regulatory agencies working hard to keep the lights on
By Seth Hilton
In the wake of the rolling blackouts last summer, California energy regulatory agencies and the state government have been scr...
Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Regulators race to address climate change in real time
By Patrick Ferguson
While California has historically leaned on other western states, including hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest, to...
Labor/Employment
DOL reinforces importance of privacy for ERISA plans
By Caroline Turner English, Eva Pulliam
The Department of Labor has issued guidance to instruct and advise companies about how best to care for information gathered i...
Law Practice, Government, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Did lawyers in election suit abuse the judicial process?
By John H. Minan
Lawyers “may” have the right to say the election was stolen during public debate and discourse, but those who pursue litigatio...
Administrative/Regulatory
Another round of changes to Los Angeles cannabis licensing
By Katie Podein
As we head into year five of legal cannabis, the Los Angeles cannabis industry was dealt yet another curveball by the city’s r...
Construction, Civil Litigation
Cautionary tale: unlicensed contractor dodges a bullet
By Garret D. Murai
In a recent appellate case, a contractor who was unlicensed during a portion of a project dodged a bullet. However, I’m not so...
Technology, Law Practice
In-person trial gone remote: What do jurors need?
By Paul R. Kiesel
Once the decision was made for my recent trial trial to become fully remote, there were a host of important questions that nee...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
Outsourcing the violation of constitutional rights to private parties
By Marc D. Alexander
Texas’ new abortion law gives enforcement powers to private citizens. Is there precedent for that?
Government, Constitutional Law
California’s recall is lawful, but it needs reform
By David Belcher, Michael Belcher
Insurance, Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court
High court clarifies life insurance grace period law
By Robert J. McKennon, Larry J. Caldwell
Most insureds pay regular monthly life insurance premiums for years without a problem. Occasionally, a policyholder may miss a...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Appellate Practice
More on trial court briefs
By Myron Moskovitz
A couple of columns back, I reported comments from several superior court judges about what they do not like to see in trial c...
Construction, Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court
No new exception to the Privette doctrine
By Alan H. Packer, Jack M. Rubin
Last month the California Supreme Court ruled on who should bear the risk of the injury — the owner of the property, or the in...
Securities, Books
Book Review: Marc I. Steinberg, ‘Rethinking Securities Law’
By Dennis A. Stubblefield
Steinberg, the nation’s preeminent authority on securities regulation, has recently added to his already voluminous scholarshi...
U.S. Supreme Court, Health Care & Hospital Law, Constitutional Law
The soft death knell of Roe
By Maggie E. Schroedter, Rebecca F. Zipp
Today, perhaps more than any other day, we mourn the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Law Practice, Appellate Practice
Titanic, Hindenburg, DIY appeals
By Benjamin G. Shatz
Americans are hearty souls. In our litigious land of the free and home of the brave, our laws allow — and our grandiose notion...
Government, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Professional responsibility: Using courts for purposes never intended
By A. Marco Turk
Last month, an amazing decision by U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker found nine lawyers from different jurisdictions s...