SAFEs ("Simple Agreement for Future Equity") and KISSs ("Keep It Simple Security") are investment securities which, like conve...
Administrative/Regulatory
California code enforcement can improve quality of life
By Adam S. Abel
Code enforcement, an often misunderstood part of city government, can quietly but greatly improve the lives of its residents, ...
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration classifies texting and driving as six times more dangerous than drinking an...
Tax, Civil Litigation, Banking
War on alternative currencies is heating up
By Dashiell C. Shapiro, Robert W. Wood
A federal district court has ordered that Coinbase Inc. should turn over its customer account information to the government.
California's die-hard football fans may be wondering: When a sports team moves to a different city, do its season ticket holde...
The fast and furious words of President-elect Donald Trump give cause for concern about whether his administration will preser...
California Supreme Court
High court to consider scope of public records law
By Ruthann G. Ziegler
On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case deciding whether messages on private devices and...
San Diego County Judge James A. Mangione tries to encourage young defendants in his court.
Litigation
'Take home' exposure to asbestos ruling raises new questions
By Christine D. Calareso
The issue before the court was whether traditional negligence liability claims should include "household members" who had no d...
California Courts of Appeal
Real estate duty decision could have big impact. Or not
By Gary A. Watt
The California Supreme Court recently held that salespeople, working on behalf of a real estate broker acting as a dual agent,...
Slashing syllables, cutting commas and weighing words — in other words, picking nits — is what makes one a professional appell...
OK, so the Earth is not flat. But do we really get heat from the Sun? Hear me out. By David M. Balabanian ...
The Supreme Court's first merits decision of this term is important for the larger picture that it points out: inconsistency i...
December. Wish I could title this column "Peace on Earth." But this prosaic, yet laudable, aspiration seems more elusive than ...
Superior Court Judge Orange County (Santa Ana) ...
Civil Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution
The evolution of arbitration in the US: 1925-present
By Lawrence Waddington
When the California Supreme Court approved arbitration in the California Arbitration Act, the justices assumed, as had Congres...
Although almost a year has passed since the new California Fair Pay Act became effective, the dialogue about its standards and...
While mediations are all the rage, directly negotiating with opposing counsel can bring useful insights and information to you...
Chief executive officers often pay too little attention to the role of privately held company boards, often leading to CEO and...
If FinTech is to dominate the world of banking, financing, money transfers, payments and other financial transactions, the ind...
Technology cases are often well served with alternate dispute resolution, which better ensures privacy and confidentiality tha...
Judges and Judiciary, Books
A flawed account of a towering jurist
By Corbin K. Barthold
Posner's first biographer, William Domnarski, deserves some applause for completing the precursory but epic task of reading ev...
Speculation about the future of Dodd-Frank must consider two realities: In the Senate, the Republicans do not have a filibuste...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Contracts
More contract attorney complications
By J. Randolph Evans, Shari L. Klevens
Law firms should carefully consider whether their policies and procedures are sufficient to allow the firm to reap the benefit...
This includes equity investments, mergers, acquisitions or asset purchases, and even initial public offerings. Regardless of t...
Intellectual Property
US practitioners in an international patent portfolio world
By Patrick Jewik
Despite the increasing number of worldwide patent filings, foreign patent prosecution decisions are often made based upon a de...
Regular folks ask Santa for cashmere sweaters and over-the-knee suede boots. Patent practitioners pray the Federal Circuit bri...
Labor/Employment
Texas overtime ruling directly affects California employers
By Arthur F. Silbergeld
A federal district court in Texas recently enjoined the implementation of the Department of Labor minimum salary guideline for...
Government, Constitutional Law
First Amendment in Trump's cross-hairs
By Eric B. Kingsley
On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted out the following: "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag -- if ...
Kozinski takes on anti-SLAPP in federal court, redux
By James Azadian
On its surface, a recent 9th Circuit decision is a sleeper. Court observers may wonder why the judges chose to publish their o...