About six years ago, I retired from law professing — and launched my new law firm. I gathered into my fold several former app...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Law Practice
California lawyers have a duty to blow the whistle
By Arash Homampour
Lawyers, like everyone else, are capable of doing bad things. This is especially true when they are funding grotesque lifestyl...
What state taxes apply if you are stuck in California or another state during the pandemic? Do you pay taxes where you are she...
Civil Rights, Military Law
Hispanic Heritage Month: Hispanic/Latino veterans’ long fight for access to the American Dream
By Eileen C. Moore
Mexican-Americans faced horrifying discrimination in this country. In her book “All For One & One For All,” author Amy Wat...
Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court
OT’21: Previewing the Supreme Court’s blockbuster docket
By James Azadian
All nine justices return to the bench this week — the First Monday of October — when the U.S. Supreme Court gavels-in its new ...
Administrative/Regulatory, Labor/Employment
Federal response to climate change: Turn the heat up on employers
By Colin Calvert, Sarah G. Bennett
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the White House conveyed, in an announcement on Sept. 20, that OSHA will...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Law Practice
Access denied: California’s watering down of the legal profession
By Jason E. Fellner
Last month, the California State Bar published its “California Paraprofessional Program Working Group Report and Recommendatio...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Hearsay or ixnay? The limited utility of hearsay objections in arbitration
By Christopher David Ruiz Cameron
The reason for the hearsay rule is simple enough to grasp: Hearsay evidence tends to be unreliable, because it’s not subject t...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Litigation, Securities
9th Circuit approves securities claims in direct listing offerings
By Jared L. Kopel
In a landmark ruling, a divided court gave the green light for securities actions against companies that went public through d...
Over the past year, California courts have continued to reject PAGA waivers. But what is so unique about the nature of PAGA la...
A court reporter’s gavel-to-gavel account of a four-month Zoom trial during COVID
Lines must drawn: public health vs privacy
By Anita Taff-Rice
Last year, the federal government contracted with a wastewater analytics company for a nationwide study of wastewater in the U...
Land Use, Real Estate/Development
Major legislation to spur modest residential projects
By Linda Klein, Amy Foo
A few weeks ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two housing bills that make small, infill housing projects easier in California: Sen...
Civil Litigation, Torts/Personal Injury
Overcoming ‘act of God’ defenses in dangerous condition cases
By Jonathan Davidi, Robert Glassman
What happens when your adversary blames a higher power who is incapable of being deposed or responding to discovery?
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Law Practice
'My Cousin Vinny' in Arbitration? (Part I: pre-hearing)
By Fred Bennett
As we all know, the enduring appeal of watching Vinny trying to navigate his way around a courtroom in a murder trial is the h...
California Courts of Appeal, Civil Litigation, Corporate
Guidance for boardroom disputes in the courtroom
By Bernard M. Resser, Vera Serova
A recent appellate court opinion that is now certified for publication resolves some open questions about how membership inte...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
California, 9th Circuit again on collision course with the Supreme Court
By Dariush Adli
A split decision by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal, upholding the validity of Assembly Bill 51 — the state la...
Law Practice, Technology
Practice of law becoming nimbly liquescent via high-tech and AI
By Lance Eliot
A recent trend is calling upon the legal arena to shift or transform from the outdated solidified ways of doing things to inst...
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a record number of false advertising food and beverage class actions cases were filed i...
During the period sometimes referred to as the Great Recession of 2007-09, the United States government became convinced that ...
California Courts of Appeal, Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
Ruling confirms courts can strike unmanageable PAGA claims
By Paul S. Cowie, Luis Arias
On Sept. 9, the California Court of Appeal issued a significant decision of first impression that provides employers with a ra...
Civil Litigation, Civil Rights, Health Care & Hospital Law
Filing vaccine injury claims under the National Vaccine Injury Act
By Benjamin K. Riley
Imagine being a parent in the 1940s and 1950s. It’s a hot summer day, and your daughter wants to go to the neighborhood pool. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted just about every industry and that impact initially resulted in an environment where risk asses...
An oft-repeated myth is that the Dodgers forsook their loyal Brooklyn fans and swooped into Los Angeles, literally bulldozing ...
Civil Litigation, Intellectual Property
Inter partes review a decade into the AIA
By Daniel N. Yannuzzi, Eric K. Gill
The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Sept. 16, 2011. Wi...
Judges and Judiciary
Hernan Vera should receive swift, bi-partisan confirmation to the federal court
By Jeremy B. Rosen
Given the increasing and distressing polarization between left and right in this country, I have decided to do my very small p...
Civil Litigation, Technology
Companies vulnerable to data breaches are now vulnerable to litigation
By Peter S. Selvin
Recent court cases are testing the liability of companies and their directors for data breaches suffered by their vendors or s...
Administrative/Regulatory, Securities
Are cryptocurrencies the kryptonite of the SEC?
By Benny Osorio
Law Practice, Technology
Our justice system is finally warming up to tech
By Paul R. Kiesel, Stephanie M. Taft
The day has finally arrived where remote technology may find a permanent place in our judicial system. Last week, as part of a...
Law Practice, Torts/Personal Injury
If a tree falls in the woods, is there sovereign immunity?
By Crawford Appleby
Gary is riding his bike along a road next to the woods when a tree branch suddenly falls and injures him. It turns out that th...