When you are arguing a case and the judge is staring into space, seemingly shutting you and your argument out of her conscious...
Civil Litigation
California courts continue to chip away at-will doctrine
By Timothy D. Reuben, Michael Hirota
While it's now codified in the California Labor Code, there has long been judicial protection for those wrongly accused of, an...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Reinvent the State Bar of California
By Teresa J. Schmid
If history is any guide, these are times that could try the soul of the State Bar.
Judges and Judiciary, Letters
Summing up Brown's picks in one sentence
By Nathaniel J. Friedman
Retired Justice Rick Sims' well-thought out article might well be summed up in a single sentence: "If you loved Rose Bird, you...
Judges and Judiciary, Letters
Lack of experience is actually quite common
By Aashish Y. Desai
Not until President Dwight Eisenhower was in office did an issue arise over appointing only justices with prior judicial exper...
Environmental & Energy
Double whammy for state fuel suppliers
By R. Morgan Gilhuly, Christopher D. Jensen
The California Air Resources Board is poised to readopt the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard regulation in early 2015.
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Law Practice
Privileges when law firms seek advice
By Stephen L. Raucher
Do a law firm's fiduciary and ethical duties to its current clients trump the attorney-client privilege? Last month, a Califor...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Letters
No one benefits from making the bar look bad
By Timothy D. Reuben
Typically a plaintiff's lawyer in a wrongful termination lawsuit does not publish articles arguing his case to the public. But...
The post-judgment 'golden hour'
By Paul D. Fogel, David J. de Jesus
The immediate aftermath of an adverse judgment can be chaotic and it is easy to lose sight of the procedural requirements for ...
California Supreme Court, Environmental & Energy
CEQA exemptions on trial at high court
By Arthur F. Coon
The California Supreme Court is finally poised to hear and decide a landmark California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, ca...
As a retired judge who spent 30 years in the California judiciary, I oppose the appointment of Leondra Kruger to the Californi...
If you need a laptop that is not too heavy, easy to travel with, powerful and a long lasting battery, you might want to look i...
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is to be congratulated on her recent reelection. She has been a powerful and effecti...
Entertainment & Sports, Intellectual Property
Stairway to Heaven, or to the jury room?
By Corey Field
Every rock 'n' roll fan knows the opening to "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin's iconic 1971 hit. But another band popular at...
Constitutional Law, Criminal, Judges and Judiciary
Fixing our two tier system of justice
By Aram B. James
No indictment, no justice, in the cold blooded killing, of unarmed African-American youth, Michael Brown, by Ferguson, Missour...
The best lawyers have a life because they have an understanding of civic activity, community, family and intellectualism - whi...
Backlash may trigger civil forfeiture reform
By Brian S. Kabateck
Few legal concepts can unite the nation in disbelief, but civil forfeiture laws turn the American ideal of "innocent until pro...
Contracts, Letters
'Super-omnibus' indemnity isn't invincible in California
By Timothy R. Pappas
Although not a perfect solution, consumers harmed by "super-omnibus" indemnity clauses in California can take some solace in t...
Constitutional Law, Criminal, U.S. Supreme Court
When you can rely on anonymous tips
By Michael J. Raphael
When may an anonymous tip provide the basis for reasonable suspicion to allow a police officer to stop and briefly detain an i...
Banking, California Courts of Appeal
Banks can't hide behind check cashing companies
By Jill Switzer
A recent case address the all-too-common scenario occurs where a client's "trusted" employee, accounting manager, bookkeeper o...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court
Public carry and the 2nd Amendment
By Lawrence Rosenthal
Likely the most critical issue to be decided in Heller's wake is whether the Second Amendment secures a right to carry firearm...
Law Practice
You've won the case, your client will recover, so now what?
By Robert W. Wood
Everyone wants to win, but lawyers may not consider all the ramifications to the client. ...
You remember Berman v. Parker, right? Well guess how that turned out. ...
I regret to inform the California legal community what has happened at the State Bar. ...
Failing to ask for the right jury instruction may well land you a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel, as one recent ...
Intellectual Property, U.S. Supreme Court
The death of Internet patents
By Ben M. Davidson
Should patents be used to monopolize abstract ideas of doing business on the Internet using conventional programming technique...
Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court
It all depends on whose privacy it is
By Rebecca L. Brown
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear City of Los Angeles v. Patel, a case which may provide the court an opportunity...
Whatever your religion and however you view physician-assisted dying with dignity, the case of Brittany Maynard was a painfull...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Litigation
States can't obtain double recovery in class settlements
By Julia B. Strickland, David W. Moon
The 9th Circuit recently decided that public officials cannot obtain a duplicate recovery in the form of restitution to indivi...
Administrative/Regulatory, Government
Don't tread on the Internet
By Bennett L. Ross, Brett Shumate
If the FCC subjects broadband services to the same regulations that apply to traditional telephone services, the results will ...