Once upon a time, "ambiguity is king" dominated in California with respect to the interpretation of an insurance policy. Then,...
The Daily Journal asked two leading constitutional scholars and veteran court watchers, Erwin Chemerinsky and Douglas W. Kmiec...
The Daily Journal asked two leading constitutional scholars and veteran court watchers to offer their insights each day during...
Law Practice
Bring Compassion, Fairness Before Waves of Despair Wipe Out Dreams
By David A. Lash
Forum Column - By David Lash - Poverty kills. Recent events around the world have proved, again, that the lives of the impover...
Appellate Practice
State Appeals Court Provides Judicial-Notice Request Guide
By David J. de Jesus
Focus Column - Appellate Law - By Kathy Banke and David de Jesus California's courts of appeal generally have a pretty slow fu...
Law Practice
Katrina, Tradition of Injustice Combine, Make Perfect Storm
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
The practice of law in New Orleans, I would learn as a Los Angeles lawyer admitted to the California Bar, has a different rhyt...
More than a decade ago, California courts started to summarily adjudicate out "bad faith" claims if the insurer proved suffici...
Judges and Judiciary
Thomas, Unbridled, Would Gut 200 Years of Precedent
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - One of the overlooked, important themes of the U.S. Supreme Court's October 2004 term, w...
Peter Stumpf, the principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, plays a 17th century Stradivarius cello. Although it is "...
Labor/Employment
Drip, Drip, Drip of Stray Comments Can Add Up to Ocean of Harassment
By Arthur F. Silbergeld
The law recognizes two types of sexual harassment: (1) quid pro quo and (2) hostile work environment. The former, easily recog...
Constitutional Law
With Rove, New York Times Trips on Its Own Standard
By William J. Becker Jr.
Let's review. Democrats have demanded the resignations of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Pa...
Constitutional Law
Justices Opinions Make Future of Establishment Clause Unclear
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - The Supreme Court took two cases involving Ten Commandments displays likely in the hope ...
Letters, Judges and Judiciary
Bush's Picks Will Certainly Behave Predictably
By Jeffrey H. Friedman
In his commentary, "First Things First: Democarcy Depends On Independent Judiciary" (May 31 Daily Journal), Justice Arthur Gil...
Constitutional Law
Wider Media Market Helps Counter Deregulation Damage
By Clay Calvert
Forum Column - By Clay Calvert - There is no more powerful image or metaphor in the realm of free speech theory in the United ...
Constitutional Law
Bush's Injustices Recall Another George: King George III
By Stephen F. Rohde
Forum Column - By Stephen F. Rohde - As we celebrate the Fourth of July, we should recall the injustices that impelled the Fou...
Forum Column - By R. Konrad Moore - In 2003, a Bakersfield jury convicted Glen Johnson of murder. A year later, a California c...
In State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell , 538 U.S. 408 (2003), the U.S. Supreme Court opined that "an award ...
Letters, Constitutional Law
Americans Have Right to Amend Constitution
By Hirbod Rashidi
Letter to the Editor - Stephen Rohde, in his opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment authorizing Congress to outla...
Judges and Judiciary, Criminal, Constitutional Law
Rare These Days, District Court Stands for Justice in Prison Case
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
Forum Column - By Robert L. Bastian Jr. - Two related trends are worsening government officials' indifference to the minimum s...
Appellate Practice
Class-Action Statute Fails To Address Appellate Questions
By Benjamin G. Shatz
Focus Column - Appellate Law - By Benjamin G. Shatz - In February, Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, whic...
Civil Rights
Court Moves to Weed Out Race Issue in Jury Selection
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - In two important decisions Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that peremptory cha...
Government, Constitutional Law
From Hollywood to High Court: The Ten Commandments Take A Detour
By Diane L. Karpman
"Our system of democracy depends on judges being supported in the exercise of their constitutional obligation to protect the b...
Securities, Corporate
Foreign Stock Offers Must Meet State, U.S. Guidelines
By Ute Krudewagen
Focus Column - International Law - By Barbara Klementz and Ute Krudewagen - U.S. companies commonly offer one or more types of...
Judges and Judiciary
First Things First: Democracy Depends on Independent Judiciary
By Arthur Gilbert
"First thing we do, let's kill all the judges." That is what some politicians want to do to the judiciary. Proposed ways to di...
Criminal
In Reality of State Prison System, 'Corrections' Is A Misnomer
By Konrad Moore
Californians paid $5.4 billion dollars for youth and adult corrections in the budget year 2003-2004. The proposed expenditure ...
Law Practice, Constitutional Law
Problem With Originalism Lies in The Favoring of Logic Over Experience
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
The idea of strict construction merits continued comment because it is the current president's litmus test for selecting Supre...
Policy exclusions limit or take away coverage. Some exclusions address risks that an insurer wants to avoid (intentional injur...
Judges and Judiciary
Suprising High-Court Rulings Shift Civil Rights Outlook
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - The U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice William Rehnquist will not be remembered as a...
Civil Litigation, Judges and Judiciary
State Revamps Numbering, Language of Discovery Act
By William Slomanson
On July 1, the California Civil Discovery Act - Code of Civil Procedure Sections 2016 through 2036 - is getting a facelift, th...
Intellectual Property
IP Pendulum Swings From Weak to Strong Protection
By Stuart Meyer
Just a few years ago, it was unusual for patents to make newspaper headlines - but times have changed. A small company is awar...