Government, Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Will the wave of PFAS litigation hit California?
In the last year, litigation involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances has spiked across the nation. To date this litigati...
They profoundly influence our lives. They can be found all over the world. When not fulfilling their mission, they blend in wi...
Tax, Law Practice
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed at the end of 2017 doubled the estate and gift tax exemption. With much aplomb, it was announ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Government, Constitutional Law
Supreme Court’s nondelegation ruling settled nothing
On the morning of September 28 last year, Sen. Jeff Flake announced he would be voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. A few hours...
Military Law, Health Care & Hospital Law, Government, Family
Many veterans believe that government benefits are only available if they were wounded in combat or suffer from a disability r...
Community News
LA-ABOTA program update
You won't find a better close-up audience experience to hone your trial skills than by watching and hearing the state's very b...
Government, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Preserve LA’s Dispute Resolution Program
For 30 years -- since Avis Ridley-Thomas founded it in 1989 -- the Dispute Resolution Program has been providing free mediatio...
Real Estate, Government
HUD policy would exacerbate a worsening crisis
Last month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development published a proposed rule which would terminate housing assistance...
Judges and Judiciary, Constitutional Law
An insightful look at state constitutional law
I recently attended a talk by Judge Jeffrey Sutton who sits on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The subject was a book h...
Julian Assange. Bryan Carmody. Each incident is a troubling incursion on First Amendment freedoms. One is a flat-out violation...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Government
Does California value public interest litigation?
In the past few years, private advocacy groups that intervene to defend challenged laws have successfully sought hundreds of t...
Corporate, Contracts
As the asset-light business model for hotel companies has become de rigueur, long-term management contracts have taken on incr...
Criminal
Reflections on a life without parole sentence
“What am I supposed to do, just die in prison?” I was seated just outside the dilapidated holding cell adjacent to the courtro...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary
A moral dilemma
So am I going to go ahead with my novel? I’m thinking about it.
Administrative/Regulatory, Environmental & Energy
To produce sufficient food and fiber to feed California, the nation and the world, Central Valley farmers use synthetic and o...
From ancient times, people have erected statues celebrating significant figures of their eras. As times change, such monuments...
Civil Rights
Breaking the code of silence
Imagine being a teenage girl and locked up in a juvenile detention facility. Now imagine being sexually assaulted up to 10 tim...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mediators persist in efforts to rebuild and renew. The destroyers and innovative creators of the last 856 years in the evolvin...
Constitutional Law
Property owners have the right to a fair hearing first
There’s a legitimate debate about how best to balance public coastal access with private property rights. But there should be ...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
California lawyers married to a military spouse
Yet another example of the sacrifices military families make
Judges and Judiciary, State Bar & Bar Associations
On April 17, the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association will celebrate its Forty Fourth Anniversary at a dinner at th...
“Our Selma” is an apt description of this person we so love and respect. This affectionate possessive was how retired Supreme ...
Law Practice, Civil Rights
A right to counsel in evictions: LA can do it too
New York did it. San Francisco and Newark did it. Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Connecticut and other jurisdictions are considerin...
Government, Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Agencies finally begin to address dangers of PFAS
This article provides background on polyfluoroalkyl substances, highlights recent regulatory developments and raises, as yet, ...
Civil Litigation, Constitutional Law
Holding gun manufacturers responsible for reckless ads
Manufacturers may soon find themselves back in the hot seat after a March 14 decision from the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Brenda F. Harbin-Forte, a judge on the Alameda County Superior Court, has researched and written about African-American women ...
Government, Criminal
Gov. Gavin Newsom made history by declaring a moratorium on executions in California and even tweeting out images of the execu...
Government, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Ruling is a victory in battle for affordable housing
The 9th Circuit recently upheld a Santa Monica ordinance regulating short-term rentals companies. This decision is a win not j...
Constitutional Law, California Courts of Appeal, Criminal
The schizophrenic Sixth
The Bible may say, “No one can serve two masters.” But do these words of wisdom apply to the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel?
California Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Appellate Practice
Projected admissibility
A July 2017 paper on quantum mechanics suggests the future influences the present. Our Supreme Court appears to have to come t...