U.S. Supreme Court, Labor/Employment
Review this year's major employment cases
By Juan Araneda, Jason A. Geller
2015 saw several notable decisions impacting employment law. ...
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal
Coach's defamation case slips past anti-SLAPP defense
By Joel McCabe Smith
In McNair v. NCAA, the 2nd District Court of Appeal was asked whether former USC assistant football coach Todd McNair h...
Perspective
Will the 'Yates memo' affect Antitrust Division plea policy?
By Peter Huston
When a corporation agrees to plead guilty to an antitrust crime, the DOJ's long-standing practice has been to enter into a ple...
Environmental & Energy
Real reform means amending the Clean Water Act itself
By Paul Beard
In June, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency issued a new rule defining those "waters of the U...
Small unmanned aerial vehicles, aka drones, are one of the hottest gifts of this holiday season, with the FAA estimating that ...
Health Care & Hospital Law, Constitutional Law
Round four for the ACA focuses on contraception
By Jill E. Adams
Could filling out a form be both sinful and unconstitutional? We will find out this spring when the U.S. Supreme Court decides...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Criminal
Instructing on lesser crimes and unanimity
By Henry J. Hall
The objective of this article and self-study test is to review special issues that often arise concerning the application of j...
The "privilege log" emerged like a mythical beast from the mists of "best practices" and the smoke rising from angry meet and ...
In 2001, the state of California set out the definition of a paralegal, in order to address the large number of people who wer...
Recent opinions demonstrate the court's role in reconciling California law with developments in federal law; in each case, the...
California and federal legislators will soon have the opportunity to vote on an issue of fundamental fairness to current and f...
U.S. Supreme Court, California Supreme Court, Alternative Dispute Resolution
The most notable decisions concerning arbitration in 2015
By David W. Moreshead, Felix Shafir
The law surrounding the enforceability of arbitration agreements continued to develop in 2015, and 2016 promises to provide ma...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
In mediation, be willing to suspend disbelief
By Robert S. Mann
I often wonder what would happen to the mediation process if more lawyers and parties were willing to suspend their disbelief ...
Family
Don't reserve jurisdiction over spousal support orders to infinity
By Nathan R. Scott
Reserving jurisdiction over temporary spousal support deserves a place in the family law toolbox, but it's no fix-all and shou...
Perspective
What recourse do employers have when schools unexpectedly close?
By Lois M. Kosch
On Tuesday, the LA Unified School District made the unprecedented decision to close over 1,000 schools, impacting some 640,000...
Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate
Fake shipments test acquisition agreement
By Marc Boiron
A recent Delaware case provides practical guidance on the effects of a disclaimer of reliance provision in a stock purchase ag...
U.S. Supreme Court, Government
High court not likely to hear challenge to San Jose affordable housing law
By Corbin K. Barthold
At its conference Friday, the justices will consider whether to hear a case challenging the ordinance, which requires builders...
Appellate Practice
Review influential appellate decisions from this year
By Jessica M. Di Palma
The Supreme Court's 80 published decisions this year provide an initial indication of the impact the newest justices, Mariano-...
The consensus at the recent climate meeting in Paris bodes well for addressing climate change, but is it adequate? By Deepa Ba...
Insurance, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Don't become another legal malpractice statistic
By J. Randolph Evans, Shari L. Klevens
Law practices hired by insurance companies to defend insured are no longer largely immune from malpractice claims, but panel c...
Bankruptcy
Major creditor holds out in Stockton bankruptcy case
By David S. Kupetz, Asa Hami
In the Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy case of the city of Stockton, Franklin Funds was the only major creditor group that did ...
SB 588, which takes effect next month, will provide the California labor commissioner with substantial new powers to combat wa...
Perspective
New patent pleading standard may be barrier for plaintiffs
By Chris Schmidt
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were updated Dec. 1, modifying the standard for pleading direct patent infringement. Name...
The real, human stories we hear from refugees families fleeing war and persecution have no connection to the fear-driven, anti...
Civil Litigation
Despite recent efforts, UCL still does not cover securities transactions
By Peter B. Morrison
The UCL, a staple of civil litigation in California, gives a plaintiff who has lost money or property as a result of a prohibi...
Accordingly to one study, at least 78 different types of "intent" exist in the federal criminal code. They include "willfully,...
Judges and Judiciary
A conversation with a PNG Supreme Court justice
By Julie L. Kessler
Last month, I found myself in Papau New Guinea's remote Hela province. Forty years after independence, PNG is still steeped in...
Criminal
State high court clarifies proper hearsay use in mentally disordered offender hearings
By Frank M. Loo
Last week, the California Supreme Court said an expert could not rely on hearsay reports to prove a defendant committed a comm...
U.S. Supreme Court
Shapiro will affect election law docket for years to come
By Rajeev Muttreja
On Dec. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the election law case, Shapiro v. McManus. Coming less than five weeks after ...
U.S. Supreme Court
California's experience shows importance of affirmative action
By Monte Cooper
Life or death for campus diversity? The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether strategies to ensure diversity on unive...