Judges and Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court
Bureaucratic Bench Doesn't Intrigue Private Practitioners
By Gideon Kanner
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said a mouthful when, in his "state of the judiciary" report of last January, he deplored t...
My column usually appears on the first Monday of each month. But sometimes my day job gets in the way and I miss a month. On o...
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have dramatically impacted the price and availability of all types of insurance policies. Even ...
Alternative Dispute Resolution, Litigation & Arbitration
Court Authority
By Lawrence Waddington
If a claimant prevails in contractual arbitration and the arbitrator fails to demonstrate compliance with statutorily prescrib...
Forum Column - By David A. Lash - As part of a post-term bid to establish himself as an elder statesman and rehabilitate an im...
Although arbitration continues to receive support, it has its flaws. Aside from laws condemning unconscionable arbitration cla...
During the week of Feb. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases that received almost no media attention. Both involved pr...
Law Practice
California Courts Play Catch-Up in Growing Area of Toxic Mold Litigation
By Timothy D. Reuben
Perusing the recent verdicts and settlements, one certainly will discover a healthy smattering of cases involving mold. Mold s...
Things are not what they seem. A short time ago, newspapers carried an obituary that Arthur Gilbert died. Although at times I ...
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - On Feb. 7, for the second time in the past few months, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of App...
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - The U.S. Supreme Court's most recent Fourth Amendment decision, United States v. Arvi...
Judges and Judiciary, Law Practice
Sept. 11 Unleashed Worst of Times, But We Will Recover
By Lawrence Waddington
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." When Charles Dickens wrote these immortal opening lines in "A Tale of T...
Most judicial appointees bring honor and distinction to the court. But unlike their European counterparts they trained to be l...
Forum column by David A. Lash - In the proposed breakup of any "family," the concerns of the weakest and most vulnerable membe...
In the last two months, two federal Courts of Appeals have split over the issue of the constitutionality of state Interest on ...
Predatory lending is a powerful, silent enemy of low-income homeowners. It results in homelessness and the loss of long-earned...
On Nov. 2, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, for the first time, invalidated a sentence under California's three-strikes ...
California Courts of Appeal, Insurance, Labor/Employment
Class Clout
By Aashish Y. Desai
Just say the words "class action" and "overtime" in the same sentence, and you strike fear in the hearts - and pocketbooks - o...
Criminal
U.S. Ignores the Danger of Home-Grown Bioterrorism
A key section of President George W. Bush's anti-terrorism bill drastically expands the criminal penalties for possessing a bi...
An effective introduction is essential to any appellate brief. California's rules do not require a brief to contain a formal s...
I'm not sure. Was it a surfeit of pedestrian cases? Or the anticipation of a hot summer that never materialized? I was about t...
Civil Rights
Affirmative Action Is Relic of Ethnic-Discrimination History
By Gideon Kanner
In his column, "Reaching High" (Forum, Sept. 21), professor Erwin Chemerinsky laments the contradictions and confusion prevai...
The reach of terrorist attacks can be frightening. Just ask local legal aid and other charities struggling to survive. ...
The U.S. Supreme Court's new term began on Oct. 1, and the justices already have taken several cases that concern the ability...
Civil Rights
Accountability Will Ensure Protection of Civil Liberties
By Rory K. Little
Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. Senate and Attorney General John Ashcroft proposed measures that would expand...
Requests for monetary sanctions are a frequent occurrence in trial courts. Not so at the appellate level, where sanctions are ...
Few issues are as divisive or as important as whether universities may use race as a factor in admission decisions to enhance ...
For parents, this is a very scary and confusing time. As vulnerable as everyone has been made to feel, vulnerability is height...
A careful examination of the court's work reveals a number of patterns that are likely to have significance for attorneys in a...
I hold footnotes in contempt. My colleague Judge Learned Foote loves footnotes. Resting his heels on a footstool, he remarked ...