Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Appellate Practice
Legalish: let us abolish it when we can
By Curtis E.A. Karnow
You know these words, phrases and constructions that would never be found in writing outside the law. They're used to make thi...
Government, Criminal, Administrative/Regulatory
Expand and enforce state gun laws
By Eric Siddall
As high as the current gun-related crime rates are today, they were significantly worse before California passed strict gun la...
U.S. Supreme Court, Immigration, Constitutional Law
Justices seem to agree on immigration detention limits
By Kathleen Spero
The U.S. Supreme Court started its 2017 term last week and quickly waded into the hot-button issue of immigration. The case at...
Labor/Employment, Immigration, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Protections for immigration worksite enforcement actions
By Chris Micheli
This bill, signed Oct. 4, added Government Code Section 7285.1 to prohibit an employer (or a person acting on the employer's b...
Tax, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Tax reform, IRS Work Plan and expedited exemptions
By Erin Bradrick
In late September, we saw the issuance of the proposed framework for tax reform and the release of the IRS Tax Exempt and Gove...
U.S. Supreme Court, Labor/Employment, Corporate, Constitutional Law
Agency shop déjà vu, again
By Arthur A. Hartinger
With the appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch, the stage is now set for Abood to be successfully challenged, and for agency sho...
Civil Litigation, Construction, California Courts of Appeal
The original intent of the Privette doctrine
By Garret D. Murai
Lawyers are fond of their doctrines. Wikipedia lists 265 pages of legal doctrines. And that doesn't include exceptions to thos...
Transportation, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Our auto recall system is seriously broken
By Jonathan A. Michaels
Last week, Nissan added its name to a long list of automotive manufacturers who have been ensnared in public controversy over ...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
New law addresses employee retaliation action rules
By Chris Micheli
Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill 306, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2018. This bill amended an existing Labor Code...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Civil Litigation
Memo to the bench: civil jury selection is different
By Antony Stuart
California judges presiding over civil trials often restrict jury selection in contravention of the law pertaining to this cri...
Labor/Employment, Insurance, California Supreme Court, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
An agent of the insurer
By Robert J. McKennon, Stephanie L. Talavera
In a recent ruling, the 9th Circuit created a rule of federal common law in ERISA cases that follows California's employee-fri...
Letters, Judges and Judiciary
LASC is innovating in the face of budget cuts
By Daniel J. Buckley
On Oct. 2, the Daily Journal ran a "Perspectives" piece titled, "Judging is hard (even for the temporary kind)," authored by a...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary
Plaintiffs Trial Academy helps to shape young lawyers
By Mike Arias
This program helps connect young lawyers yearning to learn with experienced trial attorneys who are willing to share.
Consider the recent case of a Catholic priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose. He was sentenced to 36 months in pri...
Securities, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
SEC goes after its first initial coin offering
By David W. Adams, Edmund J. Zaharewicz
On Sept. 29, the SEC issued its first civil complaint against two companies and their founder for violating anti-fraud and re...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment, Corporate
Yellow dog contracts, ‘jiggery-pokery’ and the FAA
By Linda S. Klibanow
As Justice Breyer intimated, a Supreme Court decision allowing employer prohibitions on employee class actions would "overturn...
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Settling some settlement issues with offers to compromise
By Michael J. Rubino
Abraham Lincoln advised attorneys: "Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can." Over a cen...
Civil Litigation, Judges and Judiciary
New law creates additional cause for courts to keep cases out of arbitration
By Chris Micheli
Senate Bill 33 amends Code of Civil Procedure Section 1281.2 to provide an additional instance when a court can make a determi...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Corporate
One-stop shop for business and commercial litigation
By Brad D. Brian, James C. Rutten
Wouldn't it be nice to have everything one needs to know collected in one place? Enter "Business and Commercial Litigation in...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Three tips for attorneys acting as neutrals
By J. Randolph Evans, Shari L. Klevens
Increased competition and sluggish demand for legal services has meant that attorneys and law firms are exploring different wa...
Assuming the pen is mightier than the sword, it is my hope that others will respond by doing something to ameliorate the pain ...
Families will always fight, and many of these disputes arise over money. This threat only increases with death, when the origi...
U.S. Supreme Court, Government, Entertainment & Sports, Constitutional Law
Working with free speech
By Jean-Paul Jassy
Sometimes a free speech issue is just a speech issue, and not a First Amendment issue. Other times, free speech issues harbor ...
Law Practice, Insurance, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
The role of attorneys when disasters strike
By Richard A. Hamar
Nine days after Hurricane Irma directly struck the Keys, I was witnessing what would be its worst of many days to come. Homes ...
Transportation, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Local drone law preempted in first-of-its-kind ruling
By Jared Greenberg
A federal judge recently held that portions of the city of Newton, Massachusetts's ordinance attempting to regulate unmanned a...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice
Attacks on litigation funding are attacks on litigation itself
By David M. Gallagher
It’s no accident that the leading advocates of increasing barriers to litigation are representatives of industries whose busin...
Civil Litigation, Corporate, Contracts
Drafting mandatory forum selection clauses
By Theresa M. Troupson
Contracting parties might agree to a forum selection clause for any number of reasons: to ensure favorable legal precedent, to...
Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice
Hearsay and expert witnesses: relying or relating?
By Gary A. Watt
Can an expert rely on hearsay case-specific facts for purposes of reaching an opinion as long as the expert does not relate th...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Intellectual Property, Corporate
Patent venue after TC Heartland
By Elise Edlin
While some courts held that physical presence in the district is not required, others determined that it is. The Federal Circu...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment, Corporate, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Arguments note benefits of bilateral arbitration
By Wendy Mcguire Coats, Megan E. Walker
At oral argument on Monday, counsel for the respondent employees confirmed that if the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the cases b...