Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Practical advice for companies preparing for California’s new emissions laws
By David A. Niemeyer, Blake H. Bainou
While SB 253 and SB 261 are similar to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed emissions disclosure rules that...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Part 2 – Internal and external threats
By Jennifer Stalvey
The most common ways your Client Trust Accounts may be compromised from both internal and external sources, and how to help pr...
Technology, Expert Advice
Unraveling the unscrupulous expert witness through AI
By Andrew T. Ryan
How AI technology is transforming the legal landscape and holding unsavory experts accountable.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Is arbitration truly cost-effective?
By Tricia A. Bigelow
Arbitration may not be perfect, but it can provide significant value to litigants and the judicial system overall, taking burd...
Torts/Personal Injury
Sexual assault multidistrict litigation against Uber revs up
By Navruz Avloni
Uber wanted to put the brakes on sexual assault multidistrict litigation. Instead, a judicial panel transferred 13 cases to th...
State legislators approved a bill in 2020 shortening the length of probation in most misdemeanor cases. It is this law – not P...
Family, Criminal
Discarding the reasonableness standard in DVROs muddies the process
By Stephanie I. Blum, Timothy D. Reuben
Domestic violence restraining orders based on disturbing emotional calm should be subject to a reasonableness standard.
Apart from the tax filing and payment delays, there are other tax benefits too. Individuals and businesses in a federally decl...
In 2022, a McMaster University health report stated that “China is the only country in the world to have an industrial-scale o...
The Lunada Bay Boys gang has a free pass from the district attorney
By Antonio R. Sarabia II
How did this well-publicized gang operate for so many years with impunity? The likely answer is that the District Attorney nev...
Mediation is not solely a technical or procedural process; it is deeply rooted in human interactions and the ability to empath...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
SCOTUS should preserve tester standing under the ADA
By Raymond A. Wendell
Because of the widespread fixation on serial litigation, a decision against Laufer would threaten not just avowed tester plain...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Letters
Portfolio Bar Exam: facts vs. fiction
By Claire M. Solot
Legal aid organizations support the PBE, as it will help them recruit new staff attorneys, increase their capacity to serve th...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Am I my brother’s keeper? Seeking Golden Snitches in the Golden State.
By Arian Kevin Kayhanian
Rule 8.3 has the right intent, and one must not fault the powers that be for trying to take a meaningful step to curb unethica...
U.S. Supreme Court, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Bakery case before Supreme Court shows knead for clarity of FAA exemption
By Rex Darrell Berry
The issue might sound like a geeky question of statutory interpretation, but it has substantial real-world implications for wo...
Legal Education, Law Practice
Don’t underestimate the power of networking as a law student
By Brigitta Cymerint
It is common for law students to underestimate the power of networking. We are so focused on our studies that it is easy to fo...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
Part III on interpreting our Constitution: when to rule “That’s unconstitutional!”
By Myron Moskovitz
When a statute (or an executive order) is the product of the ordinary give-and-take of our messy democratic process, a judge s...
The Digital Services Act reaches the USA
By Robert Spano, Vivek Mohan
U.S. companies must not bury their heads in the sand: while the DSA’s regulations are formally limited to online services that...
California’s property insurance: balancing consumer interests and industry needs
By Daniel J. Veroff, Rudy Tap
The road ahead for California’s property insurance landscape is one of cautious optimism. The impending changes to Proposition...
Letters
The bar exam benefits test preppers and isn’t indicative of qualified attorneys
By Joanna Mendoza
The Portfolio Bar Exam would not offer a free pass or easier path to candidates. It would instead be a more rigorous process d...
The future of the administrative state
By Erwin Chemerinsky
The Supreme Court has not defined what is a major question or what is sufficient authorization from Congress to meet the major...
Government, Civil Rights
California abdicating duties on housing people who are unhoused
By Brandon Greene
The state has enough tools to address our homelessness crisis without seeking the Supreme Court's intervention to allow for ci...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Client Trust Accounts, Part 1 - The basics
By Jennifer Stalvey
Attorneys have a duty to perform legal services with competence, which includes a nondelegable duty to oversee and properly ac...
Corporate
Unhappily ever after – saving your company when your business divorce winds up in court
By Aaron M. Gladstein
This article explores the specific steps to halt the dissolution process, highlights some traps for the unwary, and encourages...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Government
It is time to restore confidence in the State Bar
By Thomas J. Umberg
Like most lawyers, I have spent much of the last few years in shock as investigative journalists have, bit by bit, unraveled T...
Judges and Judiciary, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Do Superior Court judges have a role to play in the new ‘snitch rule?’
By Laura W. Halgren
Apart from a discovery sanctions motion, it is difficult to imagine when a court would be the proper tribunal for Rule 8.3 rep...
Technology, Labor/Employment
Employers willing to accept a certain level of risk in exchange for AI benefits
By Niloy Ray, Alice H. Wang
The survey population, who represent a range of industries and company sizes in the US and have a significant role in how AI i...
Ediscovery, Alternative Dispute Resolution
California allows attorneys to cast a wide net in discovery, but there are limits
By Gary Nadler
Addressing the common objection that a question “calls for a fishing expedition,” the court in Norton v. Superior Court (1994)...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Modified FRCP Rule 26 proposal means quicker outcome, happy clients
By James P. Gray
Why has the use of this modified Rule 26 been so effective? It basically provides the parties with the same information that t...
Land Use, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
A tale of two types of takings might soon come to an end
By Ellia Thompson
Too often, developers are an easy scapegoat for all infrastructure problems, and, more often than not, local officials push ev...