Labor/Employment
Tips for Responding EEOC complaints: ‘Eye for an eye’ can get an employer sued
By Miranda R. Watkins
Employees who "participate" in protected activity or "oppose" unlawful acts are protected. If you're thinking this definition ...
Family
Is the California Family Code going to the dogs?
By Marlo Van Oorschot, Cara L. Boroda
For family law lawyers, love can indeed be a battlefield; a battlefield filled with real estate, children, jewelry, IRAs, and,...
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice
Attorney fees are costs in trial court but not on appeal
By Gary A. Watt
A recent decision holds that an appellate court's denial of "costs" does not preclude an award of attorney fees -- a holding t...
U.S. Supreme Court, Military Law, Government
Sexual trauma in the military
By Eileen C. Moore
Remedies to the military sexual assault situation require attention by both Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Even a presid...
Judges and Judiciary, California Supreme Court, Appellate Practice
How have Brown’s appointees changed the Supreme Court?
By Kirk C. Jenkins
Today, we move on to part 2 of our series — Justice Leondra R. Kruger, who succeeded Justice Joyce L. Kennard on Jan. 5, 2015.
Judges and Judiciary
Nudge statutes and demurrer filings at Stanley Mosk Courthouse
By Richard L. Fruin
For the past six years (2013-2018), I have counted the number and type of motions that were heard in Department 15. I then pre...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
Employers bring PAGA lawsuit
By Tina Tellado, Deisy Castro
Lawsuits filed under California’s Private Attorneys General Act are nothing new. What is new and noteworthy is a group of empl...
Intellectual Property
Looking ahead: What’s in store for patent law in the new year
By Darren Donnelly
The former patent examiner, Albert Einstein, is credited with having told reporters, “I never think of the future, it comes so...
Last year once again saw courts addressing key insurance issues.
Letters, Labor/Employment, Corporate
California Lawyers Association should address glaring noncompete issue
By Stacey Olliff
I am writing regarding the excellent article “Does Section 925 reinforce or weaken policy against noncompetes?” in the Jan. 7,...
Tax, Administrative/Regulatory
IRS can impose 100 percent penalty on employment taxes
By Robert W. Wood
Whether you are Donald Trump or just an ordinary Joe, everyone likes to save money. And no one likes to pay more in taxes than...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment, Contracts
Does Labor Code Section 925 reinforce or weaken public policy against noncompetes?
By Debra Fischer, Adam Wagmeister
Last September, the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that a Delaware choice-of-law provision and covenant not to compete in an...
This is my first column for the year 2019. It picks up some themes from my last column in 2018. You might consider the two col...
Intellectual Property, Government
Momentum grows in Senate for updating patent eligibility standards
By Stuart Meyer
Intellectual property legislation is rarely front of mind for legislators, and more pressing concerns often leave IP proposals...
Law Practice, Insurance, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, State Bar & Bar Associations
Mandatory malpractice insurance group to present findings
By Kenneth C. Feldman
The subcommittee studying the "advisability of mandating errors and omissions insurance for attorneys" met on Dec. 7, 2018, to...
U.S. Supreme Court, Health Care & Hospital Law, Administrative/Regulatory
If ruling stands, millions could lose health care coverage
By John H. Minan
Since the ACA became embedded as part of the health care system, Americans without health insurance dropped from 16.8 percent ...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Appellate Practice
On Stipulated Reversals
By Christopher D. Hu
Litigants often face special obstacles to settlement on appeal. Sometimes, the appellant insists on a reversal of the trial co...
Labor/Employment, California Supreme Court
High court weighing liability of payroll-service providers
By Andy Y. Chen
Whichever way the California Supreme Court decides will have monumental ramifications for the competitive and fragmented payro...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Key issues relating to motions to disqualify
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
When a motion to disqualify is filed, tensions often run high. The attorney targeted by the motion may feel a mix of anger at ...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Why your firm needs a lawyer
By Daniel O'Rielly, Dena Roche
For many law firm partners, even those who run and manage law firms large and small, the idea that a law firm needs its own la...
Corporate
Corporate governance best practices should begin well before an IPO
By Richard S. Horvath Jr.
Last month the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an important decision denying a motion to dismiss derivative litigation.
California Courts of Appeal
An open letter to our appellate court justices
By James P. McBride
You have strayed from the traditions of legal literature. Where is the flair?
I wish we did not have to do so, but it turns out to be as difficult as it is necessary to debate facts. More than that, those...
Top 10 cybersecurity predictions for the new year
By Robert E. Braun, Michael A. Gold
’Tis the season for prognostication — from September through March, pundits and would-be pundits make their predictions, rangi...
California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice
Claim preclusion across jurisdictions: Navigating the labyrinth
By Ryan P. McCarl
Unfortunately for 1Ls, bar examinees, and litigants, claim preclusion can be complex. Its boundaries are fuzzy. It is one of t...
Civil Litigation, Insurance, Construction
Suggestion for your 2019 reading list: Your insurance policy
By Garret D. Murai
Let me suggest something for your 2019 reading list: Your insurance policy. Ok, I know that’s about as likely as Nancy Pelosi,...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice
Navigating the difficult waters of an attorney-client breakup
By Natalie S. Pang, Brian S. Kabateck
Attorneys must be aware that a trial court will not tolerate motions to withdraw being used as a delay tactic or litigation ta...
In the law, are there exceptional forces with the power to revive an appeal from its grave? (Cue creepy organ music.) Indeed, ...
Judges and Judiciary, California Supreme Court
Governor Sunshine’s Court
By David A. Carrillo, Stephen M. Duvernay
Joshua Groban, Gov. Jerry Brown’s final appointment to the California Supreme Court, was confirmed by the Commission on Judici...
Government, Constitutional Law
Presidential inability isn’t new, it just wasn’t public
By John H. Minan
It generally was concealed from the American public. President Woodrow Wilson, for example, was incapacitated by several strok...