GUEST COLUMNS
Friday, September 22, 2023
New SEC rules may have prompted MGM Resorts' next day report of expected millions in losses from ongoing cyberattack.
There are safeguards that can be put into place to protect against AI-created misinformation or misleading the judge or jury as to the origin of the evidence. For example, experts or counsel may be duty-bound to inform the court when AI has been used to generate evidence presented.
Monday, September 18, 2023
While the Supreme Court's recent decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina have altered the landscape of the college admissions process, the private sector's focus on diversity, equity and inclusion continues, and these initiatives continue to be viewed as a critical component of an ESG program.
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Vermont Law School decided to build a wall of acoustic panels just two inches in front of the mural, but not touching the mural. They did this because of something called the Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA, which protects an artist's rights of attribution and integrity in particular works, such as murals. Under VARA, the owner of a mural can't simply paint over, modify, or destroy the mural, at least not without satisfying several requirements.
Monday, September 11, 2023
Lawsuits have been filed against Perkins Coie and Morrison and Foerster challenging their DEI internship programs. Both firms – recipients of diversity honors within the profession – intend to launch vigorous defenses and the American Bar Association has condemned the lawsuits, but the damage may already be done.
The tragic downing of Flight 007 came at the height of the Cold War. For many years, courts in the United States, including here in California, oversaw the litigation filed by surviving family members. These courts were responsible for helping the victims achieve some semblance of justice.
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Machines are skilled at persuading each other, so if machines replaced human judges, engineers could understand the judge-machine's decision-making process and program lawyer-machines to come to the "right" decision.
Even the most experienced trial attorney would be lucky to have picked one hundred juries in their entire career. For this reason, a trial consultant has an enhanced skill set that trial attorneys simply do not have.
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
When you have a case that is low-impact, and thus has little to no property damage, it is important that you consider introducing a science-based approach to the case.
Friday, September 1, 2023
In this 340-page book, Tove Ditlevsen stays faithful to the grit of an exiled insider wandering her own cobblestone squares and public gardens, aware always of possible seizure by the Germans or the dangers of her opiate addictions. This knife-edge of tension rumbles down like thunder, as propulsive as any thriller or espionage novel.
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
On Aug. 24, Lawrence Caplan filed what may be the first federal civil lawsuit against Donald Trump under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. It may be the lawsuit that disqualifies him from a potential second term.
International Rights Advocates recently filed a complaint with the United States Court of International Trade to force the Biden Administration to halt the importation of Ivorian cocoa beans due to child labor violations, under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
Monday, August 28, 2023
While traditional mock trials let law school students simulate courtroom proceedings in a controlled environment, Flash Trials accelerate this process. This high-paced competition offers a condensed trial experience: 45 to 60 minutes to prepare a case for trial in front of a three-jury panel.
Friday, August 25, 2023
With rideshares, the safety ratings should set most riders' minds at ease. However, that does not mean that one should not be prepared if an accident should occur.
The case threatens the FDA's regulatory authority and could lead to established, safe medications being challenged simply because they are politically contentious.
Thursday, August 24, 2023
While the headlines are understandably focusing on Trump himself, the legal community should be looking to its own. We sit in the aftermath of a series of abuses by our so-called colleagues that make the charges against Nixon's legal advisors look like loitering.
Burnout is a workplace issue, resulting from ongoing, unrelenting, workplace stressors. These stressors take many forms, depending on practice area and setting, including working around the clock on high stakes matters, working with clients whose legal issues involve emotionally salient fact patterns, or working for clients or employers whose actions challenge your ethical code or value system.
Proposed rules pending consideration by the California Supreme Court are premised on the concept that advocacy for a client does not require incivility and that the First Amendment allows for regulation of civility.
New York Times News Service
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies via videoconference before a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies via videoconference before a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
|
|
|
NEWS
|
General News
Friday, September 22, 2023 |
|
| Matthew D. Pearson of Baker & Hostetler LLP emphasized in the demurrer that Congress' intended to preempt lawsuits such as this when it passed the Airline Deregulation Act almost 50 years ago and said the breach of contract claim was added to keep the lawsuit in court. | |
|
General News
Friday, September 22, 2023 |
|
| District Attorney Thien Ho announced in July that he had opened an investigation to determine whether Sacramento could be held accountable for creating a public nuisance by failing to administer city ordinances like clearing the sidewalks and providing legal, emergency spaces for homeless people. | |
|
General News
Friday, September 22, 2023 |
|
| Judge Michael Begert, who is presiding over the CARE Court in San Francisco, made clear in an informational meeting for social workers Monday night that participation will be free of coercion. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 21, 2023 |
|
| The two men were targeted because they were both over 50, complained about ongoing illegal practices, tried to form a union and were discriminated against, said Chambord Benton-Hayes of Benton Employment Law. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 21, 2023 |
|
| The under-construction Sacramento County downtown courthouse will be named for retired Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and the appellate courthouse in Santa Ana will be named for the late Cruz Reynoso, a former Supreme Court justice. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 21, 2023 |
|
| Most of the cities' litigation has been combined before Senior U.S. District Judge James V. Selna in the Central District of California, who will consider the automaker's motion to dismiss the case because the wave of auto thefts was sparked by TikTok videos. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 |
|
| "The Air Force taught me that successful leaders act decisively, cultivate an overarching vision, and influence people to accomplish the mission consistent with that vision," Lt Col. Nana Knight explained. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 |
|
| The state is seeking compensation for the tens of billions of dollars it says has been spent to address climate change and the future money it will need to spend. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 |
|
| Employment attorneys say they do not expect SB 699, which will go into effect Jan. 1, to block out-of-state employers from heading to court to prevent workers from taking similar positions with California companies. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 |
|
| "I actually have felt that this is a good example of how a case ought to be handled," said Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Illston. "It doesn't happen that often." | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 |
|
| Without acknowledging fault or liability Google agreed to change its privacy practices for California users, including disclosing whether their location information is being used by advertisers. | |
|
General News
Monday, September 18, 2023 |
|
| The Center for Biological Diversity and Pesticide Action Network North America sued the EPA, saying it failed to consult about the effects of almost 400 pesticide ingredients on multiple protected species. | |
|
General News
Monday, September 18, 2023 |
|
| SB 331 requires family court judicial personnel to make "appropriate custody decisions" that prioritize child safety and well-being that are culturally sensitive and appropriate for the involved communities. | |
|
General News
Monday, September 18, 2023 |
|
| The justices agreed to hear the case, which claimed that San Francisco County Superior Court was holding hundreds of defendants past their statutory deadlines for trial. | |
|
General News
Friday, September 15, 2023 |
|
| Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch wrote that enforcing the arbitration agreement would be "substantively and procedurally unconscionable." | |
|
General News
Friday, September 15, 2023 |
|
| "We are concerned the commissioner will try to produce emergency regulations that allow companies to unreasonably pump their premiums based on black box models and passing on their reinsurance costs," said Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog. | |
|
General News
Friday, September 15, 2023 |
|
| The judge found that the putative nationwide class of users failed to state a claim and many of their claims were time-barred because they failed to satisfy the burden to plead fraudulent concealment of the alleged misconduct to extend the statute of limitations. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 14, 2023 |
|
| Elon Musk's attorneys have argued that it was Twitter's former board of directors who agreed to pay Wachtell Lipton's $90 million fee, as the firm was working for them and against him. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 14, 2023 |
|
| In an opening merits brief filed Monday, Scott A. Kronland of Altshuler Berzon LLP argued that the initiative's corporate backers erred by proposing an initiative statute instead of a constitutional amendment. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 14, 2023 |
|
| The fresh complaints are the latest development in the ongoing legal question over whether AI programs are inappropriately gathering information. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 |
|
| "Grubhub has not established that the plaintiff lacks statutory standing to pursue PAGA penalties for delivery drivers who suffered Labor Code violations during times other than the four months the plaintiff drove for Grubhub," U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley wrote. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 |
|
| Katherine Feinstein — who claims to have procured power of attorney over her mother's affairs on July 23 — first initiated litigation against the trustees on the accusation that they were not making trust distributions to the 90-year-old U.S. Senator in order to maximize the benefit to Blum's three daughters. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 |
|
| The deal will increase the minimum wage to $20 an hour with an annual consumer price index increase in April, a compromise compared to the possible $22 an hour workers could have gotten under Assembly Bill 257, signed into law last year. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 |
|
| The company formerly known as Twitter seeks to invalidate the state law under the First Amendment, the federal Constitution's dormant commerce clause, and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 |
|
| The problem appears to be greater than too few judge positions. There are currently 100 vacant trial court positions in California, two in Riverside County and six in San Bernardino County. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 |
|
| The Trump policies, adopted in December 2020, were intended to speed up deportation proceedings and give more control to the head of the U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office of Immigration Review. | |
|
General News
Monday, September 11, 2023 |
|
| Google's counsel, Zachary P Hutton of Paul Hastings LLP, argued the request is too broad because it constitutes 77,000 employees' proprietary data and falls outside of the relevant limitations period. | |
|
General News
Monday, September 11, 2023 |
|
| Plaintiffs' colead counsel Derek W. Loeser of Keller Rohrback LLP and Lesley E. Weaver of Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP said 17.7 million claims were validated for record case. | |
|
General News
Monday, September 11, 2023 |
|
| Mobile home parks have long been considered one of the few lower-cost housing options in the state, and one disproportionately serving older residents. | |
|
General News
Friday, September 8, 2023 |
|
| After the recusal by a Judicate West discovery referee, Cooley LLP wants three discovery orders vacated, including an order compelling their client to produce further discovery. | |
|
General News
Friday, September 8, 2023 |
|
| he case will return to U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu, who ruled in December 2022 that homeless plaintiffs would likely prevail in their claim that San Francisco is violating their Eighth Amendment rights "by imposing or threatening to impose criminal penalties against homeless individuals for 'sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property' without giving them the option of sleeping indoors." | |
|
General News
Friday, September 8, 2023 |
|
| Lawyers for Google, the putative class of 21 million consumers, and the State of Utah told U.S. District James J. Donato that the settlement is subject to approval by 52 attorneys general and Alphabet's board of directors. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 7, 2023 |
|
| Stuart G. Gross of Gross Klein PC argued that Tesla failed to meet its burden of establishing the consumers clearly and unmistakably agreed to arbitrate their parts and repair services claims. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 7, 2023 |
|
| Gov. Gavin Newsom, who as San Francisco mayor sponsored a successful ballot initiative in 2010 that restricted sitting or lying on sidewalks citywide, said recent court rulings blocking anti-camping ordinances were "insane." | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 7, 2023 |
|
| "There are public sector positions that pay in excess of what judges make. Some deputy DAs make more money than judges," said Yolo County Judge David Rosenberg, president of the California Judges Association. | |
|
General News
Thursday, September 7, 2023 |
|
| U.S. District Judge Susan Illston dismissed the plaintiff's claim related to infringement of other sites' data and also denied ByteDance's motion to compel arbitration. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 |
|
| A federal judge in San Francisco tentatively set a bench trial date of Feb. 5, 2024, notably much later than the self-imposed Oct. 18 deadline Microsoft and Activision have to consummate the deal. If that deadline is missed, either party can terminate the agreement, in which case Microsoft may have to pay Activision a $3 billion termination fee. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 |
|
| Counsel for the defendant company denied liability, arguing that the plaintiff could not establish causation because there was no evidence the conditions of the apartment caused him to fall. | |
|
General News
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 |
|
| Amgen said it is disappointed by the FTC's decision to file the claims, denied wrongdoing, and said it remains committed to completing the acquisition of its acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics in Ireland. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 5, 2023 |
|
| Witnesses speaking in favor of the bill included officials of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors. Members of both unions have been striking for months. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 5, 2023 |
|
| California firms could be pressured to increase their wages if they have employees in other states who start earning as much as their managers in California, Seyfarth Shaw litigator Brett C. Bartlett said. | |
|
General News
Tuesday, September 5, 2023 |
|
| Companies and in-house counsel rarely allow a firm's pro bono work to influence their decisions when choosing legal representation, but two big Bay Area tech CEOs — Elon Musk and Gary Tan — have objected to Latham & Watkins counseling in a case that has halted clearing of homeless camps. | |