Family, Contracts
Unconscionable spousal support waivers will not be enforced
By Franklin R. Garfield
Whether an unconscionable waiver of spousal support in a premarital agreement signed prior to 2002 is enforceable has been the...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Government, California Supreme Court
What the ‘endemic’ means for the courts
By Saveena Takhar
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is fully embracing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s endemic phase and seeks to transition the courts to “...
Law Practice, Family, Covid Columns
Masks in court: Longing for the old days while embracing the new norm
By Travis I. Krepelka
The job of a judge or jury is made much harder if they can see only someone’s eyes, or only the upper portion of a person’s bo...
Technology, Data Privacy
Bad blood between Meta, EU sends troubling free speech signals
By Joshua R. Lastine
Legislators in the European Union are drawing plans to dictate how its citizens’ user data gets transferred to the U.S., and a...
Law Practice
Battle for Eastman’s emails: Scenes from the courtroom
By Michael Stockstill
Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, Carter issued a decision: He will read the emails and their attachments in camera, and the...
Criminal
Mental health diversion provides for pretrial resolution of serious felony cases
By Dmitry Gorin, Alan Eisner
Given its broad scope and promise of a complete dismissal of charges upon completion of a treatment program, effective defense...
The latest round of ballot measure insanity attempting to restrict fees in contingency matters is extremely dangerous.
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal
An 'occasion' to reconsider policies leading to mass incarceration
By John R. Mills
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt with an issue that could provide a roadmap for limiting the excesses of creatively sta...
“Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts” (5th ed. 2021), edited-in-chief by Robert L. Haig, is immensely valuabl...
Criminal, Constitutional Law
Ending involuntary servitude in California
By Gay C. Grunfeld, Marc J. Shinn-Krantz
While the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude for some, it contains a loophole...
U.S. Supreme Court, Letters, Land Use
Justice’s dissent outlines way forward in dispute over increasing Berkeley enrollment
By John Hsu
I have read a number of the Daily Journal’s recent articles regarding the dispute between Save Berkeley’s Neighborhood and the...
While litigants accept the inevitability of pretrial arguments over jury instructions, the process by which these instructions...
Labor/Employment, Government
‘Made in America’ should mean ‘Made with Dignity’
By Maria Elena Durazo, Teddy Kapur
We need political willpower and cooperation among officials to hold bad actors accountable for wage theft in L.A.
Brief paints clearest picture yet of culpability for January 6 riots
By John H. Minan
The House Select Committee continues to investigate the causes that contributed to the violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2...
Businesses around the world are facing substantial financial impact from Russia’s invasion of — or war against — Ukraine. The ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
Case pits LGBTQ access to public accommodations against vendors' First Amendment rights
By Sanford Jay Rosen, Thomas Nolan
Against the backdrop of the LGBTQ equal rights legal movement over the last half century, a case the U.S. Supreme Court agreed...
Ignoring front-line employee concerns backfired for Elizabeth Holmes. How is it working for America’s most notorious progressi...
U.S. Supreme Court, Government, Constitutional Law
Major questions about the major questions doctrine
By Alison Somin
Don’t miss the broader legal significance of the Supreme Court’s vaccine-or-test cases.
There’s a reason more senior attorneys rely on referrals for business development: It’s one of the profession’s surefire ways ...
Construction, Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal
Despite admission, roadway contractor can’t avoid liability
By Garret D. Murai
For the roadway contractor, it appeared to be an open-and-shut case due to an admission of liability. But that wasn’t how the ...
Legal Education
An alternative option for renaming UC Hastings College of the Law
By Kris Whitten
There is a speedier solution that might be the ticket — one that few will probably embrace but most can live with (aka a good ...
Letters, Judges and Judiciary
Disabled candidates are lacking in judicial appointments
By Mark S. Siegel
In three years, the governor’s appointment rate of people with disabilities is less than 1%. It is also my understanding that ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Administrative/Regulatory
An opportunity to reckon with the truth of cannabis prohibition
By David C. Holland
In a case that asks whether the federal Controlled Substances Act preempts certain state workers’ compensation law, the U.S. S...
U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Property
Ruling expands policy of leniency for copyright registration errors
By Samuel Brooks
In a ruling at the end of Febraury, the U.S. Supreme Court took another step down the road of relaxing the formalities claiman...
Securities, Law Practice, Civil Litigation
Upcoming forum to discuss recent trends in securities class actions
By Ellen Anne G. Stewart
As we enter the third month of 2022 amid swirling uncertainty in many aspects of professional and personal life, legal practit...
I’ve watched lots of lawyers argue appeals — usually while waiting my turn at the bottom of an oral argument calendar. Most do...
While my colleagues and I strongly support education and awareness to heighten our sensitivity to implicit bias, I cannot help...
With the lack of court appearances and trials, rustiness in daily practice and trial procedures crept in.
Labor/Employment, Alternative Dispute Resolution
What does it mean to apologize in employment mediations?
By Jonathan Andrews
“Apology, forgiveness and reconciliation” is a powerful concept in dispute resolution; however, it is rarely explored in emplo...
Government, Criminal
They were elected to enforce laws, not write them
By Eugene M. Hyman
The people elected legislators to write their laws; they elected members of the executive branch to enforce them. They’re welc...