Alternative Dispute Resolution, Letters, Civil Litigation
Keep mediation fully confidential
By Fern Topas Salka
Another point of view on the California Law Revision Commission's proposal to limit confidentiality in mediation in the event ...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Intellectual Property
Batmobile captures copyright protection
By Ashley R. Yeargan, Edward A. Klein
A recent 9th Circuit ruling should help creators of entertainment properties secure copyright protection in their characters. ...
Labor/Employment
When courts fail to explain denial of class certification
By Gene F. Williams
Not all denials of class certification are treated equally, as one defendant in recently learned. ...
The California Supreme Court will soon wrestle with the question of whetherthe Indian Child Welfare Act applies to children pr...
Real Estate/Development, Administrative/Regulatory, Government
A true 'redevelopment replacement'
By Seth Merewitz, Sigrid Asmundson
Since the demise of redevelopment in 2012 and the assurance of a "replacement" by Gov. Brown, many bills have attempted to cre...
Admission. For decades, I have been violating federal copyright law.
In the coming days, the state Supreme Court will be deciding whether to approve the recommendation of the State Bar to reduce ...
Law Practice, State Bar & Bar Associations
Is more CLE the medicine we need?
By Diane L. Karpman
As they did in 2013, the State Bar of California again wants to increase the MCLE requirement. ...
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation
New CLRC rules unfairly criticized
By Elizabeth A. Moreno, Larry Doyle
In August, the CLRC voted to draft legislation preventing attorneys from using California's mediation confidentiality laws to...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation
Ethics and e-discovery
By A. Marco Turk
The State Bar's Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct recently issued Opinion No. 2015-193, defining a...
Constitutional Law
They have fought American wars, pledged allegiance to the American flag, and played American football, yet they are still not ...
Justice Stephen Breyer's new book, "The Court and the World" is simultaneously enlightening and frustrating. ...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Securities
Ruling broadens Dodd-Frank protections, creates split
By Daniel A. Saunders
This month the 2nd Circuit held that Dodd-Frank provides a private cause of action to employees who suffer retaliation after r...
Administrative/Regulatory
CFAA reform is badly needed
By Cindy A. Cohn, Jamie Lee Williams
Technology lawyers understand that our world is now interconnected, with Americans using other people's computers as much as t...
Insurance, Labor/Employment
Policies actually might cover wage and hour lawsuit
By Shaun H. Crosner
Wage and hour class actions can be costly to defend and can subject employers to substantial exposure in the form of settlemen...
California Supreme Court, Environmental & Energy
CEQA and climate change: in the Supreme Court's crosshairs
By Richard M. Frank
A review of cases concerning the California Environmental Quality Act currently on the Supreme Court docket.
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Letters, Civil Litigation
Limiting confidentiality in mediation is a slippery slope
By A. Marco Turk
A Sept. 24 a piece impliedly refuted my arguments opposing the California Law Revision Commission's current study, K-402. ...
Environmental & Energy, Judges and Judiciary, Civil Litigation
Take a closer look at CEQA petitions
By Susan L. Brandt-Hawley
Both judges and attorneys must be familiar with CEQA's unique litigation deadlines and processes that implement this important...
Irony is not lost on the few remaining Holocaust survivors that Germany has championed and led the way in taking far more than...
Intellectual Property, U.S. Supreme Court
Laches live on in patent context despite high court ruling
By Ben M. Davidson
Whereas Congress eliminated laches as a defense in copyright cases by enacting a three-year period, it codified laches as a de...
Administrative/Regulatory, Civil Rights, Government, Health Care & Hospital Law
Statewide condom law ignores reality of industry
By Chauntelle Anne Tibbals
Plans to take L.A.'s law requiring condom use in porn productions statewide in 2016 are ill-conceived. ...
Days after introducing 'new' corporate prosecution guidelines encouraging the prosecution of individuals, the DOJ announced an...
Administrative/Regulatory, Corporate, Government
DOJ authority to strike deals with defendants limited
By Michael M. Farhang
On Sept. 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument in a significant case on the U.S. Department o...
Who wins when the Fed refuses to raise interest rates, yet again?
Civil Rights, Criminal
Transgender jail policy a major advance
By Sanford Jay Rosen, Aaron J. Fischer
SF recently announced a plan to allow transgender prisoners who identify as female to participate in programs in women's jail.
California Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
Testing the temerity of the takings clause
By Basil S. Shiber
Recent cases have tested the scope of the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in a variety of conte...
New Tesla's speeds are ludicrous
By Paul R. Kiesel
Can you imagine what it's like for the beleaguered general counsel of Tesla when Musk asks about including a "ludicrous" mode?
Pursuing an appeal in a civil case is risky and expensive — so be sure you know it's worth rolling the dice.
California Courts of Appeal, Civil Litigation
Lawsuit presents anti-SLAPP conundrum
By Joel McCabe Smith
A lawsuit in Orange County recently presented an interesting anti-SLAPP statute conundrum: Who should decide in the first inst...
Administrative/Regulatory, Corporate, Criminal, Government
DOJ shifts focus to individual misconduct
By Sara J. O'Connell
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an initiative to pursue individuals who perpetrate corporate wrongdoing. ...