This dividing line may sound simple, and it can be. Yet there are many tax disputes over these kinds of issues. Then, when you...
Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate
Private equity deal execution and operations strategy
By Sara L. Terheggen
Targets are increasingly questioning how quickly a deal can get done and what private equity sponsors can do in terms of opera...
Government, Criminal, Civil Rights
Sessions ends Holder’s civil forfeiture policy
By David B. Smith
The DOJ’s door is once again wide open to requests by state and local law enforcement to take over their smallish and often we...
The lines between work and home, and between business and personal, have become so blurred that we must to reevaluate a bright...
Judges and Judiciary, Government, Criminal, Civil Rights
It’s high time California reforms bail system
By Margaret Dooley-Sammuli
Money bail has created a two-tiered system of justice where someone’s release is determined largely by their ability to pay ba...
Politics will never exist without spin doctors. Yet, as cynical as our political system has become, recent ballot measures sol...
Banking, Appellate Practice, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Who is going to mind the banks now?
By Polly Estes
In the wake of the mortgage crisis, legislatures began enacting statutes to prevent it from happening again. There are now spe...
Government, Criminal, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
ADA accommodation for arrestees remains unclear
By Dennis M. Cota
Pending more instructive precedent, the issue of ADA accommodation for arrestees poses a challenging and as yet insufficiently...
Tax, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Sekulow’s charitable ties and 1023-EZ regulations
By Erin Bradrick
Questions raised regarding the charitable activities of ardent Trump supporter and defender, Jay Sekulow. Also, new regulation...
Judges and Judiciary
Appointment of discovery referees
By Patricia M. Lucas, Gary Nadler
Learn about the source of a court’s authority to appoint a referee, the scope of referee appointment orders, and referees’ pow...
If someone forgives your debt so you do not have to pay back the lender, isn’t that always a good thing? Yes, but generally no...
Transportation, Judges and Judiciary, Administrative/Regulatory
Traffic offenses and common defenses
By Gus Gomez
Summer is here — though it’s almost gone again. This often means more drivers on the road taking advantage of the school break...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, State Bar & Bar Associations
State Bar bill will benefit us all
By William N. Hebert
On July 17, the State Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously voted in favor of Senate Bill 36, which changes the form and fu...
Law Practice, Law Office Management, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Law firm cybersecurity: It’s a big deal
By J. Randolph Evans, Shari L. Klevens
All law firms should be acutely aware by now of the risks posed by hackers. There have been numerous highly publicized hacking...
Government, Criminal, Corporate, Books, Administrative/Regulatory
The Chickenshit Club
By Jesse Eisinger
In his new book “The Chickenshit Club” — an inside reference to prosecutors too scared of failure and too daunted by legal imp...
Criminal, Constitutional Law, California Supreme Court, State Bar & Bar Associations
Grading the revised special prosecutor rule
By Gary Schons
Last October, the State Bar of California sent to the California Supreme Court, on an expedited basis, Proposed Rule 5-110, mo...
Constitutional Law, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit cuts public out of free speech case
By Paul Alan Levy
The Court of Appeals has announced that it will consider a significant free speech issue bearing on the rights of anonymous in...
Corporate
Granting profits interests, disregarded entities and the self-employment trap
By Thomas M. Asmar
Before recently issued Treasury regulations, it was unclear whether issuing equity to an employee of a disregarded entity and ...
Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Unintended Green Chemistry consequences
By Daniel J. Herling
As more priority products are determined, these regulatory obligations will certainly cause manufacturers to spend time and re...
Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Cannabis at work: What California employers need to know
By Arthur F. Silbergeld, Michael Rosenblum
The legalization of cannabis in California raises significant questions as to whether employers can enforce policies prohibiti...
A Texas judge recently observed that in criminal court, you get bad people at their best; in family law, you get good people a...
California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal
Executive order does not set emissions standards for EIRs
By Phillip H. Babich, Emily F. Lynch
Last week, the California Supreme Court said an environmental impact report for a regional transportation plan is not required...
Courts are forced to shoehorn machine claims into existing rules built for human testimony, with results that are often awkwar...
Government, Criminal, Constitutional Law
Inflated accusations against Trump Jr
By John C. Eastman
Don Jr. has been accused of everything from violating federal campaign finance laws to espionage and even treason. Seriously?
Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate
Imagined or real? Privacy issues in artificial intelligence M&A
By Jeewon Serrato, Chelsea Gunter
Big data analytics is generally at the center of these transactions, where privacy and data protection concerns should be at t...
The ruling in Trinity Lutheran is the first time the Supreme Court has held that the government is constitutionally required t...
Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Will states be able to protect our online privacy?
By Anita Taff-Rice
Last year, the FCC issued broadband privacy rules that were set to take effect this December. Then Trump took office and chang...
Judges and Judiciary, Criminal, California Courts of Appeal
Judge group wants watered down bail reform
By Jeff Adachi
The Judicial Council of California last month sent a six-page letter to the lawmakers detailing its “significant concerns” reg...
Boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. is set to face off against MMA’s Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on August 26. But in the lead-u...
Health Care & Hospital Law, California Supreme Court
State Supreme Court should affirm statutory damages ruling
By Stephen Garcia, David M. Medby
The 4th District Court of Appeal held that the statutory award of up to $500 authorized by Health and Safety Code Section 143...