Law Practice, Technology
Will artificial intelligence spawn a 'Legal Singularity'?
By Lance Eliot
A thought-provoking vision that the future of law might entail a Legal Singularity encompassing the elimination of legal uncer...
Covid Columns, Government
California animal protection legislation in the shadow of COVID-19
By Elizabeth Holtz
Legislation promising in the first months of 2020 lost steam as priorities shifted to COVID-19 relief bills. But animal prote...
California Supreme Court, Environmental & Energy
High court well-permit ruling gets it right on CEQA’s scope
By Arthur F. Coon
In resolving a dispute over Stanislaus County’s blanket exemption of water well construction permits from review under the Cal...
The hotshot fighter pilots of “Top Gun” are all about speed — fast jets, fast motorcycles, and fast “friends” who haven’t “los...
Civil Litigation, Criminal
Immune, or not immune? That is Craigslist’s question
By Daniel Rozansky, Cristy Jonelis
Two recent bills that amended Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act and Stop En...
California Supreme Court, Covid Columns, Health Care & Hospital Law
Jarman: A nightmare year for nursing home residents gets worse
By Anthony Chicotel
Given the state’s woeful performance safeguarding residents’ rights, Health and Safety Code Section 1430(b) litigation has bee...
Civil Rights
Time to break a historical pattern of blame and harassment
By Rupa S. Goswami
A just society holds people accountable for what they do; it does not punish them for what they look like or where they may ha...
Corporate, Covid Columns, International Law, Tax
EU adopts taxpayer-friendly residency approaches due to COVID-19
By Friedemann Thomma, Becca Chappell
Recent COVID-19 travel restrictions have created risk of additional corporate income tax liabilities and filing obligations fo...
Probate
Prevailing parties in trust and estate litigation can defeat an appeal before it is filed
By Kevin P. O’Brien
A party who prevails at trial in a civil action must often wait years as the case winds through the appellate process before e...
Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions
Why it’s important to manage confidentiality in M&A deals
By Zachary Turke, Edward Xia
Once you have taken the important step of deciding to sell your company, a business owner must face the reality that the inner...
Corporate, Intellectual Property
6 tips for businesses on identifying and protecting inventions
By Dariush Adli
Despite the COVID-19 setback to the economy, the stock market continues to set records, demonstrating the resilience of U.S. b...
Education Law
Review new Title IX regulations, effective this month
By Pilar Morin, David Urban
On May 6, the Department of Education issued the new final Title IX regulations with a firm deadline of Aug. 14 for educators ...
Law Practice
Why doesn’t the defense bar share like the plaintiffs’ bar? One word: money
By Robert F. Tyson Jr.
Compared to plaintiffs’ counsel, those on the defense side rarely share anything with each other. The plaintiffs’ bar has blog...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment, Tax
Not all employment plaintiffs can deduct fees
By Robert W. Wood
Can a plaintiff ever be taxed on more money than they receive? To anyone but a tax lawyer, it sounds like a crazy question. Su...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil Litigation
How scared should we be? Vacatur of arbitration awards in the wake of Monster Energy
By Blaine I. Green, Dustin Chase-Woods
The 9th Circuit’s decision in Monster Energy Co. v. City Beverages LLC will have significant implications for the enforceabili...
Law Practice, Technology
Bolstering principles of justice with online lawyering, AI
By Lance Eliot
Online courts will both preserve justice and enhance justice, doing so via the prudent utilization of virtual hearings, plus a...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Law Practice
How to hold game-playing counsel accountable for their misdeeds
By Jeffrey P. Blum
In 2018, the State Bar of California overhauled the rules of professional ethics. One major rule change provides an additional...
Covid Columns, Entertainment & Sports
During lockdown, remember the machinery behind the music
By Chris Eklund
During the government lockdown, now more than ever, society is increasingly reliant on music, films and podcasts. We now have ...
California Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Health Care & Hospital Law
Patient’s Bill of Rights violations: $500 per action, not per violation
By Mark E. Reagan
The California Supreme Court has confirmed that the maximum monetary recovery available against skilled nursing facilities und...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law
A magazine masquerade
By Donald E.J. Kilmer Jr.
Consider this. If the state of California, among the strictest jurisdictions in the nation, already requires safety testing (...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law
Ruling in gun case puts every Californian at risk
By Scott A. Edelman, Vivek Gopalan
The decision, which sweeps aside circuit precedent and expands the scope of the Second Amendment, is ripe for en banc review.
Antitrust & Trade Reg., Civil Litigation, Technology
‘Fortnite’ battle royale: Epic Games vs Apple and Google
By Mark Riera
Does success require an alleged monopolist to do business with a competitor that wants to sell mobile apps to IOS and Android ...
Immigration, U.S. Supreme Court
The future of DACA is far from clear
By Ethan D. Dettmer, Suria M. Bahadue
In June, the Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals progra...
The constitutional due process implications of giving prosecutors discretion to investigate and charge women for engaging in a...
California Courts of Appeal, Civil Litigation, Consumer Law
Appellate ruling frustrates Amazon’s efforts to avoid strict liability for marketplace transactions
By Evan Ballan, Benjamin I. Siminou
Earlier this month, the California Court of Appeal became the latest court to address whether an online retailer may be held s...
Land Use, Real Estate/Development
The Housing Accountability Act roars into life
By Dolores B. Dalton
In 2017 and 2018, the California Legislature added teeth to the Housing Accountability Act, which is a previously little-known...
Health Care & Hospital Law, Labor/Employment
EEOC issues guidance on reasonable accommodation of employee opioid use and addiction
By Nicole Legrottaglie Wohl
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released a pair of new technical assistance guidance documents to ad...
Data Privacy, Health Care & Hospital Law
California bill aims to make contact tracing feasible and safe
By Gerald L. Sauer
In the U.S., contact tracing is presently more concept than reality. People just don’t trust the government with their persona...
Entertainment & Sports
The Paramount consent decrees' final act gives way to a remake of the studio system
By Jeff Cohen
For a business that loves sequels, perhaps we are witnessing Studio System Part Deux, The Studios Strike Back. There were some...
The ascent of Joe Biden to the top spot on a presidential ticket has caused many people to review the half-century of Biden's ...