Government, Cannabis, Administrative/Regulatory
Governor signs 3 cannabis bills to disrupt illicit market and address worker exploitation
By Shay Aaron Gilmore
These three cannabis bills are meant to encourage participation in, and the lawful operation of, the licensed market by increa...
U.S. Supreme Court, Securities, Civil Procedure, Appellate Practice
Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC - SOX retaliation burden-shifting will likely not shift
By Shannon H.P. Ward
Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, must a whistleblower prove his employer acted with "retaliatory intent" as part of his c...
U.S. Supreme Court, Land Use, Constitutional Law
Developers and city planners will be watching this case closely
By Ritchie Vaughan
In September, the U.S. Supreme Court said it will consider expanding the Nollan/Dolan test for exactions on legislative...
Litigation & Arbitration, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Lessons learned from classic fictional attorneys
By Joanna L. Mishler
We set the stage with examples of how fictional attorneys handled a thorny issue, and then broke down how the attorney got it ...
Health Care, Pharmaceuticals, Biotech, Government, Civil Rights
CARE Court will become a path toward institutionalization
By Debra Roth
California must invest in community mental health services and housing – with input from people with lived experience of menta...
Technology, Communications Law
Will the FCC finally win the network neutrality ping pong match?
By Anita Taff-Rice
While the California Net Neutrality law has been widely viewed as the toughest law legislation in the country, complaints must...
Intellectual Property, Constitutional Law
Physical takings under copyright law
By Michael M. Berger
Demanding the physical surrender of private property to the government when there was no quid provided for this quo ran afoul ...
Insurance, Contracts
Wildfires spark challenges within the insurance market
By Chinye Uwechue
There is no easy solution and there are competing interests creating a constant political “tug of war.” Only time will tell ho...
Intellectual Property, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Turning a blind eye to trademark infringement
By Dariush G. Adli
Contributory trademark infringement based on willful blindness requires actual knowledge.
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Promoting integrity and inclusion: California’s formal recognition of the link between civility and bias
By Wendy L. Patrick
Criminal, Constitutional Law
Pending cases involving gun laws remain in limbo
By Don Hammond
The strategic question for criminal defense attorneys is, how long can we delay cases while we wait for the courts to strike d...
Government, Alternative Dispute Resolution
California’s detour from automatic arbitration appeal stays
By Tuyana Molokhoeva
SB 365 could potentially lead to parallel proceedings, where the main dispute continues in court while the appeal on the defen...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
What to know about Culley v. Marshall
By Conor Tucker
Respondents express concern that, under Mathews, a host of new procedural questions would arise, forcing federal courts to “mi...
U.S. Supreme Court, Administrative/Regulatory
Key employer takeaways from oral arguments in Murray v. UBS Securities
By Brian Neil Hoffman
Future litigants may not see dramatic changes to the existing SOX retaliation claim framework from Murray, and further ...
Entertainment & Sports, Contracts
How USC’s Shield can lead the way for NIL in college sports
By Frank N. Darras
Many of our current legislators across America were former college athletes now living back home with enormous college stadium...
Judges and Judiciary
Your son needs to know that his dad was a hero
By Lawrence P. Riff
An open letter to the widow and son of murdered Family Law Judge Andrew Wilkinson of Hagerstown, Maryland.
Letters, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Addressing misconceptions and practical application under Rule 8.3
By George Cardona, Erika Doherty
Every other jurisdiction has in place a version of American Bar Association Model Rule 8.3, and California’s rule includes the...
Technology, Intellectual Property
Addressing the limitations of the right of publicity in the world of AI
By Ashley R. Yeargan
Because of the way that streaming services compensate artists, there is a real concern that a flood of AI-generated content wi...
Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Practical advice for companies preparing for California’s new emissions laws
By David A. Niemeyer, Blake H. Bainou
While SB 253 and SB 261 are similar to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed emissions disclosure rules that...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Part 2 – Internal and external threats
By Jennifer Stalvey
The most common ways your Client Trust Accounts may be compromised from both internal and external sources, and how to help pr...
Technology, Expert Advice
Unraveling the unscrupulous expert witness through AI
By Andrew T. Ryan
How AI technology is transforming the legal landscape and holding unsavory experts accountable.
Arbitration may not be perfect, but it can provide significant value to litigants and the judicial system overall, taking burd...
Torts/Personal Injury
Sexual assault multidistrict litigation against Uber revs up
By Navruz Avloni
Uber wanted to put the brakes on sexual assault multidistrict litigation. Instead, a judicial panel transferred 13 cases to th...
State legislators approved a bill in 2020 shortening the length of probation in most misdemeanor cases. It is this law – not P...
Family, Criminal
Discarding the reasonableness standard in DVROs muddies the process
By Stephanie I. Blum, Timothy D. Reuben
Domestic violence restraining orders based on disturbing emotional calm should be subject to a reasonableness standard.
Apart from the tax filing and payment delays, there are other tax benefits too. Individuals and businesses in a federally decl...
In 2022, a McMaster University health report stated that “China is the only country in the world to have an industrial-scale o...
The Lunada Bay Boys gang has a free pass from the district attorney
By Antonio R. Sarabia II
How did this well-publicized gang operate for so many years with impunity? The likely answer is that the District Attorney nev...
Mediation is not solely a technical or procedural process; it is deeply rooted in human interactions and the ability to empath...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
SCOTUS should preserve tester standing under the ADA
By Raymond A. Wendell
Because of the widespread fixation on serial litigation, a decision against Laufer would threaten not just avowed tester plain...