This is one of the most blatant areas in which U.S. law is becoming further out of sync with our needs. By Maya Shulman ...
Insurance, California Courts of Appeal
Court split 'arising out of' insurance policy exclusions
By Dominic Nesbitt
When "arising out of" is used in an insuring clause, there is full agreement among California courts that it should be broadly...
California Courts of Appeal
Another blow to California consumers
By Prescott W. Littlefield
A recent opinion would be not too concerning if the arbitration provision at issue were some sort of anomaly, but, as it turns...
President-elect Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders have promised to repeal and replace the ACA. It appears a re...
Litigation
Extreme Advocacy #3 [A Daily Journal Challenge]
Why do we feel "tired" in the evening? Because of really big cats, of course. By David M. Balabanian ...
They can take f-o-r-e-v-e-r. In the latest round of one class action, the 9th Circuit will have yet another opportunity to wre...
Litigation
Incorporate social media into your trial practice
Stop fretting about social media and instead harness its power to gain information and influence jurors. By Michelle Sherman
Perspective
Safeguarding client files in transit
Moving offices may make a lot of sense for a law firm, but a move implicates the firm's obligations to retain or destroy docum...
As attorneys, we are often charged with making some of the most important decisions in our clients' lives and usually, that in...
Technology & Science
Responding the challenges posed by AI
While the hyperbole surrounding artificial intelligence sometimes nears hysteria, three initiatives attempt to bring multidisc...
What's a president to do after office?
By James Attridge
President Obama shares much in common with that other tall lanky lawyer from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, who after serving as p...
Law Practice
Among the proposed revisions to the California Rules of Professional Conduct are substantive changes to Rule 3-120, which gove...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Mandatory fee arbitration: a primer
By Kenneth E. Bacon
MFAs are a great way for lawyers to resolve fee disputes and avoid malpractice claims and State Bar complaints.
A recent Supreme Court case striking down a law as unconstitutionally vague has quickly become the most frequently cited case ...
Pennsylvania's Allegheny County District Attorney's Office apparently paid a bitcoin ransom to protect the privacy of its own ...
In 2010 and 2012, the San Diego County Water Authority filed lawsuits challenging rates charged by the Metropolitan Water Dist...
Labor/Employment
The good, the bad and the ugly of new sick leave guidance
By Marie Burke Kenny, Lauren N. Vega
The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement recently provided guidance on the tricky subject of calculating paid sick leave fo...
The Eastern District recently decided that California law supports combining the limits of consecutive policies if the occurre...
Recently, the 5th Circuit weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding the scope of computer-fraud coverage for a phishing sca...
In a recent ruling, the court became the first appellate court to consider whether the "Barton doctrine" applies to s...
While the apparel industry has been aflutter as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the protection the Copyright Act affords the gra...
U.S. Supreme Court, Securities, Government, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Insider trading questions remain
By Thomas A. Zaccaro, Nicolas Morgan
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated insider trading decision, the first time the court has addresse...
Intellectual Property
How to build Daubert-proof patent damages cases
By Chris Marchese
Patent damages, no longer the sleepy sister to the hustle and bustle of patent infringement and validity, requires thorough pr...
Subject matter eligibility is a central patent law issue affecting a wide range of technologies. Yet the sprawling nature of t...
The California Supreme Court recently held that when both the listing agent and the selling agent are employees of the same br...
One cannot know whether President-elect Donald Trump was aware of the singular importance of the "One China Policy" when he re...
Criminal
Baca case shows utility of judicially compelled immunity
By Mark Mermelstein, Stephanie Albrecht
More interesting than the court throwing out a plea deal agreed to by the prosecution and the defense was the judge's decision...
Real Estate/Development
What inflation could mean for property owners
By Andrew S. Bragin
A recent warning from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in her congressional testimony provides a good enough reason to begin...
Perspective
Understanding the 'sudden illness' defense in California courts
By Crawford Appleby
The rule is deceptively simple: If a person suddenly becomes ill while driving and is unable to control their vehicle as a res...
Common documentation mistakes made when raising startup capital during early seed financing becomes particularly problematic w...