Tax, Labor/Employment
Do independent contractors get unemployment benefits?
By Robert W. Wood
Unemployment benefits are only for people who are (or were) employed. Yet, you might be surprised that unemployment benefits s...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Civil Rights
Righting the ship on juvenile justice
By Meredith Desautels, Ji Seon Song
This month, in one fell swoop, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law an array of bills putting California on the forefront of juven...
Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Bill package addresses affordable housing issues
By David G. Ritchie
Some of the bills impact cities and counties and how issues relating to affordable housing and approvals are handled at the lo...
Immigration, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Dreamers need a law, not an executive order
By Frank V. Zerunyan
With all due respect, the assurance of the president of the United States, who on more than one occasion said, "Dreamers shoul...
Transportation, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Law will permit TNCs to have a single business license
By Chris Micheli
The governor signed Senate Bill 182 to allow transportation network companies and participating drivers to obtain a single bus...
Labor/Employment, Government, Administrative/Regulatory
Law requires additional sexual harassment training by employers
By Chris Micheli
Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill 396 to address employment issues regarding gender identity, gender expression and...
Civil Litigation, California Courts of Appeal, Appellate Practice
Anti-SLAPP in the probate world
By Alana H. Rotter
Probate litigation is booming, with more than 44,000 new cases filed in California last year. So it is no surprise that anti-S...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, California Courts of Appeal
Keep your options open
By Michael M. Berger
I often quote to my students the wisdom of famous legal philosopher Yogi Berra: "When you come to the fork in the road, take i...
Tax, Real Estate/Development
Sell property, minimize taxes, but pay attention to the rules
By Robert W. Wood
You may never sell your personal residence, or other property. But if you do, odds are you'll have taxes to pay. With a person...
Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 313 to deal with automatic renewals and continuous service offers.
Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate
Weighing the IPO decision
By Sara L. Terheggen
It would not surprise anyone to learn that more companies are staying private longer. While 2017 has seen an uptick in the num...
Labor/Employment, Corporate, Construction
New law makes original contractor liable for worker wages
By Chris Micheli
Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed Assembly Bill 1701 to address labor wage liabilities owed by subcontractors.
Intellectual Property, Entertainment & Sports
Death of music rumors are greatly exaggerated
By Bernard A. Burk
There are millions of registered musical works original enough for copyright.. Some were undoubtedly written by the very same ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Appellate Practice
The case no one is talking about
By Ben Feuer
When the Supreme Court hears Patchak v. Zinke early next month, it will address one of the trickiest tensions in the Constitut...
Judges and Judiciary
Improving discovery dispute resolution in California state courts
By Charles Stevens Crandall, Jeffrey Y. Hamilton Jr.
Discovery disputes rarely involve difficult questions of law. Many involve nothing more than intractable positions maintained ...
Civil Litigation, California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal
Can the internet provide reliable case-specific facts?
By Thomas A. Delaney
The shockwaves from the unanimous California Supreme Court decision People v. Sanchez, 63 Cal. 4th 665 (2016), continue to rev...
Law Practice, Criminal
Criminal defense lawyer conference isn’t what it used to be
By Richard A. Hamar
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has been the self-described "preeminent" criminal defense organization fo...
U.S. Supreme Court, Letters, Constitutional Law
The usual gun advocate apologia
By Nathaniel J. Friedman
Donald Kilmer's cri de coeur, "Second Amendment is not a second-class right," (Oct. 17, 2017) is the usual apologia of the gun...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Alternative Dispute Resolution
We all agree on mediation confidentially
By A. Marco Turk
This is rare: Both the organized plaintiffs' bar and the organized defense bar believe our current right to choose confidentia...
Civil Litigation, Environmental & Energy, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
New law makes modest changes to Proposition 65
By Chris Micheli
The bill requires the attorney general to provide written notification that he or she does not believe there is merit to an en...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Alternative fee arrangements and ethics
By Shari L. Klevens, Alanna G. Clair
One thing to keep in mind with regard to an alternative fee arrangement is to make sure everyone is talking about the same thi...
Civil Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution
The Arc of Mediation
By Douglas G. Carnahan
Mediations -- successful ones anyway -- follow an "arc," or script of their own, and an understanding of the "mediation arc" i...
U.S. Supreme Court, Criminal, Constitutional Law, California Supreme Court
Cops are coming for your cellphone, again
By Scott A. Sugarman
You may have thought the contents of your cellphone were private. Sadly, the very recent decision in People v. Sandee, 15 Cal....
U.S. Supreme Court, Government, Constitutional Law
Letting the democratic process work
By Erwin Chemerinsky
The Supreme Court should hold in Gill v. Whitford that challenges to it can be heard in the federal courts and explain that d...
Securities, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
Growing risk of insider trading on data breaches
By Joshua M. Robbins, Adam M. Sechooler
Shortly after the major Equifax hack, the SEC and Department of Justice opened insider trading investigations based on allegat...
Labor/Employment, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
New salary history law raises new questions
By Arthur F. Silbergeld
Assembly Bill 168, recently approved by Gov. Jerry Brown, prohibits an employer from asking a job applicant about salary his o...
Civil Litigation, Law Practice, Appellate Practice
We should end inadvertent submissions to jurisdiction
By James A. Dooley
The last thing a party challenging personal jurisdiction wants to do is slip into a general appearance and thereby "consent" t...
Labor/Employment, Corporate
Lessons from Delaware on noncompete best practices
By Marc Boiron, Morgan McCombe
A recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision serves as a good reminder regarding best practices and current laws when Californ...
Labor/Employment, Corporate, Administrative/Regulatory
New parental leave mandate
By Chris Micheli
Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 63 to create a new unlawful employment practice related to parental leave. The bill create...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Eight.
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
The number Eight. This diatribe against the overuse of nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements is brought to you by Eight...