Real Estate/Development, Land Use
The Housing Accountability Act roars into life
By Dolores B. Dalton
In 2017 and 2018, the California Legislature added teeth to the Housing Accountability Act, which is a previously little-known...
Labor/Employment, Health Care & Hospital Law
EEOC issues guidance on reasonable accommodation of employee opioid use and addiction
By Nicole Legrottaglie Wohl
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released a pair of new technical assistance guidance documents to ad...
Health Care & Hospital Law, Data Privacy
California bill aims to make contact tracing feasible and safe
By Gerald L. Sauer
In the U.S., contact tracing is presently more concept than reality. People just don’t trust the government with their persona...
Entertainment & Sports
The Paramount consent decrees' final act gives way to a remake of the studio system
By Jeff Cohen
For a business that loves sequels, perhaps we are witnessing Studio System Part Deux, The Studios Strike Back. There were some...
The ascent of Joe Biden to the top spot on a presidential ticket has caused many people to review the half-century of Biden's ...
Tax
Five things for lawyers to know about tax planning during COVID-19
By Robert W. Wood
Nearly everyone has been impacted by COVID-19, from health worries, layoffs, cutbacks, reneged job offers, business and court ...
Insurance, Civil Litigation
Court: Business property insurance covers COVID-19-related losses
By Ryan P. McCarl, John M. Rushing
Do all-risk business property insurance policies cover losses related to COVID-19? A recent decision out of the Western Distri...
The traditional mission of the U.S. Postal Service is to bind the nation together by providing a “reliable affordable, univers...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Appellate Practice
Enhancing appellate court opinions
By David J. Ozeran
Appellate court opinions are usually dry reads. No one takes a stack of advance sheets to read on vacation. Opinions are gener...
Labor/Employment, Government, California Supreme Court
Is the California Rule in jeopardy after Alameda County?
By Ronald J. Scholar
In a 90-page opinion issued on July 30, a unanimous California Supreme Court looked deep into the abyss of pension rights and ...
Criminal
Interpreting the law or ignoring it? Prosecutorial overreach in the face of tragedy
By Theshia Naidoo
Chelsea Becker was charged with murder after giving birth to a stillborn child. But is that ever, under any circumstances, a c...
Law Practice, Appellate Practice
How hot is that writ? Considerations for requesting a stay
By Sharon Baumgold
I worked for more than 38 years as a writ attorney in the California Court of Appeal, 2nd District, so believe me when I tell ...
Criminal, California Supreme Court
After high court ruling, defense bar is already sharpening their subpoenas for digital evidence
By Donald E. Landis Jr.
The California Supreme Court recently issued its second of two landmark decisions of first impression, addressing criminal def...
Entertainment & Sports, Civil Litigation
Is the curtain closing on TV profit participation litigation?
By John Berlinski, Kimberly Meyer
For more than half a century, Hollywood film and television studios have contracted to pay high-profile actors and producers a...
Labor/Employment, Civil Rights, California Supreme Court
Employer takeaways from the Supreme Court's Bostock decision on LGBTQ+ rights
By Kathryn G. Mantoan, Daniel A. Rubens
Both the reasoning and outcome of the ruling provide important guidance for how employers can and should think about LGBTQ+ is...
Civil Litigation, Antitrust & Trade Reg.
The line between anticompetitive behavior and hypercompetitive behavior
By Jason D. Russell, Zack Faigen
Last week, the 9th Circuit handed a big victory to Qualcomm, Inc., reversing the district court’s judgment that Qualcomm unrea...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Constitutional Law
BHBA defends constitutional protection for peaceful protest
By Stephen F. Rohde
Having witnessed protests and other actions taking place in cities across the United States, including Seattle, Portland, Los ...
Judges and Judiciary, Criminal
A California judge’s inside look at criminal justice in America
By Katherine Mader
The human aspects of judging are a mystery to most members of the public, and even to lawyers. As a fan of "insider stories," ...
A recent appellate ruling shows that while there are a number of ways lawyers can prove their hours to a trier of fact, only o...
Law Practice, Civil Litigation
The ‘catalyst theory’ of attorney fees
By Angela Reid
The California Supreme Court has endorsed the catalyst theory under which a plaintiff may receive attorney fees if he or she c...
Law Practice, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
A new standard for determining waiver of work product privilege
By LaKeysia Beene, Jason E. Fellner
The 9th Circuit recently set forth a new and clarifying standard for determining whether a party to a federal action has waive...
Entertainment & Sports, Civil Litigation
Next up for the Oakland A’s new stadium plan: another lawsuit
By Darrin D. Gambelin
While some have been enjoying the return of baseball, albeit without fans in the stands, the Oakland A’s are moving forward w...
Criminal, Constitutional Law
More than just a name: identity theft and Miranda’s booking exception
By Nicholas R. Helms
Identity theft crimes create a unique situation in cases that involve the booking exception to Miranda. During the booking pro...
Technology, Law Practice
Latest AI tool provides boon and bust for law practice
By Lance Eliot
A new artificial intelligence tool known as GPT-3 has been getting a lot of media attention and fueling excitement for what AI...
Books
Since we’re all armchair epidemiologists, let’s try toxicology, too
By Lawrence P. Riff
In the age of COVID-19, we are all armchair epidemiologists and virologists. These topics closely relate to a larger branch of...
You have heard the stories from around the nation recently: A woman called the police because she perceived “an African-Americ...
Environmental & Energy
The ongoing saga of the Dakota Access Pipeline
By Melissa Malstrom
July was a tough month for the pipeline industry.
Torts/Personal Injury, Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court
When is ‘each defendant’ not ‘every defendant’? Under Prop 51
By Don Willenburg
Proposition 51 makes “each defendant” jointly liable for all economic damages, but severally liable for noneconomic damages on...
Administrative/Regulatory
For ruling on 5G regulations, 9th circuit turns to payphones
By Anita Taff-Rice
The court this month applied the standard from one of the oldest communications devices — payphones — to largely uphold the Fe...
Government, Constitutional Law
Trump’s COVID-19 actions and the limits of executive power
By John H. Minan
On Aug. 8, President Donald Trump issued an executive order and three presidential memoranda tied to fighting the financial ef...