Alternative Dispute Resolution
One who takes the benefit (of arbitration) must bear the burden
By Joe W. Hilberman
I recently had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on the topic of stresses on our courts and how they may inc...
Family, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Don't tread on the right to opt out of adversarial litigation
By Franklin R. Garfield
Should divorcing spouses who mediate their case have the right to opt out of procedural requirements that are an integral part...
VIDEO: An NSA-made defense
By Edward D. Totino
The NSA's sweeping phone surveillance programs may have just sounded the death-knell for lawsuits brought under California's I...
Year-end tax planning may be tough, but it will pay dividends
By Robert W. Wood
The changes between 2013 and 2014 tax rates and rules - let alone the entire economy - make it rough. ...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mediators call for voluntary certification
By Barbara Brown
Some mediators are unhappy that persons with minimal or no training can hold themselves out as mediators.
A Kenyan court recently sentenced several gang rapists to cut the grass at the local police station. I wish I could say this s...
Actual authority is the easy part; ostensible authority is where it gets tricky. ...
Litigation & Arbitration, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Returning arbitration to its roots
By Lawrence Waddington
The time has come to rethink arbitration in order to retain the merits of an expeditious and inexpensive method of dispute res...
All of us in the legal profession make legal decisions. But like everyone else, we also are compelled to make moral decisions ...
What if Mom and Dad are a healthy 85 and 80, and they do not wish to wait that long to liquidate their investment? ...
Litigation & Arbitration, U.S. Supreme Court, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Arbitration's slow, continuing expansion
By Lawrence Waddington
Since the enactment of the FAA in 1925, the role and scope of arbitration has slowly evolved. ...
There's no reason a "good settlement" has to mean that both sides leave a little unhappy.
Special Coverage
$14 million whistle-blower award is a game changer
By Thomas A. Zaccaro, Eleanor K. Mercado
On Oct. 1, the SEC announced the largest whistle-blower award yet since launching its whistle-blower program in 2011.
Pressure from the U.S. government to curb corrupt business practices and China's privacy laws have created collision course, w...
Can you pay your lawyer in bitcoins?
By Robert W. Wood
There is confusion whether transactions in bitcoin should be treated as property, barter, foreign currency, or a financial ins...
International Law
Saudi women get law licenses, not allowed to drive
By Julie L. Kessler
In a historic groundbreaking move by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Justice, last week four Saudi women were grante...
Letters, Health Care & Hospital Law, Civil Rights
Soon enough justices will challenge MICRA's vitality
By Nathaniel J. Friedman
Re: "Offsetting Damages in a Nonallocated Settlement," Oct. 21. ...
Judges and Judiciary
Interpreters in California courts
By Kristin K. Eriksson-Embree
Earn MCLE credit learning the basic rules and cases that govern the use of spoken language interpreters in California courts.
A new ordinance aims to "reduc[e] family flight" from San Francisco. ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Labor/Employment, California Supreme Court
Sonic-Calabasas the hedgehog
By Steven B. Katz
The court is poised in Iskanian to overrule Gentry. Whether the majority can hold onto their sole long-term idea...
Banking
Unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank and other reform laws
By Brian S. Kabateck
The revised legislation has not had quite as big an impact as the public expected from such publicized regulatory changes. B
Intellectual Property, Administrative/Regulatory
Washington stirs as India undermines patents
By David Weller, Himanshu Singh
India's approach to pharmaceutical patents is garnering increased attention in Washington, with recent high-level pressure on ...
Civil Rights, Appellate Practice
Appeals, writs and summary judgment
By Alana H. Rotter
The rules for obtaining appellate review of a summary adjudication ruling can be a trap for the unwary. ...
Civil Litigation, Health Care & Hospital Law, Administrative/Regulatory
Offsetting damages in a nonallocated settlement
By Craig A. Roeb, Garrett M. Fahy
A recent case shows that attorneys need not make an effort to apportion medical malpractice settlement awards into economic an...
As a result of FATCA, many long-term expats are facing the heart-wrenching decision to give up their U.S. citizenship.
Labor/Employment
Employment protection for abuse victims
By Sharon A. Terman, Rachael Langston
The governor recently signed a bill which provides employment protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Securities, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
$14 million whistle-blower award is a game changer
By Thomas A. Zaccaro, Eleanor K. Mercado
On Oct. 1, the SEC announced the largest whistle-blower award yet since launching its whistle-blower program in 2011. ...
On Oct. 4 Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 1412, a bill that reinstates a controversial California tax break. ...
There are several different species of "consequential" arguments, and many of them will likely be on display in a case current...
Government, Environmental & Energy
A powerful new tool for brownfield cleanup
By Christopher D. Jensen, Nicole M. Martin
Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 440, which gives local government agencies broad authority to remediate contaminated property in "b...