Law Office Management, Law Practice
Time to dust off your law firm partnership agreement
By Daniel O'Rielly, Dena Roche
We counsel our law firm clients to be at least as diligent about planning ahead for their own practices as they would suggest ...
Bankruptcy
Selling bankruptcy estate property free and clear of any interest
By Stuart B. Rodgers
In the decision of In re PW, LLC, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the 9th Circuit held that the protections provided to a b...
Entertainment & Sports
Recent horse deaths prompt calls for industry change
By Elizabeth Holtz
Regardless of the fate of any legislative initiatives, it’s clear that the industry will have to change — and soon. As people ...
Labor/Employment
Keep on truckin’ (for now): AB 5 may not apply to truckers
By Annette Mijanovic, Philip McDermott
For decades, the trucking industry has used owner-operators to provide the transportation of property in interstate commerce. ...
Appellate Practice, California Supreme Court, Judges and Judiciary
Justice Leondra R. Kruger by the numbers
By Kirk C. Jenkins
Today, we turn our attention to the sixth in our series of data-driven profiles of the justices of the California Supreme Cour...
Government, Immigration
The power of California’s Sanctuary Law: SB 54 after 2 years
By Elizabeth M. Fratarcangeli
In 2018, the California Senate Bill 54, aka the California Values Act and more commonly known as the “sanctuary city law,” bec...
Criminal, Law Practice, Civil Litigation
Getting the most out of an expert at trial
By Jaime L. Bartlett
It is not uncommon for lawyers to lament the moment that a jury trial becomes a “battle of the experts” — years of work develo...
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Labor/Employment, U.S. Supreme Court
The enforceability of class waivers in arbitration agreements
By Richard T. Fields, Barry D. Kaye
Examine the pitfalls in drafting an enforceable arbitration clause after Lamps Plus v. Varela
As we start the new year, here is a checklist for your case negotiations. Since 98% of all cases filed do not proceed to trial...
Administrative/Regulatory, Government
Litigation over massive Equifax breach coming to a close
By Anita Taff-Rice
Almost three years after Equifax belatedly announced it had suffered one of the largest data breaches in history, litigation i...
I was a deputy public defender for four years before I became a career (31-year) deputy district attorney. I believe in the va...
Constitutional Law, Government, International Law
FISC: Who’s watching the watchers?
By Jeffrey A. Aaron
The FISC should have applied the same standard for its amicus appointment as for the judges themselves, or that of an appearan...
Government, Tax, U.S. Supreme Court
2019’s top 10 California SALT developments
By Eric J. Coffill, Alexandra Louderback
While compared to some years in the past, 2019 was not a “big” year in terms of the overall number of California developments ...
Administrative/Regulatory, Government
TRACED Act gives the government bigger hammer to curb robocalling
By Artin Betpera
Earlier this month the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act was signed into law. TRA...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law
9th Circuit 4th Amendment jurisprudence in action: Blight v City Manteca
By Kevin Allen
In a recent ruling, a unanimous panel upheld summary judgment for the defendants. The court found probable cause, reasonable s...
What to expect and how to prepare.
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil Rights, Labor/Employment, Law Practice
A significant blow to firms looking to arbitrate discrimination claims
By Gay C. Grunfeld, Cara E. Trapani
A California Court of Appeal decision has dealt a significant blow to law firms seeking to force women lawyers to arbitrate cl...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Environmental & Energy
9th: Climate is just too complicated for the courts
By Dave-Inder Comar
The en banc court's Jan. 17 message to the plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, was clear: You're right about your constitu...
A while back, I dabbled in writing screenplays. One of the books on how to write a script said something that has stuck with m...
Labor/Employment
The impact of AB 5 on court interpreters in the private sector
By Esther M. Hermida
This will cause a major disruption to the legal system that relies on the availability of interpreters to communicate with cli...
Health Care & Hospital Law, U.S. Supreme Court
Insurers fight to get their promised Affordable Care Act premium subsidies
By Vinay Bhupathy, Christine Clements, Arytan Dahukey, Dhara Waghela
Three consolidated cases are the latest cases related to the Affordable Care Act to make their way to the Supreme Court. Last ...
Administrative/Regulatory, Government
Reforming the internet
By Douglas E. Mirell, Joshua Geller
Recognizing the sea change in information technology in the 21st century, Congress is finally beginning to consider in earnest...
Civil Litigation
Summary judgment after Sweetwater: Motions denied?
By Gary A. Watt, Rosanna W. Gan
Despite resolving what it described as narrow anti-SLAPP questions, the opinion has implications for summary judgment. In Swee...
Constitutional Law, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Judges and Judiciary
Does the First Amendment permit excoriating remarks about judges?
By A. Marco Turk
In view of the increasingly fractured political climate providing more opportunities for expressions of displeasure with the j...
Law Practice, Legal Education
Solving the inclusion conundrum: Reflections on equity, inclusion and making change in the legal profession
By Noor-ul-ain S. Hasan
Legal profession surveys consistently show a persistent, systemic inclusivity problem: at 70% male and 88% white it is one of ...
The IRS taxes all income, whether in cash or in kind. Lottery winnings? Taxed. Gambling winnings? Taxed. Crypto? Yes, it’s tax...
Constitutional Law, Government
Equal Rights Amendment is still in play, if Congress wants it to be
By David A. Carrillo, Stephen M. Duvernay
On Wednesday, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, pushing it over the three-quarters of states constitutio...
It is almost impossible to obtain a large jury verdict in an employment case outside the United States, and there are few plac...
Bankruptcy, U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court says ordinary understanding of ‘final decision’ isn’t dispositive in bankruptcy appeals
By David S. Kupetz
In an opinion issued on Tuesday, the Supreme Court addressed “the finality of, and therefore the time allowed for appeal from...
Administrative/Regulatory, Government
The right way to regulate artificial intelligence: The decision-based approach
By Bradford K. Newman
The regulatory focus must not be on hypothetical conundrums such as hyper-technical and uber-esoteric debates over the “proper...