Using a questionnaire, I am usually successful in swearing in the jury and the alternates on the first day of trial. Sometimes...

2022 marks the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, a groundbreaking federal law that has significantly expanded educational opportun...

Last year an appellate court clarified some 30 years of conflicting caselaw on the procedure for amending trust documents, but...

While the United States performs strongly in certain areas, it falls behind in the civil justice and criminal justice categories.

Attorneys have to have many difficult conversations with clients; sometimes it can be tough to get a client to moderate their ...

Some (but not all) judges on occasion seem to place language in their opinions that can serve as breadcrumbs (because the lang...

Although even judges are only slightly better than chance at calling a lie, both lawyers and judges can improve their ability ...

Last week, the Central District of California announced the suspension of civil and criminal jury trials.

Sometimes, mediation and/or arbitration simply will not do; you have to get ready for trial.

The reason is simple. Ballot designations.

The 4th District Court of Appeal recently recognized that the breadth of the Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act an...

The U.S. Senate’s filibuster rule looms large, threatening to stymie both the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and President Joe B...

The number of Californians who drive under the influence of drugs or while intoxicated remains high — even amid a global pande...

In my experience, few large multimillion-dollar fee disputes ever reach trial or arbitration hearing. They settle, like the va...

In these polarizing times, civility is too often lacking -- and in 2021, California appellate courts made clear they were not ...

What appellate courts have said about Penal Code Section 1170.91

In California, the one final judgment rule is primary. However, there are exceptions -- for example, if an order is “collatera...

A few “resolutions” for attorneys aimed at fixing five bad habits that are all too common and that can create unnecessary risk...

The U.S. Supreme Court should hold that the challenges to the Biden administration’s unconstitutional, extra-statutory, and ar...

For tonight’s movie, we’re suggesting you stream “Inherit the Wind,” the classic 1960 film about the 1925 Scopes Monkey trial.

In a recent appellate decision vacating Purdue Pharma’s confirmed chapter 11 bankruptcy plan of reorganization, the U.S. Distr...

Unlike a deed of trust, a mechanics lien is an involuntary lien against real property. Any by “involuntary.” I mean you have n...

Accidental injury is America’s number three cause of death — you could call it our country’s other, less-talked-about pandemic...

Now’s the time for all those year-end retrospectives, so why not an appellatey annual review?

Will try to be optimistic about the future. Sorry, I can only try. But I can be certain about a resolution that is an acknowle...

Ongoing delays in the Court of Appeal have exposed weak links in the protections that were devised in response to a California...

Most lawyers think you win appeals with erudite dissertations on the law. Not me. The law matters, but the facts matter more.

By the time you read this I will be gone — from big law.

It is December, and everyone takes stock of what has transpired during the past year. Why should we be different? We have had ...

This year, the Court of Appeals maintained its role as one of the most prodigious sources of key environmental law decisions.