Evidence
Logos, dumbbells, and hearsay
Grappling with evidence is as good as it gets – a sign that judges and lawyers want to get it right.
California Supreme Court
This rule has been a long time coming. According to the State Bar of California News Center, since 2010, California has twice ...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
When negotiations stall, it can be due to a reluctance to explore one’s own interests and motivations or insufficient confiden...
Tax, Entertainment & Sports
Songwriters continue to score tax breaks
Congress has lowered tax rates for songwriters who sell their catalogs and electively take advantage of capital gains treatmen...
Corporate, Civil Procedure, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
What about derivative claims that can only be brought in a federal forum? It seems the tides pull in different directions. Las...
Judges and Judiciary
This first column (with several to follow) focuses on the departmental chiefs charged with the day-to-day running of the eight...
Land Use, Government
Ostensibly part of the Governor's "infrastructure" plan, the bill takes aim at CEQA's disclosure requirements - particularly a...
Wills, Estates & Trusts
While the process of revocation is better understood, the rules for modification under § 15402 continue to be the subject of l...
Insurance
Unfortunately, the insurance industry continues to pursue the sale of policies that rarely provide coverage. In response to th...
Family, Criminal
Coercive control in domestic violence restraining orders
The coercive control provisions of the statute provide important safeguards for victims of domestic abuse where the perpetrato...
U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Property
Justice Elena Kagan took greatest issue with what she characterized as the Ninth Circuit's undue expansion of the protection o...
U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Property
Is Rogers v. Grimaldi dead? No! but ...
If the infringer’s use is not a primary trademark use as a commercial product to identify or distinguish source, and is instea...
Securities, Civil Procedure, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
The Ninth Circuit is set to hear an appeal of dismissal of foreign securities claims for forum non conveniens.
Law Practice
Lewis Brisbois did not reveal these emails out of some desire to raise awareness of racism or sexism. Like a jilted, jealous, ...
Judges and Judiciary
The anatomy of settling a civil rights case
We know the applicable law, review the District Judge’s rulings, and learn the facts. If there is bodycam footage, we get it a...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal
Ciminelli and Percoco are the latest chapter in a long running tug of war between the Court and prosecutors to d...
Torts/Personal Injury
Implied assumption of risk in sports activities
A defendant’s duty depends on the nature of the sport or activity and its inherent risks. A defendant has no duty to eliminate...
Law Practice
Transforming the workplace begins with lawyers
This week, it appears the #MeToo reckoning has reached the legal community; something that lawyers should all welcome a...
Law Practice
As several recent cases illustrate, the remote nature of videoconference depositions has also lent itself to deposition abuses...
U.S. Supreme Court, Torts/Personal Injury
Fear and trembling with apologies to Kierkegaard
Even if the results AI achieves are helpful, its use may foster the atrophy of the human creative brain. If this happens, our ...
Ediscovery, California Supreme Court
California Supreme Court Review: May 2023
If the Court sides with the trial court and PricewaterhouseCoopers, it could open up the door for litigators expanding the gro...
Torts/Personal Injury, Insurance
Insurance company wrongfully conflates duty to defend with insured’s potential liability in third party action. On appeal, the...
Civil Procedure, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Legal professionals practicing in the cryptocurrency sector must keep jurisdictional challenges in mind, particularly when dea...
Land Use, Government
Hurdles remain for Colorado River agreement
Lower Division States’ agreement provides voluntary conservation option for the Colorado River, but must withstand scrutiny in...
Military Law
Incarcerated veterans gathered into HUBs
Veteran’s failed suicide led to monumental changes in California’s prisons for incarcerated veterans.
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Administrative/Regulatory
Tips to streamline settlement of CEQA lawsuits
The CEQA early settlement meeting, with careful preparation and facilitation, can build trust with the other side and explore ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Property
A transformative decision on fair use?
Some Observations on Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith.
An attorney used generative artificial intelligence to write a pleading. What followed was a lawyer's worst nightmare. By Pau...
Securities
SEC mandates tighter share repurchase disclosure
Companies should use the available transition period to establish their disclosures, benchmark against peers and be nimble eno...
Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
The In-Use Locomotive Regulation is the first of its kind in terms of state regulation of in-use locomotives. But the regulati...