Judges and Judiciary, Criminal, Constitutional Law
Pro per defendants' requests in criminal cases
By Jacqueline A. Connor
Learn about pro per defendants' requests for ancillary services.
Superior Court Commissioner Kern County (Bakersfield) ...
Law Practice, Law Office Management
Partner departures: starting questions for departure planning
By Daniel O'Rielly, Dena Roche
If you are a law firm partner who has started to think that your future may be brighter at a different firm, you have some ser...
Law Practice
Conservatorships: a rigged system
In at least 20 states, it is not mandatory for the court to give these adults a lawyer. By Thomas F. Coleman ...
Large Firms
Should your law firm require employees to sign arbitration agreements?
By Jeffrey D. Polsky
In this month's column, I'll list what I see as the major advantages and disadvantages for law firms of requiring employees to...
Constitutional Law
Presidential pardons and the Clinton chronicles
By Ira L. Shafiroff
As President Barack Obama prepares for the orderly transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump, many wonder whether eith...
Press accounts indicate that Trump's affinity for the courtroom is unique and unprecedented. But that's just not true.
According to President-elect Donald J. Trump's campaign website, "on day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress...
What is the appropriate response from a Clinton voter? Reject Trump, delegitimize him and engage in revolution? No. When they ...
Law Practice
Capacity to transact often is obvious, but not always
By Herbert A. Stroh
Establishing diminished capacity to enter into a binding contract should be based on a sound conceptual foundation and consist...
What does a seemingly arcane regulation by NIOSH mean as it relates to tort litigation? Well, 12 years ago a jury in Missouri ...
Perspective
IP due diligence is a critical part of any M&A transaction
By John Pavolotsky
Many issues can be avoided by keeping in mind certain principles when negotiating IP-related contracts — even by a young techn...
Administrative/Regulatory
Bilingual education will come with a high price
By Johanna J. Haver
Like many former teachers of English learners, I remember the failure of bilingual programs, as they existed in California unt...
Perspective
Transgender restroom case could affect agency deference
By Barbara S. VanLigten
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case that considers whether Title IX requires schools to provide transgender ...
Corporate
Antitrust in 2016, and looking ahead to Trump
By Stuart Christopher Plunkett
With the new Republican administration, one might conclude a period of relaxed enforcement is on the way. But there are signs ...
A recent 9th Circuit opinion sparked concerns about a cascade of listings for species that are currently widespread. After all...
The initiative pledged to protect and enhance public safety through rehabilitation and a reduction in criminal recidivism. Tha...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Criminal
Can California lawyers ethically light up?
By Wendy L. Patrick
Election Day 2016 added yet another tourist attraction to the already overpopulated Golden State: marijuana. For California la...
The America Invents Act is primarily known for switching patent rights from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system. But t...
Perspective
Recreational marijuana guidance for local governments
By Melissa Kuipers Blake
By some accounts, California's consumer market could be worth upwards of $6 billion by 2020. But all that revenue comes with a...
California's students won big on Nov. 8 when it passed Proposition 58, which allows English learners to learn English and acad...
Administrative/Regulatory
Drug price initiative was a surprise loss on election night
By Judith A. Waltz
California has come closer than any other state to implementing price controls on drug products, but voters nevertheless rejec...
The ballot measure, which voters passed Nov. 8 and which provides long-awaited relief for California's underfunded educational...
How far can a state pursue a proactive antiestablishment policy before it runs afoul of the free exercise clause of the First ...
Government, Criminal
Death penalty initiative will fail to deliver
By Jon B. Eisenberg
Proposition 66, which California voters passed Nov. 8, was billed as a way to "speed up" California's broken death penalty sys...
The Electoral College has again denied the presidency to the winner of the popular vote, and the nation is again debating whet...
Criminal, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Prop. 66 provides long necessary improvements in capital cases
By Lawrence Waddington
State and federal courts may clash over some of the legislation in Proposition 66, but locally its improvements expediting app...
Donald Trump's surprise victory may have rattled the markets and triggered some protests. It is even fueling a "Calexit" movem...
California needs to lead the way to ensure its, and the nation's, progressive environmental programs continue uninterrupted un...
The president-elect's list of potential Supreme Court nominees reflects an overall approach to judicial nominations. By Tony F...