Law Practice
The many benefits of using engagement letters
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
Simply put, many insurers view engagement letters as an effective tool that firms can use to limit the risk of legal malpracti...
Tax, Law Practice, Government, Administrative/Regulatory, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Contingency fee lawyers dodge bullet in tax reform
By Robert W. Wood
It sure looked as if contingent fee lawyers in California and the rest of the 9th Circuit were going to be prejudiced by the r...
Tax, Government, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Planning under the new tax law: relax
By Bruce Givner, Owen Kaye
It is too soon to make thoughtful decisions. We will have better ideas and more refined analyses in 30, and even 60, days. The...
Civil Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mediation and control in a world of uncertainty
By Robert S. Mann
Whether it's a new tax bill, an outbreak of the Ebola virus, the threat of Russian expansion into the Baltic States or the re...
Tax, Family
Tax law will add complications to child support disputes
By Jeffrey P. Blum
Family law attorneys, accountants and courts will be busy figuring out how to address child and spousal support issues for the...
Jack Walker's powerful, insightful and moving "Eye Corps: Coming of Age at the DMZ," details his experiences as a recon patr...
Intellectual Property, Corporate
Intersection of patent and FDA regulatory considerations for life sciences startups
By Lisa N. Silverman
Careful IP planning is especially important in the life sciences, in which companies often rely on only a handful of patents t...
Labor/Employment, Government, California Supreme Court, Administrative/Regulatory
Promises to keep
By Eric Siddall
As California firefighters battle the Santa Barbara blaze, their pension rights are under fire in the courtroom.
U.S. Supreme Court, Judges and Judiciary, Environmental & Energy, Constitutional Law
The little fish that’s killing Manhattan
By Gideon Kanner
Conclusion: ideas have consequences, and as this saga illustrates, by and large things are what they appear to be.
Judges and Judiciary, Appellate Practice
When 60 days is too late!
By Benjamin G. Shatz
Welcome to Exceptionally Appealing, a new monthly column devoted to exploring exceptions to general rules and procedures in ap...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
When the high court handcuffed student journalists
By Donna Myrow
High school journalism has been losing ground since the 1970s due to education budget cuts -- and rulings of the U.S. Supreme ...
Labor/Employment, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Workplace fairness: statutory reform is needed
By William M. Crosby
Absent a certain protected activity or status, there is no effective recourse for the abused or harassed employee under state ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Letters, Constitutional Law
It's for the legislature, not the Supreme Court, to decide
By Richard A. Nixon
A recent article by Professor Aaron Tang, "Hey, Courts: Don't be so quick to ignore political power," unabashedly advocates fo...
Many a bitcoin millionaire may be thinking like their forefathers did holding low basis stock in Microsoft, Intel or Starbucks...
Year in Review Column, State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation
In the Matter of Ethics
By Brian Slome
The State Bar Court Review Department issued a range of attorney discipline opinions this year. As usual, the most common comp...
U.S. Supreme Court, Immigration, Constitutional Law, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Asylum law meets eminent domain
By Michael M. Berger
The 9th Circuit just published an opinion that successfully weaves immigration law and eminent domain law into a coherent whole.
Year in Review Column, U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Corporate, California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
States vs US high court in arbitration tug-of-war
By E. Martin Estrada, Kuruvilla J. Olasa
There was a continued push-and-pull between the U.S. Supreme Court and state courts over the FAA.
Year in Review Column, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
2017 was a watershed year for cannabis regulation
By Joshua Schneiderman
This year we essentially marked the end of 20 years of an unregulated market and unpredictable legal environment for medicinal...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Intellectual Property
Will inter partes review survive?
By Nicholas A. Brown
Over 7,000 inter partes review petitions have been filed since 2012, approximately 1,600 of which are currently pending before...
The Federal Communications Commission defied the facts, flouted the law, and ignored the will of millions of Americans when it...
Securities, Civil Litigation, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Market efficiency in the world of high-frequency trading
By Ex Kano S. Sams II
The recent decisions of several district courts within the 9th Circuit, however, align with the 2nd Circuit's determination th...
Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate
New Year's Resolution: Going Public
By Sara L. Terheggen
The key to success is approaching the process realistically and having the strategic foresight to be prepared for changes alon...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Constitutional Law, California Supreme Court
Justices should uphold DNA collection law
By Jayann Sepich
People v. Buza provides an opportunity to ensure that fewer people in the state are convicted of crimes they did not commit an...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Attorneys as defendants in 2017
By Kenneth C. Feldman, Alex A. Graft
Catch up on this year's legal malpractice developments.
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Tips on how to obtain ‘informed written consent’
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
The question of what constitutes "informed written consent" can be a complicated one, depending on the circumstances.
Tax, Government, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Attorneys: Get up to speed on Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
By Julia Damasco, Jude Damasco, Nicholas Sanchez
Here, we have tried to provide an early and high-level overview of federal income tax issues with which California attorneys s...
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal
A jurisprudential water fight: the mutuality of remedy doctrine
By Joel McCabe Smith
A Court of Appeal recently had to wade into and adjudicate what was both a literal and a figurative jurisprudential "water fig...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Civil Rights
The killing of Daniel Shaver
By Melanie P. Ochoa, Adrienna Wong
Two weeks ago, body camera footage of the police killing of Daniel Shaver flooded news outlets across the country, along with ...
Year in Review Column, U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Appellate Practice, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Courts provide clearer attorney fees rules
By Mark C. Goodman, Brandon P. Rainey
We are seeing a current trend in how attorney fees requests are being handled by federal courts, resulting in more defined rul...
Year in Review Column, U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Constitutional Law, California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit reversed, again, on habeas review
By Lawrence Waddington
The U.S. Supreme Court ended the year with yet another 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversal. The high court overturned a...