On Sept. 27, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 1843, which limits an employer's ability to gain access into the j...
Perspective
Court weighs relief under the Homeowner's Bill of rights
By Mark S. Blackman
In 2013, the California Legislature enacted the HBOR in order to correct perceived and real abuses in the non-judicial foreclo...
Could a trade secret exist if it is known or readily ascertainable within an industry, and its value is derived solely from be...
In response to reader requests, here are more suggestions on usage. By David M. Balabanian ...
A fight over photos of Picasso's paintings in the 9th Circuit provides a useful review of how issues of foreign law should be ...
Corporate
As rules go live, tech steps up to help the crowdfunding cause
By Adam T. Ettinger
To help startups and other companies get their feet wet, some technology companies are developing blockchain-based systems for...
Prenuptial agreements are particularly important for clients with children from a prior relationship, older couples, clients w...
Brilliant or not, Donald Trump had big losses in 1995. And that means he could offset other income across many years. That's t...
Zoning, Planning and Use
Court affirms that SF ordinance preempted by state law
By C. Danny Wang
San Francisco property owners and landlords scored a recent victory after the 1st District Court of Appeal affirmed a decision...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
Checkpoints again subject to challenges
By Ariana Seldman Hawbecker
For the past several decades, a checkpoint on Interstate 5 near San Diego has continued to operate with the purported permitte...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Positive (-ly false) reviews
By David M. Majchrzak, Heather L. Rosing
Attorneys, like anybody else, enjoy hearing good things about themselves. But problems arise when positive statements are inac...
Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate
Ruling doesn't alter a director's access to books and records
By Marc Boiron
A recent decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery reinforces principles that often arise in the context of demands for books...
Fiduciary duty defendants should consider seeking dismissal of any previously pending books and records action, whether by req...
Intellectual Property
When your company is hacked, who gets the 3 am call?
By Sarah L. Bruno
The recent Yahoo you data breach brings new focus to privacy and security questions ranging from data breach notification resp...
Although it seems unlikely under current jurisprudence that the current cases against Yahoo will attain class certification, t...
Immigration, Government, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Unrepresented immigrant youth, Esq.
By Rachel K. Prandini, Alison E. Kamhi
A recent 9th Circuit decision makes it very unlikely that a child will ever even have the chance to argue for a right to couns...
U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Property
Design patents return to the Supreme Court in Samsung v. Apple
By Ben M. Davidson
Next week, for the first time in more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case involving infringement of a desi...
Civil Litigation, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Evolving standards of litigator conduct in California
By J. Randolph Evans, Shari L. Klevens
History has shown that, as society becomes more litigious, fulfilling duties to clients without overstepping ethical boundarie...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Alternative Discipline Program can help attorney addicts
By Heather E. Abelson
Recognizing the alarming rate of substance abuse among lawyers, the State Bar offers the Alternative Discipline Program -- a c...
U.S.-based Liberty Media is purchasing the Formula One enterprise, and expect it to use its assets to indoctrinate the U.S. ma...
Perspective
Internet of Things will provide the next wave of patent litigation
By Christian E. Mammen
While patent litigation in the patent troll and competitor-versus-competitor battles for technology dominance is waning — IoT ...
Technology & Science
Are augmented reality companies shielded from liability?
By David R. Singh
Augmented reality app developers — like those behind Pokémon Go — will likely defeat most of the claims legal commentators bel...
Californians won important new rights with a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week. Senate Bill 1241 will prohibit corporat...
California's parole system offers inmates a critical but underutilized tool to ensure that their sentences are proportionate: ...
This "Legislative Advisory Proposition" on the ballot in November asks us a question: Should our elected officials use their c...
U.S. Supreme Court, Securities, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Justices to weigh tippee liability
By Thomas A. Zaccaro, Nicolas Morgan
After a long hiatus, insider trading will return to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Administrative/Regulatory
NY AG's pursuit of Exxon may have violated ABA rules
By John Yoo
In his pursuit of Exxon, Eric Schneiderman must have had to ignore ABA Rule 3.8, designed to prevent prosecutorial abuse. By J...
Labor/Employment
Employer liability ruling is not what plaintiff's bar says
By N. Asir Fiola
The "required vehicle" exception to the "going and coming" rule has received a fair amount of ink recently, especially in ligh...
U.S. Supreme Court, Labor/Employment, California Supreme Court
PAGA and arbitration: It's déjà vu all over again
By Steven B. Katz
The 2nd District Court of Appeal recently held that employees cannot be compelled to arbitrate whether they are "aggrieved" in...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Corporate
Bank fraud case shows the importance of charging decisions
By Michael M. Farhang
On Tuesday, the U.S. high court will hear arguments in a case that shows how crucial charging decisions can be. ...