Corporate, Securities
Adopting a ‘poison pill’ in response to the pandemic
By Thomas J. Ivey, Bryan Smith
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the global economy and financial markets. As a result, public companies are increasi...
Criminal, Government, U.S. Supreme Court
Not every abuse of power is a federal crime
By Matthew E. Sloan, Emily Ludmir Aviad
On May 7, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to prosecutors policing public corruption under federal property fraud statutes ...
I taught for more than four decades. I got pretty good at it — or so I believed. When I retired from teaching five years ago, ...
Civil Litigation, Health Care & Hospital Law, U.S. Supreme Court
Damages cap: per lawsuit or per violation? High court to decide
By Amber M. Tham
The California Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday on whether to follow the rationale in Jarman to allow nursing home re...
Labor/Employment
My employer failed to protect me from COVID-19, can I sue?
By Raphael Metzger
Our firm has begun receiving calls asking this question. I regret to inform workers that, as long as the employer had workers’...
Environmental & Energy
Trump wants to secure the ‘bulk power system.’ What does that mean for California?
By Buck Endemann, Stacy Ettinger
Trump issued an executive order this month declaring a national emergency over potential foreign threats to the security of th...
Education Law
US Department of Education releases final Title IX rules
By Pilar Morin, David Urban
On May 6, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education released its new regulations under Title IX of the E...
Constitutional Law, Criminal, U.S. Supreme Court
Qualified immunity: Are we there yet?
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
Are we there yet? Some jurisprudential road trips wind longer than others. But the history in federal courts of qualified immu...
The popularity of the Netflix documentary “Tiger King” has thrust the plight of big cats in captivity into the spotlight. Whil...
Law Practice
An interview with: Morgan Weibel, director of the Tahirih Justice Center
By Mallika Kaur, Morgan Weibel
A discussion about lawyering and trauma during the shutdown.
When you next sit down to prepare for a mediation, consider putting the “temple of justice” idea on your list of items to disc...
Criminal, Government
FARA is clear: disclose relationships with foreign principals
By John H. Minan
On May 7, the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Flynn for lying to the FBI. The action by the DOJ has been app...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mediating during coronavirus: danger and opportunity
By Stephen H. Sulmeyer Ph.D
It is commonly believed in the West that the Chinese word for “crisis” is comprised of two characters, one representing “dange...
There are writers who appear, possibly once in a generation, who seem to galvanize time’s eerie striations and craft novels th...
Administrative/Regulatory, Government
COVID-19 data privacy could be a Pandora’s box
By Gerald L. Sauer
It has taken a global pandemic to finally move legislators in DC toward progress on consumer privacy issues. Despite an urgent...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
Business protection from COVID-19 lawsuits? It already exists
By Allen Patatanyan
The coronavirus pandemic has stoked fears among businesses that they will be targeted with lawsuits as they reopen for busines...
For the most part, courts have functioned pretty much the same way for centuries, with lawyers, clients, witnesses, judges and...
Legal Education, Letters, State Bar & Bar Associations
... or perhaps the bar exam system is broken
By Mitchel L. Winick
“The simplest solution is most likely the right one.” This is the most common paraphrased version of English Franciscan friar ...
Legal Education, Letters, State Bar & Bar Associations
Good lawyering is not about regurgitating knowledge
By Michiel Pestman
Only 26.8% of the candidates passed the February California bar exam. This is the lowest pass rate since 1951, when the bar st...
Law Practice, Military Law
California’s Veterans Treatment Courts during the pandemic
By Eileen C. Moore
Up and down the state, judges, lawyers, court personnel and justice partners have been dedicating themselves to their mission ...
Criminal
Flynn dismissal raises Bar(r) for false statements prosecutions
By Joshua M. Robbins
Amid the dark clouds of the ongoing pandemic, a silver lining has appeared for white collar defendants and their counsel, in t...
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
Offsetting the delays faced by victims of workplace retaliation
By Aaron L. Osten
A major deficiency under the current whistleblower protections is the time-consuming litigation process subjecting aggrieved e...
Government, Labor/Employment
Did the governor’s Paid Sick Leave order exceed his authority?
By James J. McDonald Jr., Ben Ammerman
The governor recently issued Executive Order N-51-20 which ordered private sector employers of more than 500 employees to prov...
Labor/Employment
Reopening the workplace: What commercial landlords need to know
By Michael C. Cato
As California communities return to work amidst the ongoing pandemic, landlords must consider how and when to reopen tradition...
Labor/Employment
Ensure there’s no confusion about work-at-home employees
By Trevor R. Witt
Permitting employees to work remotely comes with its own special wage and hour considerations that must be addressed, especial...
California Supreme Court, Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
The verdict is in on PAGA jury trials
By Steven B. Katz
Last week’s California Supreme Court decision in Nationwide Biweekly, although not a PAGA case, all but definitively settles t...
Constitutional Law, Government, U.S. Supreme Court
Losing the rule of law
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Never before have I so despaired for the rule of law in the United States. The decision of the U.S. Department of Justice to ...
Constitutional Law, Government, U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court tossed a yellow warning flag in subpoena cases
By John H. Minan
Civil Litigation, Entertainment & Sports, Labor/Employment
Court throws out U.S. Women’s National Team’s equal pay claims
By Garrett R. Broshuis
In a May 1 ruling, the court threw out the players’ equal pay claims, leaving only a sliver of the case for trial.
Civil Litigation, Labor/Employment
Suit may once and for all decide the fate of Uber and Lyft in California
By Bryan L. Hawkins
On May 5, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, along with the City Attorneys for the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego a...