Tax, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Commercial operations, abuse of charitable funds and Boy Scouts
By Erin Bradrick
In the height of the summer, we have indication from the IRS that the commerciality doctrine is alive and well; a cancer chari...
Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Protection from teddy bears and toasters
By Anita Taff-Rice
As many politicians have learned over the decades to their regret, one should assume that all microphones are turned on and al...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment, Corporate, Civil Rights
Engineer who wrote memo may have claim against Google
By Tamara M. Kurtzman
Under both the NLRA and California law, it is unlawful for an employer to terminate an employee for participating in a legally...
Letters, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, California Supreme Court, State Bar & Bar Associations
There is no evidence to support a high cut score
By Mitchel L. Winick
Alarm, confusion and protection of the status quo seem to be the main themes of the recent debate surrounding the California S...
Letters, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, California Supreme Court, State Bar & Bar Associations
Lawyer quality concerns do not have anything to do with the cut score
By William Wesley Patton
In his article, “The case against a lower bar pass score,” nowhere does Judge William F. Fahey demonstrate a correlation betw...
Letters, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, California Supreme Court, State Bar & Bar Associations
Lower cut score is a step backward
By Mark D. Gershenson
Even at the existing passing grade, there are practicing attorneys in California who aren’t very smart or ethical, who don’t s...
A response to my column on proposed changes to the special prosecutor rule used the tactic of quoting selected sentences or wo...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Judges and Judiciary, California Supreme Court, Appellate Practice
Tailoring the Emperor’s New Clothes
By Brian M. Hoffstadt
Precedent sometimes rests upon a legal fiction, and persists until a later decision exposes the fiction for what it is.
Civil Litigation, Judges and Judiciary, Appellate Practice, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Dos and Don’ts in the 9th Circuit
By James Azadian, Cory L. Webster
Civil Litigation, Insurance
Insurance policies and breach of contract exclusions
By Shaun H. Crosner
Liability insurers frequently assert that contractual liabilities do not fall within their policies' insuring agreements, and ...
Law Practice, Law Office Management, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
All law firms are at risk of a cyberattack
By J. Randolph Evans, Shari L. Klevens
For many attorneys, the concept of cybersecurity is completely foreign — frightening, perhaps. As evidenced in Part One of thi...
Government, Constitutional Law
Equal treatment for nonprofit and traditional media
By Jonathan Riches
The institutional press has no monopoly on the First Amendment — or on the collection and dissemination of information that th...
When it comes to taxes, you might want to emulate Warren Buffett, or perhaps even Donald Trump, if you think either made a tax...
The IRS’s proposed regulations on the new centralized audit regime are looming — and have many people scratching their heads i...
Any billing structure that diverges from the prototypical hourly model is likely classified these days as “alternative.” But i...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Intellectual Property
After disparagement ax, attorneys eyeing ‘scandalousness’
By Delia Ramirez
Attorneys are now keeping their eye on court proceedings involving another provision of Section 2(a) — the “scandalousness” pr...
Letters, Criminal
Article presents imbalances portrayal of insurance fraud case
By Shiara Davila-Morales
I would like to point out a gross mischaracterization of facts in the Daily Journal’s Aug. 7 front page article, titled “Fraud...
Civil Litigation, Government, Environmental & Energy, California Supreme Court
State high court should address pivotal water issues
By Mark Muir
Can the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California charge San Diego County more than the cost of providing the service...
Government, Criminal, Civil Rights
Releasing criminals is not the answer
By Eric Siddall
California needs a comprehensive approach to lowering incarceration rates — a plan that will not only lower incarceration leve...
U.S. Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Government, Environmental & Energy, Constitutional Law, Appellate Practice
Efforts seek to rein in Chevron deference
By Davina Pujari, Vaneeta Chintamaneni
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, State Bar & Bar Associations
The case against a lower bar pass score
By William F. Fahey
In discussing this issue with my colleagues on the bench, I have not heard that there is a shortage of lawyers in our state. N...
Government, Criminal
Whatever it was before, it’s a real investigation now
By Jason A. Forge
If Special Counsel Robert Mueller has opened a grand jury investigation, the witch has fallen from her broom and the dogs are ...
Immigration, Government, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
Immigration bill isn’t likely to go far
By Gabriel J. Chin
As promised during the campaign, President Donald Trump has backed legislation designed to reduce legal immigration. The RAISE...
Civil Litigation, Construction
Subcontractors and indemnity provisions
By Garret D. Murai
What happens when a subcontractor’s employees are injured on a construction project, sue the general contractor, and the gener...
I was at a dinner party at a friend’s palatial mansion. There on the wall of the living room was Van Gogh’s “Vase with Fifteen...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Appellate Practice
Setting up an appeal — in the trial court
By Myron Moskovitz
It’s up to you, the trial attorney, to make sure that your appellate lawyer gets a record that allows him to preserve your vic...
U.S. Supreme Court, Judges and Judiciary
Justice Hugo Black: the closet Klansman
By James Attridge
What FDR didn’t know is that he had appointed a former Klansman who owed his political career to the power of the invisible em...
As complex as our system is, many tax mistakes can be forgiven. Sure, you might still end up with civil penalties, depending o...
Health Care & Hospital Law
Mindfulness: What to Do When the Need for Help Arises
By A. Marco Turk
"Mindfulness" may be a buzzword these days, but it may also light the path to improving professional competence.
Civil Litigation, Government, Corporate
Bills will restrict consumer rights
By Mike Arias, Elise R. Sanguinetti
Under the guise of so-called “tort reform,” congressional shills for corporate America’s abuses have introduced a series of bi...