GUEST COLUMNS
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Lender-placed insurance policies are becoming an important issue in California wildfire litigation, raising difficult questions about when homeowners who are not named insureds can nevertheless sue insurers as third-party beneficiaries for fire and smoke damage.
I've lived here my whole life, grateful for the warmth, community and my home. But as a junior in college, I'm asking a question I never expected to: Can I afford to stay here?
Commercial arbitration can offer privacy, expertise and speed, but businesses should tailor each clause to the likely dispute because arbitration can also raise costs and limit discovery, court remedies and appeals.
Monday, September 28, 2026
Even the most unapologetically aggressive attorneys face anxiety. A candid look at managing the pressures of legal practice--and why talking openly about mental health matters.
Congress has introduced the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, delivering a federal film tax credit with competitive rates, no sunset provision, and a January 1, 2027, effective date.
Friday, September 25, 2026
As PFAS monitoring and remediation costs rise, California public entities may find millions in cleanup coverage hiding in decades-old insurance policies without modern pollution exclusions.
For beneficiaries considering a challenge to an estate plan, the substantive strength of a claim may not be enough to protect an inheritance from forfeiture.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Jurisdictional priority among family law, juvenile dependency and probate courts must be reexamined to prevent conflicting orders, unnecessary delays and prolonged uncertainty in the safe placement of minor children.
AB 2305 draws a bright line between funding litigation and controlling it, allowing certain financial arrangements while barring corporate funders from influencing lawyers' professional judgment, litigation strategy, client selection or settlement decisions.
Monday, September 21, 2026
California's new child-safety laws create new avenues for holding social media and AI companies liable, but their effectiveness will depend on lawyers and regulators enforcing them.
The Supreme Court's East Wing ruling casts doubt on decades of precedent recognizing aesthetic injury as sufficient for standing, potentially creating a significant new obstacle to environmental litigation.
Friday, September 18, 2026
From fraudulent transfers and strategic bankruptcies to hidden assets and sham entities, family law attorneys need actionable strategies to protect judgments, preserve leverage and position clients for successful enforcement.
The Pandora litigation shows how comedians are challenging traditional copyright models as streaming and AI create new opportunities--and new pressure--to separately protect and monetize their underlying material.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Forty years after the Aeromexico Flight 498 disaster, its litigation and legacy show how an avoidable tragedy reshaped aviation safety--and why the lessons remain relevant today.
AI startups' reliance on third-party technology and increasingly valuable data can complicate bankruptcy, raising questions about what can be sold, what survives and whether existing privacy protections are enough.
Monday, September 14, 2026
Kevin Reddington didn't get Lindsay Clancy acquitted. But in a triple-murder case that looked indefensible, he got 11 of 12 jurors to see it his way.
The 4th Circuit's decision provides a useful, defense-oriented roadmap for resisting environmental injunctions premised on alleged future health effects where the movant cannot show likely irreparable harm.
Friday, September 11, 2026
A recent ruling overturning economic
espionage convictions shows how timing, and even a defendant's ineptitude, can
undermine proof that stolen trade secrets were intended to benefit a foreign
government.
The 9th Circuit's Ding decision clarifies when later-discovered sexual harassment claims can shift a case from arbitration to court, while making knowledge and waiver central to the forum analysis.
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Stock options and other equity compensation can build significant wealth, but their tax treatment is anything but simple--especially for Californians, where moving out of state may not end state tax obligations.
California's strict subjective standard for the "expected or intended" insurance defense gives policyholders powerful arguments against insurers seeking to deny coverage or recoup payments for the recent wave of sexual abuse cases arising from decades-old abuse.
Friday, September 4, 2026
Tesla's camera-only driving system and electronic door handles share the same dangerous design philosophy: abandoning proven redundancy for technological elegance, with preventable deaths as the consequence.
AI tools have changed dramatically since 2023, but the questions, risks and ethical considerations largely have not. Whatever the technology can do, the lawyer remains responsible for the result.
AB 2253 could undermine California's recycling goals by restricting a key accounting tool for chemical recycling, potentially discouraging investment, limiting options for hard-to-recycle plastics and sending more recyclable material to landfills.
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Leaving California may not end California tax obligations for residents with stock options or other equity compensation.
The 9th Circuit's Ding decision allows
employees who discover a viable sexual harassment claim after arbitration
begins to invoke the EFAA and move their case to court, while limiting that
option to circumstances where the claim was not previously known or withheld.
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NEWS
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General News
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 |
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| Illinois Zoom users allege the platform's AI meeting assistant creates biometric voiceprints to identify speakers without providing the notice or obtaining the consent required by state law. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 |
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| Quinn Emanuel secured a $5.72 billion verdict for Taction Technology over Apple's Taptic Engine, potentially giving litigation funder Burford Capital a $1.4 billion return if the award survives. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 |
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| Puzzling over the reasons for today's baby bust, a pair of economists went back to the last baby boom for answers. | |
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General News
Monday, September 28, 2026 |
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| A Los Angeles federal jury awarded $10.26 million, including $10 million in punitive damages, to a former Waymo roadside assistant who said he was fired after reporting that company-mandated GPS directions led him into a downtown street takeover. | |
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General News
Monday, September 28, 2026 |
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| A San Francisco judge questioned whether city attorneys will have enough time to prepare for Uber's $75 million-plus tax refund trial after it tries a similar Lyft case in November. | |
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General News
Monday, September 28, 2026 |
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| On Oct. 1, Google is scheduled to launch a satellite that can run its artificial intelligence technologies in space. Others say they are not far behind. | |
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General News
Friday, September 25, 2026 |
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| While other California cities and counties have been swept into federal multidistrict litigation in Wisconsin, Los Angeles is pursuing its fire truck price-fixing claims in state court under California antitrust, false claims and contract law. | |
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General News
Friday, September 25, 2026 |
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| The appellate court found county supervisors had a reasonable basis to declare an emergency and place the five-year sales tax on a 2025 special-election ballot, but a separate constitutional challenge to the tax remains pending. | |
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General News
Friday, September 25, 2026 |
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| The year is already rapidly coming to a close, making it peak season for assessing (and, in many cases, reassessing) contribution options related to retirement savings accounts. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 |
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| Artificial intelligence is developing at so fast a clip that it can be difficult to keep up with the changes or fully understand what they mean. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 |
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| AB 2305 bars private equity firms and other litigation funders from influencing case strategy or settlements and gives the State Bar authority to pursue violations. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 |
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| U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said the Justice Department has not shown why TikTok's ownership changes and a contingent $100 million payment justify ending court oversight imposed after alleged child-privacy violations. | |
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General News
Monday, September 21, 2026 |
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| Meta, YouTube and Snapchat want jurors in the next social media addiction bellwether trial in Los Angeles to hear that both families contacted lawyers after encountering advertisements about litigation. | |
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General News
Monday, September 21, 2026 |
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| The California Teachers Association sued the state recently, asking a court to force the payment of $3.9 billion in public school support that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature withheld in the budget they enacted in June. | |
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General News
Monday, September 21, 2026 |
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| A proposed class action accuses OpenAI of failing to adequately disclose that contractors may review ChatGPT conversations to evaluate and improve the chatbot's responses. | |
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General News
Friday, September 18, 2026 |
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| California litigation alleging Pfizer failed to warn that Depo-Provera increases the risk of meningiomas continues in Alameda County as thousands of related federal claims move toward settlement. | |
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General News
Friday, September 18, 2026 |
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| The Justice Department says San Jose's concealed carry licensing fee violates the Second Amendment, setting up a potential test of the Supreme Court's warning against "exorbitant" fees in its landmark Bruen decision. | |
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General News
Friday, September 18, 2026 |
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| The nation's official poverty rate -- the one that has been used for decades to guide the distribution of federal funds and qualifications for various forms of welfare -- is 10.7%, the same as California's rate. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 |
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| A San Francisco judge gave plaintiffs one final chance to amend a wrongful death suit alleging the city's recreation center design contributed to the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 |
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| The latest incentives reflect a desire among small towns to hang on to the people who keep them alive and attract more, as demographic forces make growth harder to find. | |
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General News
Monday, September 14, 2026 |
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| A new California law allows an 86-year-old former farmworker movement volunteer to pursue claims stemming from an alleged 1973 rape, but attorneys say she still faces the challenge of proving what the defendant organizations knew and whether they concealed earlier allegations. | |
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General News
Monday, September 14, 2026 |
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| In the escalating trade war between the United States and Canada, both countries seem intent on hurting the other just enough to make a point. | |
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General News
Monday, September 14, 2026 |
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| The 9th Circuit asked California's high court to decide whether USAA may charge enlisted servicemembers higher auto insurance rates than officers -- and whether consumers can recover damages when the rates were approved by the insurance commissioner. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 |
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| The housing shortage in the United States not only drives up rents, it is also a significant driver of poverty, according to a new study released by the Pew Charitable Trust on Tuesday. | |
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General News
Monday, September 28, 2026 |
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| U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong questioned whether running from masked, armed immigration agents emerging from unmarked vehicles can help establish reasonable suspicion for a stop, as she weighed a request to restrict immigration enforcement tactics across Southern California. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 |
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| New laws address indigent defense contracts, dismissed felony charges and threats against public officials. | |
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General News
Monday, September 21, 2026 |
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| Appellate attorneys say Justice Jon B. Streeter's 49-page concurrence carries no precedential weight but could influence lawmakers considering whether to revisit the Racial Justice Act after People v. Hazlett. | |
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General News
Friday, September 18, 2026 |
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| California advertisers will have to disclose prominent use of AI-generated performers under a new law that drew opposition from business and technology groups over its labeling requirements and private enforcement provisions. | |
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General News
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 |
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| Recent disputes increasingly center on construction, property and contracts, while legislation awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature would give the rail authority greater control over its operating right-of-way. | |
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General News
Monday, September 14, 2026 |
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| Sacramento County restored nearly $3 million for its district attorney's office while Fresno County moved to allow prosecutors with concealed-carry permits to bring firearms onto county property. | |