U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court
Crawford today: Tasting great or less filling?
For several decades now, the federal and California courts have been debating -- blessedly, not to the point of fisticuffs -- ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
The U.S. Supreme Court on October 29 agreed to review a 9th Circuit decision that broadly construed the right of individuals t...
Environmental & Energy
Unfortunately, in recent months a Big Lie about the California Environmental Quality Act has been popping up around California...
Government
Think outside the prison
The largest U.S. infrastructure-focused budget should include investment in dedicated inpatient facilities for mentally ill an...
Family
It’s over. Or is it? The date of separation quandary
To paraphrase “Hamlet,” “Separated, or not separated — that is the question” The date of separation is legally the date of the...
Criminal
The bill embodies a new, more just approach in which government initiates and completes the process for reducing, dismissing, ...
Tax
Congress recently floated a proposal to halve the estate and gift tax exclusion, effective January 1. As of this writing, this...
Securities, Corporate
Beginning next year, a new state securities law will significantly reduce the out-of-pocket cost of raising up to $300,000 in ...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Letters, Law Practice
Danny Abir’s recent column unfairly characterizes an organization and individuals with a proven record in expanding access to ...
Judges and Judiciary, California Supreme Court
Calfornia’s courts need updating
As Americans question the capacity of their institutions to serve them effectively and people around the world voice doubts ab...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Letters, Law Practice
Paraprofessional opposition appears biased
I initially had no interest in accepting the Daily Journal’s request to its subscribers to submit articles either in support o...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System’s pursuit of and support for new legal service models in variou...
Judges and Judiciary, Criminal
Our justice system must become more victim-centric
If the pandemic has had any kind of benefit, it’s that it has raised awareness of the functions and dysfunctions of our courts...
U.S. Supreme Court, Labor/Employment, Civil Litigation
The Washington Department of Ecology allows public employee union representatives to communicate with workers in the building’...
Immigration, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Courts confront racist immigration law
A pair of 9th Circuit cases will examine what the Constitution requires Congress to do when confronted with the present-day ef...
Law Practice
Limiting liability for legal malpractice
As wide-ranging as the practice of law is, so too is the range of potential legal malpractice claims. But, at their core, many...
Criminal, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
You’ve been arrested and charged with a crime. You’ve been denied pretrial release, and you don’t have the money for bail. So ...
Insurance, Civil Litigation, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Three recent 9th Circuit rulings held that business income and extra expense losses incurred following business closures order...
Criminal, Civil Rights
Racism baked into California’s drug prohibition laws
There are many ways to answer the question of whether the drug wars are racist, and all of them are “yes.” In California, spec...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary
My warranty is up
I am optimistic that Supreme Court justices who read this column will take my advice and write shorter opinions.
Military Law, Civil Rights
Mexican-Americans faced horrifying discrimination in this country. In her book “All For One & One For All,” author Amy Wat...
Law Practice
What a 100% remote trial is really like
A court reporter’s gavel-to-gavel account of a four-month Zoom trial during COVID
Corporate, Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal
Guidance for boardroom disputes in the courtroom
A recent appellate court opinion that is now certified for publication resolves some open questions about how membership inte...
Civil Litigation, Bankruptcy
Purdue portends a change of bankruptcy venue laws
After agreeing to settle some 2,600 separate lawsuits over the company’s involvement in fostering the nation’s opioid crisis, ...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Legal Education
Congress must act to relieve student debt burden
The burden of overwhelming debt is hurting many new graduates — including lawyers — and that affects the American economy. You...
Contracts
Discover some effective terms for seeking and obtaining indemnification that protect both parties and reduce the likelihood of...
Real Estate, Land Use
Decades of underbuilding, largely due to red tape imposed by prohibitive land use laws, has pushed California into a housing c...
Law Practice
Why clients should be completely honest with lawyers
Quite often the thing that your client fears will harm the case is irrelevant and not be admissible at trial to begin with.
Government, Antitrust & Trade Reg., Administrative/Regulatory
Antitrust reform has been a long time in the making
America’s longstanding antitrust policy is under fierce attack. What was once a relatively insipid area of law characterized b...
Health Care & Hospital Law, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
S.B. 8 sets procedural traps, but providers and advocates can overcome them through the ordinary processes of presenting const...