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...
Generalizing about an entire race and saying that it is less intellectually able is the essence of racism.
Drones, once thought of as warzone killing machines, are now the stuff of Christmas list, begging the question of what rules t...
In October, Gov. Brown signed AB 1506 to help reduce questionable litigation under the Private Attorneys General Act for certa...
At its Oct. 23 public hearing, a State Bar commission voted to recommend adoption of ABA Model Rule 3.8 which sets a standard ...
Civil Rights
Surveillance of Muslim communities is already happening
By Elizabeth Pipkin
Many political leaders have denounced Donald Trump's recent comments that the government should target American Muslims for su...
Imagine this: The Supreme Court has granted review, and the legal community is excited that the court will resolve a important...
Healthcare/Hospital Law
What lawyers should know about the End of Life Option Act
By Toni Broaddus
When Gov. Jerry Brown signed the End of Life Option Act back in October, California became the largest state in the nation to ...
Human beings tend to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive when making decisions. By Steven G. Pearl...
Attorneys are often called upon to represent joint clients with common interests. Of course, joint representation is not witho...
Environmental & Energy, California Supreme Court
State high court decision may complicate CEQA process
By David P. Waite, Linda Klein
The California Supreme Court's latest California Environmental Quality Act ushers in two critical rulings affecting land use a...
Last month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the first major abortion case since 2007. By Leslie C. Griffin ...
On Dec. 1, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect that should increase cooperation between parties, ex...
The right to travel seems pretty fundamental. Even constitutional cases uphold it. And yet, it is also clear that this right c...
Administrative/Regulatory
Big deals increasingly mean big data
By Mary Ellen Callahan, Nancy Libin
Companies on both sides of a transaction must understand what promises, legal limits and risks apply to the large data sets at...
Constitutional Law
Days may be numbered for male-only draft registration
By Ilya Somin
Male-only draft registration is one of the last bastions of open sex discrimination in U.S. government policy, but two ongoing...
Corporate
Delaware decision bolsters protections for majority shareholders
By Eric S. Waxman
Last month, the Delaware high court affirmed that it is appropriate to determine at the pleading state whether a controlling s...
Law Practice, Bankruptcy, Administrative/Regulatory
It is time to reexamine student loan debt
By Magdalena Reyes Bordeaux, Steven Frederick Werth
If the Supreme Court chooses to hear Tetzlaff, it will be the first time since 2010 that the court has addressed student loan ...
Fifty years later, the seemingly settle issue of state legislative apportionment is back before the high court in Evenwel v...
Law Practice
Pens are mightier than swords, but can backfire like pistols
By Louie H. Castoria
Countless films, novels and television dramas feature lawyers as lead characters, but few devote any time to depicting us doin...
Perspective
Prosecutors should search for justice instead of rushing to judgment
By Heidi L. Rummel
In the last 20 years, DNA and video recordings have shed a revealing light on American criminal justice. By Heidi L. Rummel an...
Cities around the world are grappling with mass attacks on their citizens,. In the past three weeks, Paris, Brussels, Colorado...
Many years ago I was a superior court judge. I squint to look back to that distant time.
Since the Dodd-Frank Act permitted the SEC to bring virtually every securities case in front of its own ALJs, litigants have c...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Move mountains in the workplace with mediation
By Jan Frankel Schau
Thirty years ago, when a young female associate asked to work part-time for another few months after he maternity leave ended,...