Health Care & Hospital Law, Administrative/Regulatory
Feds approve cannabis as epilepsy medicine in landmark ruling
By James Raza Lawrence, Allison B. Margolin
The FDA's approval signals growing acceptance of cannabis, but increasing federal control could harm consumers and the industry.
Many historians view our country as tumbling through five to six distinct eras in our two-party system. Perhaps it is time for...
Defense attorneys in California often are ignoring statutes enacted specifically to help our veterans transition back into pro...
Labor/Employment, Civil Rights
Forum offers insights on pending #MeToo legislation
By Michael H. Leb
In light of the legislative trend in this area, isn’t it reasonable to wonder whether a cause of action for bullying can be fa...
Civil Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution
More attorneys allowed to do international arbitrations in California
By Chris Micheli
On July 18, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 766 into law, adding several sections to the Code of Civil Procedure to permit...
Letters, Criminal
Law will support public safety and save tax dollars
By Alex L. Landon
Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer recently wrote to express his concern over Assembly Bill 1810.
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal
Ruling says exclusion of '#MeToo' evidence is reversible error
By Molly M. McKibben
In overturning a defense verdict, the decision reinforces sexual harassment victims' rights to present their evidence at trial.
Law Practice, California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice
Avoid common mistakes to give your writ petition a better chance
By Sharon Baumgold
In my nearly 40 years as a writs attorney in the 2nd District Court of Appeal, I saw a flood of petitions that made two fatal ...
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice
California civil litigators are SLAPP-happy
By Gary A. Watt, Kristine L. Craig
A survey examining the May 2017 to July 2018 timeframe revealed 220 appellate opinions (published and unpublished), with 152 f...
U.S. Supreme Court, Judges and Judiciary, Constitutional Law
Do you really believe judges apply neutral principles?
By Robert Solomon
If you do not think those things affect Supreme Court decisions and that each of the nine justices approaches each case with a...
Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
Can force be excessive when it was not intentional?
By Carolyn Frank
Not every seizure falls within the confines of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Civil Rights
How should we respond when facing bias in the courtroom?
By Daniel Everett
Is disparate treatment based on race a real or imagined construct facing attorneys of color? And how should an attorney respon...
Lawyers, clients, judges and juries all must pay taxes. And with both federal and California tax changes today, tax worries ar...
Health Care & Hospital Law, Administrative/Regulatory
Telemedicine can help to combat opioid epidemic
By Andrea L. Frey, Jeremy D. Sherer
Remote prescribing is a viable telemedicine tool to combat the opioid epidemic but faces legal barriers in federal and state l...
Administrative/Regulatory
New growing pains for California’s regulated cannabis industry
By Joshua R. Mandell, Courtney Krause
The regulated cannabis industry entered into an important new phase this month, presenting a new round of challenges and costs...
Labor/Employment, Government
Law creates limited privilege for communications about sexual harassment
By Chris Micheli
Assembly Bill 2770 expands existing law concerning privileged communications to include communications by former employers dea...
Criminal
The right to plead no contest in criminal cases
By Jeff Adachi, Yali Corea-Levy
The San Francisco court needs to change its practice of disallowing no-contest pleas. It’s the fair, humane and just way to al...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
Ignorance of shifting wage laws is no excuse for violations
By Joel O’Malley
While it has long been the rule that a California employer must pay all final wages upon an employee’s termination, it has bec...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
The intersection of artificial intelligence and ethics
By Heather L. Rosing, David M. Majchrzak
Artificial intelligence is being used in the legal profession in a number of ways, including helping lawyers to perform resear...
Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court
Mandatory court reporters for indigent litigants
By Jens B. Koepke
In Jameson v. Desta, the California Supreme Court has now told the superior sourts that they must provide official court repor...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice
Evaluating personal injury cases: the venue, the judge and the lawyers
By Lars C. Johnson
While textbooks and practice guides are useful, there simply is no substitute for trial experience to learn the art of evaluat...
Transportation, Insurance, Administrative/Regulatory
Bird (Scooters) is the word... and a potential personal injury lawsuit
By Michael E. Rubinstein
The proliferation of these fun, mobile vehicles presents several challenges from a legal standpoint.
Sacramento’s latest foray into reshaping our criminal justice system is an utter disaster that violates the state Constitution...
Judges and Judiciary, Immigration
The dismantling of due process in immigration courts
By Amie D. Miller
What if criminal court judges answered to the prosecutor, and the prosecutor could evaluate the judges’ job performance based ...
Law Practice
Investors’ paradise: The star of the show isn’t what you think
By Jonathan A. Michaels
If one were to take a guess as to the strongest asset class for investment, considerations such as fine art, rare wine or blue...
Labor/Employment
‘They’ are on the way: What employers should know about non-binary gender markers
By Denise M. Visconti, Bennett J. Kaspar
Beginning January 2019, employers can anticipate having applicants and current employees who present identification documents ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
High court delivers an Epic win to employers
By Emily A. Mertes, Katherine S. Catlos
On May 21, in a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that businesses do not violate the National Labor Relations Act...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment, California Supreme Court
Ruling may slow down expanding gig economy
By Eric B. Kingsley
Dynamex throws a major wrench in an employer’s decision to classify workers as independent contractors by making employee stat...
Labor/Employment
The new frontier of website accessibility suits
By Christine Samsel, Jonathan C. Sandler
Navigating the maze of complex requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act can prove to be a daunting task, and the...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
Agency fees ruling will reshape labor relations
By Kevin J. Chicas, Adrianna Guzman
On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision holding that mandatory agency shop fees violated the First...