Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Unveiling mineral rights ownership: legal and regulatory considerations, challenges, and pitfalls
By Adam Ferrari
Mineral rights owners need to conduct thorough due diligence and title searches, engage experienced legal counsel and industry...
Attorneys relying solely on Zoom for court appearances may find themselves lacking the essential interpersonal abilities and c...
Environmental & Energy, Administrative/Regulatory
Will California’s new electric rate structure reduce bills?
By Megan J. Somogyi
The fixed charge’s effect on electric bills will depend on various factors, such as the customer’s consumption patterns, the u...
Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
None of our business: Recent anti-SLAPP cases on the distinctions between public and private issues
By Ashfaq G. Chowdhury
The anti-SLAPP regime requires that the statements or conduct at issue be in connection with a public issue or an issue of pub...
Entertainment & Sports
Preparing players and lawyers for a new college sports landscape
By Frank N. Darras
The parties involved in House v. NCAA are discussing a potential settlement that would create a $2.7 billion fund for f...
Torts/Personal Injury, Government
Trail immunity—is the condition an integral part of the trail?
By Michael E. Rubinstein
Trail immunity is a confusing area of law that applies a broad definition of what constitutes a trail, and plaintiffs face a h...
Labor/Employment
No summer break for employers: How to comply with CA’s Workplace Violence Prevention Program
By Hannah Sweiss, Abby Putzulu
Non-compliance with the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan can lead to expensive citations and penalties. California employers...
Jeopardy! would show the presidential candidates’ knowledge of history, geography, business, and other relevant topics, as wel...
Technology, Intellectual Property
USPTO digs into DNA of inventions to determine whether originator is human enough to hold patent
By Anita Taff-Rice
Commenters fault USPTO rules for providing inadequate guidance to inventors using Generative-AI.
Immigration
Sleepwalking into a humanitarian disaster on the US border
By Marcelo Gondim
The immigration issue is distorted by political wrangling, misinformation, and dehumanizing rhetoric, which prevents people fr...
Judicial decisions are based on public policy and legal principles, but often lack the time and resources to address the compl...
Constitutional Law, Administrative/Regulatory
CFPB public funds identification and expenditure authorization suffice
By Philip M. Howe
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision that the funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is constit...
Criminal
Glossip Swirl: Supreme Court will hear criminal discovery obligation case
By Brian M. Hoffstadt
The Supreme Court will hear Glossip v. Oklahoma, a case involving criminal discovery obligations of prosecutors, and pr...
Torts/Personal Injury
Boating accidents and what you need to know before hitting the water
By Reza Torkzadeh, Allen P. Wilkinson
Boating accidents can lead to serious injuries or death, with 4,040 boating accidents reported in the US in 2022, resulting in...
Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
State Supreme Court got it right when it refused to grant qualified immunity in COVID-19 prison deaths
By Denisse O. Gastelum
The Supreme Court's decision means that the State of California cannot rely on qualified immunity to avoid liability for consc...
The advantages and disadvantages of the inquisitorial system, such as the lack of plea bargaining, the role of the presiding j...
Business Law
Exploring the rise, fall, and potential renaissance of ghost kitchens
By Alon Lagstein
Ghost kitchens faced several problems as lockdown measures eased and consumers returned to dining out. But they are not doomed...
Intellectual Property
Observations on the practice of transactional IP law
By Ken D. Kumayama
The convergence of technologies from different industries, such as cars and computers, has expanded the scope of tech trans la...
City Councils are attempting to direct U.S. foreign policy and override the authority of local police, with some officials pro...
Intellectual Property
Warzone clash: When does a video game title cross the line into trademark infringement?
By David Martinez, Navin Ramalingam
Activision and Warzone.com recently faced a trademark dispute over the use of the word "Warzone" in the title of Activision's ...
Technology, Health Care & Hospital Law
Healthcare entities must be cautious when using AI to avoid discrimination and maintain clinical oversight
By Alice Hall-Partyka
Healthcare companies must ensure clinical oversight, especially where the tools assist with functions traditionally performed ...
Criminal, Constitutional Law
Trump’s criminal case as the prosecution’s favorite trick
By Victor S. Dorokhin
The prosecution uses Michael Cohen's conviction as indisputable evidence of Trump's crimes, preventing Trump from challenging ...
If Trump loses the 2024 presidential election and refuses to accept the outcome, self-interested lawyers who supported Trump's...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Shaping tomorrow’s dispute resolution: A guide for California lawyers
By Shane Mulrooney
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can offer parties more flexibility, efficiency, and cost savings than traditional litigat...
Tax
Biden’s proposed tax increases will hurt, especially in California
By Robert W. Wood
The proposed federal tax hikes will hit harder in California than in some other states, as California already has the highest ...
U.S. Supreme Court, Intellectual Property
To rule or not to rule, that was the question in Nealy v. Warner-Chappell
By David M. Given
The U.S. Supreme Court has, for now, allowed claimants to recover damages for acts allegedly occurring more than three years b...
Antitrust & Trade Reg.
Against the 'Europeanization' of California's antitrust law
By Geoffrey A. Manne, Dirk Auer
Adopting the European model of antitrust law could harm California’s economy, especially its technology industry and its start...
Constitutional Law, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
The 9th Circuit ignored the law and common sense
By Erwin Chemerinsky
The court’s decision contradicts previous Ninth Circuit decisions and Supreme Court statements that the Second Amendment appli...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Data Privacy
Can you keep a secret? Pursuing professionalism and privacy
By Wendy L. Patrick
The California State Bar is considering adding privacy law as a new area of legal specialization, which would require lawyers ...
Labor/Employment, California Supreme Court
California Supreme upholds employer’s good faith belief defense against Labor Code Section 226 Penalties
By Theodore E. Bacon, W. Michael Hensley
A defense is available to employers when it comes to section 226 premium penalties, based on dictionary definitions of “knowin...