Civil Litigation, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
The Ninth Circuit recently undercut defenses against ADA “serial plaintiffs”
By Bob Blum
A serial litigant’s intent to return may not be rejected “simply because” he is a serial litigant who brings numerous ADA cases.
The IRS said that given the complicated fact-specific nature of evaluating these payments for federal tax purposes, it was rul...
Education Law, Criminal
Creating a prison to university pipeline
By Keramet Reiter, Katie Tinto
Not only does education dramatically reduce recidivism, but it is significantly cheaper than incarceration.
Tax, Real Estate/Development, Government
City of LA mansion tax faces serious equal protection scrutiny
By Jeffrey Dintzer, Matt Hedstrom
A recent lawsuit asserts that the tax fails to provide any rational basis for differing treatment of different “classes” under...
Judges and Judiciary, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Biased judges can undermine justice
By Arash Homampour
When a judge’s unconscious or implicit biases affect decisions and actions in court, they can compromise the fair and impartia...
Frequency analysis gives the mediator a variety of ways to tweak the numbers to suggest to the parties that their gut estimate...
Briefs within the current California limits – 14,000 words for principal briefs and 28,000 words for combined briefs in a cros...
A review of ethical issues that can put your fees at risk.
Sometimes, the potential clash between new Legislature-enacted laws and prior voter initiatives is obvious, and the Legislatur...
Not surprisingly, conservatives challenging Biden administration policies choose to file in a division where there is just one...
Real Estate/Development, Land Use
Receiverships are a viable remedy to community eyesores
By Ryan Griffith
Health and safety receiverships are a legal remedy to repair major nuisance properties and increase affordable housing.
Good estate tax planning is good creditor planning.
California Supreme Court
California Supreme Court Review: January 2023
By Alexis S. Coll, Nicole J. Kim
The California Supreme Court's recent decision, Yahoo Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, articulated...
Labor/Employment, Covid Columns
Post-COVID accommodations may still be reasonable
By Kamran M. Shahabi
Employers must now consider accommodation requests that reflect the workplace changes wrought by COVID. The world may have bee...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Avoiding ethical snares when defending depositions
By Alanna G. Clair, Shari L. Klevens
It is helpful to review the relevant rules governing the scope of depositions and the nature of permissible objections before ...
Criminal
Criminal charges against Girardi are nothing more than a paper tiger
By Antonio R. Sarabia II
Girardi is already confined to an assisted living location. Moving him to another, even if it is prison, will not inflict much...
Entertainment & Sports
Stream it Tonight! Let Him Have It (1991)
By Paul Bergman, Michael Asimow
The judge’s comments are less a summing up than a dressing down of the defendants; he does everything but order the jurors to ...
Technology, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Deepfake defense emergence needs ethical oversight
By Rebecca Delfino
Because the norms of professional ethics require lawyers to advocate zealously, deepfakes invite lawyers to raise new objectio...
If you are addressing the judge, listen closely. The court may be on your side and you do not want to make it difficult for th...
Lest it be assumed that current community-based policing is a political football, we should know it was not always so.
Gascón claims to rely on “data and science.” What the data reveals from this group of convicted murderers is that 66% have bee...
It is an understatement to posit that our penal system is utterly failing to reintegrate its offenders into society.
Military Law, Civil Procedure
The statute that applies to the date of a VA award cannot be tolled.
By Nancy Jones
Many of the symptoms of PTSD, including avoidance and anxiety, often prevent veterans from facing their trauma for years. Yet ...
Immigration, Criminal
Ties to U.S. must be considered in criminal-related deportations
By Kahn Scolnick, Daniel Adler
California Supreme Court protects rights of noncitizens seeking relief from consequences of uninformed guilty pleas.
The court martial of Black sailors for mutiny by the Navy.
Law Practice, Appellate Practice
Ramirez: responding to restrictions on the affirmative use of PMQ testimony
By Don Willenburg
The decision may not break much new doctrinal ground, but it likely will have a huge practical effect.
California Courts of Appeal, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
2022’s top federal appellate practice cases
By Benjamin G. Shatz, Benjamin E. Strauss
Unlike California, with its robust writs practice, federal writ practice is anemic at best, meaning that statutory interlocuto...
Life insurance has a benefit the other three lack: all the ways in which money comes out of a life insurance policy are income...
Civil Procedure, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
RICO claim dismissal pushes cannabis cultivators off the tightrope
By Priya Sopori
California cannabis businesses may walk the line – paying state taxes and obtaining licenses – but that doesn’t mean they will...
Intellectual Property
When monkey business slips into trademark infringement
By David Martinez, Zac Cohen
“No mere monkey business”: Why a federal judge rejected an artist’s First Amendment defense to trademark infringement, keeping...