Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary
The Special Verdict Paradox: Part I
If a jury finds that a civil plaintiff has proven each element of its claim, does it necessarily follow that the plaintiff has...
Civil Rights
Third-party standing as an ADA accommodation on appeal
Because there are never any appeals by people with disabilities in limited conservatorship proceedings, appellate judges have ...
Law Practice
Knock knock! State Bar special master at your door
Since 1979, a select group of hand-picked individuals from the State Bar's Special Master's List have been responsible for car...
Civil Rights
As currently written, two bills in the U.S. Senate would only apply to state projects intended to improve guardianship and abu...
Civil Rights
Access to Justice: E(quality) = MC410
All attorneys should be aware that federal law requires government entities and businesses to provide reasonable accommodation...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative/Regulatory, Environmental & Energy
Rulings impact sustainable food movement
Earlier last month, the 9th Circuit issued three opinions that together addressed whether counties in Hawaii are preempted fro...
U.S. Supreme Court
Vagueness challenges are in vogue
A recent Supreme Court case striking down a law as unconstitutionally vague has quickly become the most frequently cited case ...
Civil Rights
Disability awareness all day, every day
For judges and attorneys who interact with litigants who have cognitive disabilities, every single day must be disability awar...
Civil Rights
Delay and denial of voting rights in California
In the meantime, some 32,000 people with disabilities in California will be kept from the polls in November. By Thomas F. Cole...
Criminal, Constitutional Law
A federal appellate court recently held that cellphone users do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cellphon...
Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court
Don't let technology leave privacy behind
A federal appellate court recently held that cellphone users do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cellphon...
Constitutional Law, Criminal
Don't back government-sanctioned hacking
Congress should support the Stopping Mass Hacking Act and encourage legislative and public scrutiny of remote access searches ...
Civil Litigation
How much money do you want?
If there were an Oscar awarded to the most overlooked provision in the California Code of Civil Procedure, it might go to Sect...
Judges and Judiciary, Civil Litigation
To the dictionary ... and beyond!
Is there a way for a judge to "look up" the ordinary meaning of a word in a statute other than by using a dictionary? The acad...
Judges and Judiciary
Court legal services program appears to violate ADA
Adults with developmental disabilities are receiving deficient legal services in limited conservatorship proceedings. By Thoma...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal
Dueling canons
What if, in a single case, two canons of construction each require a different result? This question may underlie a criminal s...
Criminal, U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court's five-page opinion in a recent case may spawn further litigation that will command great public attent...
Expert Advice
The Perils of Filing Jointly
Just because a married couple can file jointly doesn't mean they should. ...
Law Practice, Civil Litigation
Settling a case with a penalty
What are attorneys to do if they wish to compromise a case with an incentive to encourage payment on schedule? For starters, t...
Appellate Practice
Legal system without appeals should raise eyebrows
Our legal system presupposes a considerable number of contested hearings and a fair number of appeals. Appellate courts play a...
Health Care & Hospital Law
Reform long overdue for conservatorship process
The conservatorship process for adults with developmental disabilities is broken. By Thomas F. Coleman ...
Law Office Management
Embrace Parentheticals
Concise arguments may be made using the (oft-ignored) parenthetical. ...
Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court
Officer mistake opinion raises questions
When the U.S. Supreme Court held that a traffic stop based on a reasonable mistake of law by a police officer does not violate...
Criminal, Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court
When you can rely on anonymous tips
When may an anonymous tip provide the basis for reasonable suspicion to allow a police officer to stop and briefly detain an i...
Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court
Justices taking a look at dog sniffs
When officers stop a car for a traffic violation, they may employ a trained dog to sniff the vehicle for drugs. But how long m...
Constitutional Law, Criminal, U.S. Supreme Court
Justices consider statutory text limits
Can a person be guilty of federal bank fraud even where his scheme contemplates no deception of a bank? ...
Criminal
In the Supreme Court, plain text means context
In the ordinary criminal case, if an accused's conduct is prohibited by the plain text of a statutory provision, the person is...
Law Office Management
The Urge to Exclaim
In legal writing, don't give in to the urge to exclaim. ...
Law Office Management
Your Own Style
Even in legal writing, find your own style to create compelling communication. ...
Constitutional Law, Books
The Classical Liberal Constitution
Erwin Chemerinsky is impressed and disturbed by Richard Epstein's The Classic Liberal Constitution. ...