Alternative Dispute Resolution
How the 'optimism bias' colors our thinking in mediation
By Robert S. Mann
Studies show that people have a tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive events while discounting the possibility o...
Labor/Employment
Like stealing candy from a baby: ERISA offsets
By Michelle L. Roberts
Dependent Social Security Disability benefits are neither for a parent's "loss of time" or "loss of income" that should be sub...
Choice of law under the governmental interest approach
By Brian S. Kabateck, Doug Rochen
Simply filing a case in California does not automatically mean the applicable legal authority is California.
Tesla, reinventing the car shopping experience
By Paul R. Kiesel
When I read the first term in the purchase agreement, I knew I needed to opt out. When I read the second term, I hoped to be a...
Robert Henry provides a great start to finding what works for you in his e-book, "Age Re-Defined: Take Control of Your Health,...
U.S. Supreme Court, Family, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
Who chooses? Allocating abortion rights during surrogacy
By Judith Daar
What began as a routine surrogate parenting arrangement in Connecticut has sparked a national debate over abortion rights.
Dogs take you places that you wouldn't ordinarily go and, in so doing, open your awareness, stimulate your curiosity, and lead...
In Clapper, the Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge a secret wiretap because they had n...
U.S. Supreme Court, Securities
US high court decision will hasten SEC enforcement actions
By Thomas A. Zaccaro
On Feb. 27, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important ruling concerning the statute of limitations for enforcement actions in...
U.S. Supreme Court, Labor/Employment
Voting rights and arbitration at the US high court
By Eric B. Kingsley
Last month I took a trip to Washington to hear oral arguments in two cases: American Express v. Italian Colors and S...
Intellectual Property, Government
DOJ revamps trade secret protection strategy
By Thomas P. O'Brien, John J. O'Kane IV
Over the past several months there have been some significant developments in connection with federal trade secrets law.
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
Methinks Justice Stevens protests too much
By Gideon Kanner
In his latest article on Kelo, Justice John Paul Stevens doubles down and purports to tell us in three easy steps why h...
Until recently, beyond occasional cases involving notice or cooperation clauses, few decisions addressed other aspects of cond...
Environmental & Energy
Bill to create environmental court lacks specificity
By Donald E. Sobelman, Sherry E. Jackman
As presently drafted, SB 123 is a very brief piece of legislation that identifies a conceptual framework for the establishment...
ScanDisk leaves no doubt that the standing required to bring an antitrust claim based on the fraudulent procurement of ...
The enduring legacy of California's Premier Justice Stanley Mosk
By Arthur Gilbert
But first a caveat: In this, my 210th column, you will be exposed to bursts of effusive praise for one of California's and the...
Attorneys as Witnesses
By Mark J. Hancock, Steven D. Wasserman
Lawyers are advocates and counselors, but on occasion they may be called upon to testify for a client. When that happens, ethi...
Intellectual Property
AIA's 'first to file' patent system looms on the horizon
By John F. Stephens
The first inventor to file system comes into effect March 16, bringing the U.S. more closely aligned with the rest of the world.
At the end of the day Greb is unfavorable to California corporations, which can be sued without time constraint after d...
My real purpose isn't really to "model" a mathematical formula to help settle cases - it is to use the concept of a formula to...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Constitutional Law
Dog sniff ruling doesn't smell so bad after all
By Allison B. Margolin
What may at first glance seem like a stake in the heart to the defense bar ultimately may provide us ideas for really challeng...
State Bar & Bar Associations
State Bar proposal for more practical skills training will only burden law students.
By Ira L. Shafiroff
Although well meaning, these recommendations are at best superfluous; at worst, they will significantly burden students and ne...
Letters, Judges and Judiciary
Diversity concerns fail to acknowledge disabled
By Peter A. Lynch
I began reading with great anticipation the article titled "Diversity Lacking on State Bench." However, the piece failed to in...
Labor/Employment, Constitutional Law
Will Obama tackle guns in the workplace?
By Daniel H. Handman
Seventeen states have "parking lot" laws that prohibit an employer from banning employees from bringing guns to work, so long ...
The "sunk-cost effect" can be so powerful as to overcome logic in mediation - much like it did with the Jets' decision to keep...
U.S. Supreme Court, Bankruptcy
Circuit split over parties' expanding a bankruptcy court's power
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Is it permissible for the parties to consent to allowing a bankruptcy court to issue a final judgment that it otherwise would ...
Securities, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
SEC likely to ramp-up private equity scrutiny
By Jonathan A. Shapiro
Initially, the SEC has moved deliberately, bringing relatively few of the threatened cases against private equity firms and pe...
Metrish presents the question whether a decision abolishing the common-law defense of diminished capacity eliminates th...
The Obama administration has created a working relationship between the U.S. and the ICC, though we still have yet to ratify t...
Real Estate/Development, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Infill or greenfield development? Or is planning key?
By Ann Catherine Norian, Elisa L. Paster
In planning and development circles, it is the heavyweight grudge match: infill development versus greenfield development.