GUEST COLUMNS
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
California raised its minimum auto insurance
limits in January 2025 for the first time in over 50 years, with another
increase set for 2035 -- a shift that underscores the financial and legal risks
for uninsured drivers seeking noneconomic damages.
A single IRS Form 1099 can trigger a mess for plaintiffs--especially when the form is misapplied or duplicative--making it critical to address tax reporting explicitly in settlement agreements.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Supreme Court's blessing of Texas Age Verification Law bodes well for California's Digital Age Assurance Act.
Misclassifying California employees as exempt can trigger steep penalties and litigation, making it essential for employers to meet the state's strict exemption standards with rigorous documentation and legal counsel.
Monday, July 14, 2025
California employers are scrambling to balance
state requirements with new federal directives that impact everything from
immigration to gender issues. Here's what you need to know.
Court holds that Anthropic's training of AI using legally obtained books is fair use, but storage of pirated books is not.
Friday, July 11, 2025
With companies increasingly eyeing Nevada and Texas over Delaware, Texas's new Business Court offers a timely, if still untested, alternative to the Court of Chancery's seasoned dominance.
An unpublished appeals court ruling in a machete attack case clarifies the steep hurdles plaintiffs face when suing public entities over dangerous conditions involving third-party conduct.
Thursday, July 10, 2025
In an era where TikTok hauls and hashtag trends blur the line between homage and infringement, Lululemon's lawsuit against Costco spotlights how the law is scrambling to keep pace with the viral rise of "dupes" -- and the high-stakes battle over brand identity, consumer confusion, and what it really means to copy.
California's push for renewable energy is vital, but without strict oversight and meaningful safety standards for massive battery storage facilities, we risk replacing one environmental crisis with another.
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
A controversial excise tax on litigation funding proceeds -- once feared by funders and lawyers alike -- has been left out of the Senate's final tax bill for now, but with strong industry backing and future legislative interest, it may yet return in another form.
The 9th Circuit Court upheld that J-M Manufacturing violated federal and state False Claims Acts by falsely claiming its pipes met industry standards despite evidence of non-compliance, but ruled that penalties apply per project--not per pipe--due to lack of proof on specific defective units or exact damages.
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
AI is reshaping legal practice--but when left unchecked, its subtle biases in language and logic can expose California attorneys to ethical and legal risks.
In Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., the
California Court of Appeal, in a case of first impression, held that
prospective, revocable written waivers of meal periods for shifts between five
and six hours are enforceable if not coercive or unconscionable, providing
employers with legal clarity and operational flexibility.
Monday, July 7, 2025
The Senate narrowly passed the sweeping "One Big Beautiful Tax Bill," which includes major changes to small business stock rules, SALT deductions, school choice tax credits, and bonus depreciation -- policies with significant implications for California taxpayers.
As California fights to protect its century-old water rights while the Colorado River shrinks to dangerous lows, the nation's most populous state finds itself navigating between legal tradition and climate reality, with 40 million people's water supply hanging in the balance.
Thursday, July 3, 2025
In June 2025, ICE raids intensified across California as the DOJ escalated immigration enforcement efforts. Employers must understand their rights under federal law and California's AB 450 to avoid criminal liability and respond appropriately to ICE inspections.
If Herman Melville didn't need to write "Call me Ishmael ('Ishmael')," then legal writers shouldn't feel compelled to define every party with clunky parentheticals. Clear, consistent naming is better writing and better advocacy.
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Business disputes are costly, complex, and often ruin relationships, but when approached with early communication, strategic mediation, and the right people at the table, resolution can be faster, cheaper and even lead to renewed collaboration.
While campaign ads must disclose who paid for them, lobbying ads -- especially digital ones -- often don't, and usually that's entirely legal.
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Litigation funding, already complex and tax-sensitive, faces a seismic shift under the Senate's pending tax bill, which would impose a sweeping 40.8% excise tax on virtually all litigation financing profits--foreign or domestic--without offsets, exemptions for most existing deals, or regard for how the funding is structured, alarming funders, lawyers, and law firms alike.
With immigration enforcement intensifying in 2025, California employers face renewed federal scrutiny and must balance compliance with both I-9 rules and California's strict worker protection laws.
Monday, June 30, 2025
Thousands of homeowners are being denied insurance coverage for toxic smoke damage, despite clear health risks and legal protection.
As California's 2025 legislative session nears its close, lawmakers are advancing three impactful employment bills--targeting fake job ads, AI-driven management, and employee rights education -- that, if enacted, will reshape workplace transparency and compliance obligations statewide.
Friday, June 27, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Zuch redefines the boundaries of Tax Court jurisdiction in CDP cases, with potential implications for how collection disputes unfold during litigation.
As Congress advances the "One Big Beautiful Tax Bill," proposed Senate reforms signal a long-term, pro-investment future for Opportunity Zones -- expanding eligibility, enhancing tax benefits (especially in rural areas), and tightening reporting requirements, all with the potential to reshape how investors engage in distressed community development.
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Could a New Jersey township's plan to condemn a church for pickleball courts eventually become the U.S. Supreme Court case that finally defines what constitutes "pretextual" eminent domain?
If you have California customers sending you money -- even if you've never set foot in the Golden State -- California's tax authorities may come knocking with an income tax bill.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
A new Supreme Court ruling hints that medical
expenses from personal injuries might now open the door to RICO claims -- but
don't expect a flood of new lawsuits just yet.
In the face of escalating violence and political resistance, federal ICE and CBP agents, attacked by rioters and left without timely local support in Los Angeles, now confront a controversial California SB 627 that's seeking to unmask them.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
As tensions escalate between Israel and Iran, the United States faces renewed pressure to weigh military involvement -- raising urgent constitutional questions about who holds the power to declare war and whether recent presidents have sidelined Congress in one of the nation's gravest decisions.
As accusations of politically motivated "debanking" grow louder, from religious groups to crypto firms, regulators and courts are stepping in, urging banks to adopt viewpoint-neutral policies that protect both financial access and First Amendment principles.
Monday, June 23, 2025
California's Vehicle Code section 17004.7
provides public entities with immunity from liability in pursuit-related
crashes if they adopt and regularly train officers on pursuit policies, but
ongoing litigation, including the case Gilliland v. City of Pleasanton,
could significantly impact the scope of that immunity.
A Georgia court's dismissal of the first AI hallucination defamation suit underscores just how early -- and unsettled -- the legal questions remain around generative AI's liability.
Friday, June 20, 2025
Devastated parents and bipartisan leaders are calling for urgent reform of Section 230, as Big Tech continues to hide behind the outdated law while their platforms target, addict, and endanger kids -- with deadly consequences.
Generative AI platforms are turning to centuries-old public domain documents to train their systems and sidestep billion-dollar legal battles over the use of protected works.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Public entities often invoke trail immunity in
tree-fall cases, but Toeppe v. City of San Diego draws a clear line--if
the hazardous tree exists independent of the trail, § 831.4 does not apply.
As urban fires grow more toxic, firefighters face mounting exposure to dangerous substances like mercury, lead, and carcinogens--risks that are reshaping legal protections, expanding the scope of workers' compensation, and highlighting the need for better exposure documentation and civil remedies when misrepresentation or third-party misconduct is involved.
U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman (File photo)
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NEWS
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General News
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 |
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| A Santa Clara judge awarded $6 million in attorney fees to plaintiffs in a six-year HOA dispute, citing deception by defendants. The case led to a State Bar complaint. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 |
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| Where does the water from my home come from? | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 |
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| SB 550 would create a six-year pilot offering legal coursework and a shared law degree, with hopes of expanding public access to the legal profession. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
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| A California appellate court ruled plaintiffs' attorneys cannot collect fees in whistleblower retaliation cases if juries award no damages, despite finding retaliation, due to the employer's same-decision defense. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
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| Are there rules that dictate what I have to be told about climate risk -- or a property's history? | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
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| A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld FERC's denial of "rate incentives" for California utilities, ruling their participation in CAISO is no longer voluntary under state law. | |
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General News
Monday, July 14, 2025 |
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| NSO Group seeks sanctions against Meta, WhatsApp for undisclosed witnesses in Pegasus spyware case. Both sides accuse each other of gamesmanship after $168M verdict, as injunction hearing looms. | |
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General News
Monday, July 14, 2025 |
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| Parents of a bicyclist killed by a Greenwaste Recovery truck sue for damages, citing an illegal turn and inadequate driver training. The lawsuit seeks compensation for pre-death suffering, among other claims. | |
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General News
Monday, July 14, 2025 |
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| American babies born this year through 2028 are eligible to receive $1,000 from the government for a new type of account aimed at helping families get their children off to a strong economic start. | |
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General News
Friday, July 11, 2025 |
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| Not since the closing of Metro Pictures -- the champion of the Pictures Generation artists -- four years ago has such an important gallery decided to call it quits, and it came as a shock to many. | |
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General News
Friday, July 11, 2025 |
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| A San Francisco judge allows sexual assault claims against Uber to proceed, focusing on its driver rating system, setting the stage for bellwether trials that could reshape rideshare industry standards. | |
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General News
Friday, July 11, 2025 |
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| 34 additional sanctuary jurisdictions, including Los Angeles, seek to join a lawsuit against the Trump administration for withholding federal funds. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 10, 2025 |
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| When Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote last month that he expected the company's use of artificial intelligence to "reduce our total workforce" over the next few years, it confirmed the fear among many workers that AI would replace them. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 10, 2025 |
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| The U.S. Department of Justice gave California until Monday to comply with a ban on transgender athletes on sports teams that align with their gender identity. The state Department of Education rejected that order on Monday. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 10, 2025 |
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| A retired Solano County judge was admonished for soliciting a Marsden motion, disparaging a public defender in court, and interfering with the attorney-client relationship in a murder case. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 9, 2025 |
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| Justice Goodwin H. Liu, writing for a unanimous court, found that Drexel A. Bradshaw mishandled the assets and home of an elderly client and breached his fiduciary duty in a case involving "multiple counts of misconduct." | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 9, 2025 |
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| Efforts by insurers and tort reform groups to curb litigation financing in California have run aground -- for now. Two bills backed by powerful business interests failed to advance, while plaintiffs' attorneys rally around a competing proposal aimed at regulating the industry without cutting off vital support for cash-strapped clients. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 9, 2025 |
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| I'm generally optimistic about all the ways artificial intelligence is going to make life better -- scientific research, medical diagnoses, tutoring and my favorite current use, vacation planning. But it also offers a malevolent seduction: excellence without effort. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 |
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| While Attorney General Rob Bonta's opinion will not carry the force of law, it could be a prelude to legal action. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 |
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| California AG Rob Bonta has sued Healthline Media, alleging the site unlawfully shared sensitive health data with advertisers even after users opted out, violating consumer privacy and state laws. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 |
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| Since the explosion of generative artificial intelligence over the last two years, the technology has demeaned or defamed opponents and -- for the first time, officials and experts said -- begun to have an impact on election results. | |
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General News
Monday, July 7, 2025 |
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| A San Jose jury ordered Google to pay $314 million for covertly using Android users' cellular data, marking a major legal precedent in data privacy and user consent law. | |
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General News
Monday, July 7, 2025 |
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| A San Bernardino County jury largely cleared Northwest Pallet Services LLC of wage and break violations, marking a rare trial victory for a California employer under the strict "rebuttable presumption" standard established in Donohue v. AMN Services. | |
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General News
Monday, July 7, 2025 |
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| Numerous misconceptions persist regarding the relationship between workers' compensation and other workplace rights. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 3, 2025 |
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| Antitrust litigator Meredith Dearborn, based in San Francisco, is the first West Coast attorney to join Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 3, 2025 |
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| A legislative push to create an expedited licensing path for former federal attorneys has been shelved for the year, even as multiple reform efforts continue in response to a troubled bar exam and mounting criticism of the California State Bar's governance. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 3, 2025 |
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| The number of applications submitted on LinkedIn has surged more than 45% in the past year. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 |
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| The inaction left intact a 9th Circuit ruling that the Los Angeles policy did not constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment. Two justices dissented and would have taken the case. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 |
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| Recent events have bolstered assumptions that Newsom is running for president. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 |
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| The move follows a May arbitration order, which found in favor of Mohammad Honarkar on key fraud and contract claims | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 |
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| The seventh month has become the seasonal focus of the "no spend" budgeting trend, popular on social media, in which people swear off discretionary spending for a period of time to save, pay down debt or just get a handle on their finances. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 |
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| Plaintiff Peter Rogerson claimed he was repeatedly mocked for using a cane to walk, subjected to jokes for being a "cripple" and compared to a horse ready for the "glue factory" by senior leadership and colleagues. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 |
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| Sacramento judges upheld Attorney General Bonta's right to hire outside counsel, while attorneys working for the state secured a one-year delay on Gov. Gavin Newsom's return-to-office order. | |
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General News
Monday, June 30, 2025 |
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| San Francisco judge postpones ruling in whistleblower lawsuit accusing major banks of defrauding California taxpayers by inflating municipal bond rates, with billions in potential damages at stake. | |
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General News
Monday, June 30, 2025 |
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| Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer permits expedited discovery into possible Posse Comitatus Act violations, rejecting President Donald Trump's jurisdictional challenge, in a mixed ruling for California's fight against federalized National Guard deployment. | |
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General News
Monday, June 30, 2025 |
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| Over the last half century or so, millions more people have moved to greater Los Angeles. And during this same time, Angelenos have been consuming less water. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 |
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| The ruling marks the latest setback for state efforts to regulate the tech industry, even as lawmakers press forward with new measures targeting AI and social media. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
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| The 9th Circuit temporarily revived Trump's executive order, halting an injunction and allowing restrictions on collective bargaining for 950,000 federal workers, pending a July 17 appeal hearing. | |
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General News
Monday, July 14, 2025 |
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| Less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court restricted nationwide injunctions, a New Hampshire judge certified a nationwide class and blocked President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship. The ruling raises questions about whether class actions will become the new vehicle for nationwide relief. | |
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General News
Friday, July 11, 2025 |
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| At issue is whether Senior U.S. District Judge Edward Chen's ruling halting the Trump administration's rollback of TPS for 600,000 Venezuelans qualifies as a preliminary injunction, a determination that could shape the Biden-era immigration program's fate. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 10, 2025 |
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| The court's 8-1 decision clears the way for Trump administration agencies to pursue large-scale layoffs, overturning a San Francisco judge's injunction requiring congressional approval for such actions. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson called the ruling "hubristic and senseless" in her dissent. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 9, 2025 |
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| I. Neel Chatterjee is the sixth partner to join the firm's California offices in the past year. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 |
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| The state Supreme Court held that arbitration clauses in dealership sales contracts don't extend to the automaker. | |
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General News
Monday, July 7, 2025 |
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| AB 130 reshapes how California's environmental review law applies to housing projects--but attorneys say it's far from the end of CEQA challenges. | |
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General News
Thursday, July 3, 2025 |
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| Coronavirus Reporter accuses Apple and Gibson Dunn of fraud, intimidation in $200B antitrust suit, seeking $20M in sanctions, attorney disqualification. | |
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General News
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 |
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| DOJ sues Los Angeles, alleging its sanctuary ordinance violates the Constitution by discriminating against federal immigration enforcement, fostering lawlessness and defying federal law. The lawsuit seeks to void the ordinance. | |
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General News
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 |
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| Elon Musk's attorneys from Toberoff & Associates accuse OpenAI and Samuel Altman of improper defenses in a lawsuit challenging OpenAI's shift to a $157 billion for-profit entity, alleging breach of contract. | |
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General News
Monday, June 30, 2025 |
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| Central Valley Eden Environmental Defenders sue Capital Ready Mix, alleging toxic runoff into Sacramento River violates federal and state laws, seeking injunctive relief for ongoing environmental harm. | |