Earlier this year Congress enacted the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 with the stated goal of assisting small busin...
Hurricane Harvey. Words that struck fear into many Texans a couple of years ago. The pain still lingers — as does the litigati...
Here is a moral dilemma for those of us who favor equality — or who would like to believe we are egalitarian. It is along the ...
Tax
IRS is drilling down on cryptocurrency tax failures, so be careful
By Robert W. Wood
The IRS is aware that millions of cryptocurrency transactions may still remain unreported. Taxpayers may think they will not b...
Earlier this year, California enacted a law granting family law judges the authority to decide unresolved issues about pets in...
California taxes are high, the highest in the nation. Think the IRS is tough? California’s Franchise Tax Board is generally re...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, California Courts of Appeal
Opinion’s #MeToo discussion shapes new hopes for civility
By Carolin K. Shining
In a crucial “note” applicable to all California lawyers, the opinion uses the social impact of the #MeToo movement to compel ...
Banking
Bankruptcy stay violation ruling serves as warning to creditors
By Stuart B. Rodgers
In 2017, a Bankruptcy Judge Christopher M. Klein from the Eastern District of California entered a judgment in favor of bankru...
Kanye has turned more and more religious, with a new album called “Jesus Is King.” Perhaps he may have been toying with bankru...
Civil Litigation
Overturning settlement, 9th Circuit calls for ‘something more’ than mailed notice
By Jordan Elias
A recent ruling is the latest in a series of 9th Circuit cases reflecting a concern that the self-interest of class counsel an...
Labor/Employment
2020 laws all California employers should know
By Kate McGuigan, Michael Schlemmer
The new laws, most of which take effect Jan. 1, 2020, cover a wide area from wage and hour and work classification to hairstyl...
Government, Environmental & Energy
California heads into the next decade with over 100 new environmental laws
By Monica Browner, Steven H. Goldberg
In 2019, the California Legislature had another busy year working on new environmental and natural resource bills.
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
PAGA is warping the California Labor Code
By Paul S. Cowie, John D. Ellis
Whatever may have been the intent of the Private Attorneys General Act when it was enacted, it has since evolved into a legali...
I am among the last generation of professionals to have transitioned from hand writing to typing to computers and the internet...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice
Creative uses of the 'high-low' agreement
By Brian S. Kabateck, Serena J. Vartazarian
The “high-low” agreement is an often underutilized and misunderstood tactic, typically used in a jury trial to reach a settlem...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
When duties of candor and confidentiality collide
By Shawn Shaffie
The State Bar recently released Formal Opinion Number 2019-200 to address how an attorney must proceed carefully in balancing ...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Professional responsibility: Client is overbilling tempting, but treacherous
By A. Marco Turk
Former associate justice of the Supreme Court Potter Stewart (1958-1981) advanced a very simple but elegant description of eth...
Letters, Government
DA race language mirrors impeachment debate
Using provocative language reflective of the impeachment debate in Washington, prosecutor Richard Ceballos — who was denied th...
Tax, Real Estate/Development
Can Section 1031 exchanges and opportunity zones be successfully combined?
By Phil Jelsma
Although they are generally distinct sections with their own provisions, there is one possibility in which Section 1031 exchan...
Effective Jan. 1, 2020, civil litigants will have the option of stipulating to the exchange of initial disclosure.
Government, Administrative/Regulatory
The hazy legal landscape of cannabis
By Fredrick S. Levin, Daniel P. Stipano
In January 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole memos and directed prosecutors to pursue marijuana related ...
Law Practice, Corporate, Banking
Paths to privacy on the road to real estate transactions
By Genevieve M. Larson, Kelina M. Smith
Finding efficient solutions for high profile clients
Civil Litigation, Civil Rights
Should it matter why personal data is stolen in a breach?
By Anita Taff-Rice
Facebook is in the news again for a data breach, but this time it happened in a low-tech way. An old fashioned thief stole har...
Labor/Employment
California employers: Dos and don’ts of dress codes in 2020
By Darcey M. Groden
While Senate Bill 188 specifically contemplated hair textures and hair styles associated with African-Americans, employers sho...
Thanks to the internet, prospective litigants now have the additional option of “opting out” of dispute resolution by jury tri...
Civil Litigation, Criminal
AB 218: Overdue recognition of childhood abuses
By Raymond P. Boucher
In enacting Assembly Bill 218, the California Legislature finally recognized what survivors of childhood sexual abuse suffer t...
Government, Administrative/Regulatory
California’s new internet of things law is a step in the right direction
By Ashley Thomas
The new law is the first of its kind and will attempt to establish cybersecurity standards for connected devices where none ha...
Government, Civil Rights
Proposed rule will make combating fair housing discrimination much harder
By Nadia Aziz, Matthew F. Warren
Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the federal Fair Housing Act with the goal to “guarantee a basic American ...
Labor/Employment, Government
Pension reform options for California public agencies
By Che I. Johnson, Lars T. Reed
California’s pension plans are dangerously underfunded, the result of overly generous benefit promises, wishful thinking and a...
Senate rules of procedure for impeachment trials
By Charles S. Doskow
Like a suitcase you had forgotten you had that falls from the top of a closet and hits you in the head, we have now become sud...