Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
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 ...
Law Practice, State Bar & Bar Associations
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 ...
Criminal, Government
Gov. Gavin Newsom made history by declaring a moratorium on executions in California and even tweeting out images of the execu...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Government
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...
Criminal, Constitutional Law, California Courts of Appeal
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?
Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court, 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...
Tax, Real Estate/Development
The new tax law created an incentive program which encourages investors to make long-term financial investments in opportunity...
The opioid problem is monstrous and tentacular. Litigation is a critically important component of the response to the crisis: ...
Judges and Judiciary, California Supreme Court
The funds may be used to defray the travel expenses of law students and graduate students needing to access archival materials...
Constitutional Law
In the battle between desire for public access and environmental preservation, respecting property rights is the best solution
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary
Take a breath
When I use commas, it’s so the reader can take a break.
Administrative/Regulatory
In September, California became the first state to ban the sale of most cosmetics tested on animals. The passage of Senate Bil...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, State Bar & Bar Associations
Dissolving legal barriers (Part 2)
On Wednesday, in the first part of this series I urged dissolving barriers among members of the legal profession. Here, I note...
Intellectual Property, U.S. Supreme Court
Patent Office guidance does not adhere to Alice
The Patent Office’s new guidance aims to upend the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS Bank on two fronts.
Judges and Judiciary, Law Practice
Congress never intended to allow these fees to be set so high.
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary
Dissolving legal barriers (Part 1)
Trial judges and appellate justices rarely interact across their courts. Judges and lawyers have sporadic, desultory contact a...
California Courts of Appeal, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court
Heimlich relief for 998 offers
Attorneys may be surprised to learn that there is no clear roadmap when it comes to employing the cost-shifting mechanisms of ...
This conundrum presents these attorneys with a veritable Sophie's Choice: assert their legal claims and disclose privileged in...
Military Law, Labor/Employment
Employing veterans in California
Lawyers might want to keep in mind that what appears to be a run-of-the-mill employment situation may be anything but. When ve...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice
As of Jan. 1, 2019, a key component of settlement agreements in California — the release of unknown claims and waiver of Civil...