Environmental & Energy, California Supreme Court
CEQA exemptions on trial at high court
By Arthur F. Coon
The California Supreme Court is finally poised to hear and decide a landmark California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, ca...
As a retired judge who spent 30 years in the California judiciary, I oppose the appointment of Leondra Kruger to the Californi...
If you need a laptop that is not too heavy, easy to travel with, powerful and a long lasting battery, you might want to look i...
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is to be congratulated on her recent reelection. She has been a powerful and effecti...
Intellectual Property, Entertainment & Sports
Stairway to Heaven, or to the jury room?
By Corey Field
Every rock 'n' roll fan knows the opening to "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin's iconic 1971 hit. But another band popular at...
Judges and Judiciary, Criminal, Constitutional Law
Fixing our two tier system of justice
By Aram B. James
No indictment, no justice, in the cold blooded killing, of unarmed African-American youth, Michael Brown, by Ferguson, Missour...
The best lawyers have a life because they have an understanding of civic activity, community, family and intellectualism - whi...
Backlash may trigger civil forfeiture reform
By Brian S. Kabateck
Few legal concepts can unite the nation in disbelief, but civil forfeiture laws turn the American ideal of "innocent until pro...
Letters, Contracts
'Super-omnibus' indemnity isn't invincible in California
By Timothy R. Pappas
Although not a perfect solution, consumers harmed by "super-omnibus" indemnity clauses in California can take some solace in t...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Constitutional Law
When you can rely on anonymous tips
By Michael J. Raphael
When may an anonymous tip provide the basis for reasonable suspicion to allow a police officer to stop and briefly detain an i...
California Courts of Appeal, Banking
Banks can't hide behind check cashing companies
By Jill Switzer
A recent case address the all-too-common scenario occurs where a client's "trusted" employee, accounting manager, bookkeeper o...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Public carry and the 2nd Amendment
By Lawrence Rosenthal
Likely the most critical issue to be decided in Heller's wake is whether the Second Amendment secures a right to carry firearm...
Law Practice
You've won the case, your client will recover, so now what?
By Robert W. Wood
Everyone wants to win, but lawyers may not consider all the ramifications to the client. ...
You remember Berman v. Parker, right? Well guess how that turned out. ...
I regret to inform the California legal community what has happened at the State Bar. ...
Failing to ask for the right jury instruction may well land you a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel, as one recent ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Property
The death of Internet patents
By Ben M. Davidson
Should patents be used to monopolize abstract ideas of doing business on the Internet using conventional programming technique...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
It all depends on whose privacy it is
By Rebecca L. Brown
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear City of Los Angeles v. Patel, a case which may provide the court an opportunity...
Whatever your religion and however you view physician-assisted dying with dignity, the case of Brittany Maynard was a painfull...
Civil Litigation, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
States can't obtain double recovery in class settlements
By Julia B. Strickland, David W. Moon
The 9th Circuit recently decided that public officials cannot obtain a duplicate recovery in the form of restitution to indivi...
Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Don't tread on the Internet
By Bennett L. Ross, Brett Shumate
If the FCC subjects broadband services to the same regulations that apply to traditional telephone services, the results will ...
Far too much of what goes on in the U.S. Supreme Court is done in secret and without any explanation from the justices ...
A recent report by The Guardian has brought into focus corrupt labor brokers in the United States who have been abusing the vi...
Administrative/Regulatory
Data security has a new sheriff in town
By Mary Ellen Callahan, Samuel L. Feder
In October, the FCC issued a notice of apparent liability finding that telephone carriers had violated the Communications Act ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Appellate Practice
Improvidently granted cases and the rise of the amicus brief
By M.C. Sungaila
Whether the court will dismiss a recent CAFA case reflects the intersection of two trends: the increasing influence of amicus ...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Attorneys can SLAPP down some suits
By Alison Buchanan
Almost since its inception, the anti-SLAPP statute has served as a valuable tool for lawyer defendants sued by litigants regar...
Books, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Susskind on winning win-win negotiations
By Jan Frankel Schau
It was with great eagerness that I dove into Lawrence Susskind's new book, "Good for You, Great for Me: Finding the Trading Zo...
One of the recurring mysteries of federal drug law is why marijuana is classified alongside heroin in the most serious categor...
Government, Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Latest fracking bans just the beginning
By Richard M. Frank
California voters sent mixed messages at the ballot box last week regarding one of the state's most controversial environmenta...