Criminal, Civil Litigation
Could a Rust criminal verdict change the civil landscape?
By Miguel A. Custodio
When criminal charges have been filed while civil litigation is pending, the dynamics of the civil litigation will change.
Delaying an IPO debut during a year when a company’s business and strategy were tested could be a recipe for potential disaster.
In the last quarter of 2022, the Court of Appeal issued five decisions involving PAGA, but none of them directly addressed the...
The Monterey Park violence is viewed in many circles as a form of expressing disagreement. That view affects all of us as a na...
Environmental & Energy, Civil Rights
Religious liberty for all: a principle worth standing up for
By Isabel Conrath, Jackson Grasz
While the A.I. response is interesting, even thought-provoking, it is not on the mark. It mixed general ethics issues with tho...
Is unpublished academic correspondence a “public record” under the California Public Records Act that’s exempt from disclosure...
Legal Education, Education Law
Law schools continue to fall on the wrong side of the curve
By Yisrael Gelb
If law schools are serious about recruiting students from diverse backgrounds and those who come from low socio-economic backg...
What we are witnessing in the federal courts is a battle over the extent to which private autonomy can trump public norms.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because he didn’t have to use a crosswalk to get to the other side.
Labor/Employment, International Law
Remote work & foreign nationals: how to avoid common mistakes
By Mandy Feuerbacher
Before remote work became so pervasive, it was very easy for foreign nationals to delineate between when they were working and...
Entertainment & Sports
Stream it tonight: Murder! (1930)
By Paul Bergman, Michael Asimow
Murder! emphasizes the close relationship between adversarial trials and theatrical productions, a connection that date...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Ediscovery
Stop paying your lawyers for useless and abusive civil discovery
By Lawrence P. Riff
It’s not “a discovery system” that’s the problem. It’s the participants’ behavior derived from a long-broken civil discovery c...
Intellectual Property, Contracts
How to avoid allegations of trade secret misappropriation in California
By Eugene Y. Mar, Raven Quesenberry
Before you leave, check your employment contract to see what post-departure restrictions there may be, such as non-solicitatio...
U.S. Supreme Court, Tax, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Supreme Court to decide IRS summons-notice rule for innocent third parties; but why this case?
By Evan J. Davis
When the government knows a law firm caters to a particular type of client – worst case, criminals not known to the government...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Disqualification under Rule 3.7 (lawyer as witness): consent doesn't always cure
By Alison Buchanan
While it is customary to meet and confer before bringing a motion to disqualify, use caution.
Cherry-picking what you tell your tax adviser to get the answer you want to hear is not reasonable. That kind of behavior woul...
Law Practice, Appellate Practice
Utilizing the power of requests for admission
By Robert A. Roth
Ways to use California’s request for admissions scheme to gain a litigation advantage.
The Non-Compete Clause Rule was an unprecedented move by the FTC, both because the agency had not previously attempted to regu...
Wills, Estates & Trusts, Litigation & Arbitration
The limits of logical analysis in estate and trust mediations
By John H. Sugiyama
Logical analysis may give structure to estate or trust negotiations. But each dispute will be based on factors that cannot con...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law
Confiscating equity through foreclosure?
By Michael M. Berger
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether states that foreclose and take equity beyond delinquent taxes violate the Fift...
Legal Education, Law Practice
A first-year attorney’s survival guide
By Sheri R. Lalehzarian
Lessons learned while weathering the pandemic in law school.
California Supreme Court
Why is there a California Supreme Court Historical Society?
By Daniel M. Kolkey
The persuasive attorney and wise jurist recognize that the historical underpinnings of a law, decision, or custom is critical ...
Torts/Personal Injury, Entertainment & Sports
Alec Baldwin’s closing statement
By Lou Shapiro
Ms. Gutierrez-Reed maintains that she doesn’t know how the weapon had live rounds in it and that she is not to blame for the d...
Letters
The blood, sweat and culture of being a lawyer of a televised trial
By Steven E. Feldman
David Terry, newly elected to the Supreme Court and also a Committee opponent, was present. Terry drew his Bowie knife – which...
The notion that the free expression of religion of a student group like Fellowship of Christian Athletes may threaten others i...
Some partners will be de-equitized, while others will be gently nudged out. We are already seeing an increase in “stealth layo...
Real Estate/Development, Contracts
Letters of intent for commercial leases - lessons learned from the Amazon case
By Jo Ann Woodsum
Non-breaching parties to a letter of intent may have a claim for costs incurred in reliance on that promise if that promise is...