Alternative Dispute Resolution Top ↑
Mediation’s Confidentiality Controversy
California's broad assurances of confidentiality, while heralded as necessary for the integrity of mediation, also have some side effects that may undermine the process.
Tips for Enforcing Mediated Settlements
Between the lines, a couple of recent California opinions delivered some advice for securing enforceable mediated settlement agreements. A review of the practical repercussions for mediators, lawyers, and clients.
Business Organization Top ↑
Keeping Exempt Organizations Exempt
There are about 105,000 charities registered in California. And many more operating under the official trackers’ radar screens. If you have had a hand in forming one of them, you may not have finished the job properly.
Civil Practice Top ↑
California's Forum Factor in Cyberspace
The evolution of the Internet and related technology connects people and business in such a way that states and countries are now virtually borderless, commercially.
Protecting the Right of Publicity
The right of publicity, which protects individuals from commercial misuse of their identities, is increasingly being pitted against the public politices behind the Copyright Act and the First Amendment—and losing out.
Civil Procedure Top ↑
Handling Vexatious Litigants
If somebody just won't quit suing your client, you should consider having that plaintiff declared a vexatious litigant
Choosing the Right Forum
Filing suit in the wrong forum has consequences, one of which can be the obligation to pay an opponent's legal fees long before the case is even decided.
Communication Skills Top ↑
Communicating with Clients
A few techniques can help you foster the communication necessary to get the best results--in client consultations, court, and settlement negotiations.
Contracts Top ↑
Admitting Extrinsic Evidence in California
Though the California Supreme Court has skated around the issue, it has never abandoned the extrinsic evidence rule in contruing contracts. Here is a look at what that means for litigants.
Divining the Meaning of "Best Efforts"
Interpreting the meaning of a “best efforts” clause in a contract can be as confusing as trying to make sense of that whole Brad-Jen-Angelina thing. But here’s how some courts have tried.
Court Rules and Procedures Top ↑
Rules on Referees
New rules govern the appointment and powers of referees in California courts.
Criminal Law Top ↑
Money Laundering
Laws prohibiting money laundering are not just for the likes of Al Capone anymore. Now we’re using them to rein in the acts of everyone from fund-raising rabbis to Osama bin Laden.
Damages Top ↑
Punitive Damages
No longer may plaintiffs attempt to loot the bounties of corporate defendants to make them examples. The U.S. Supreme Court has just hailed in a new era in which relevance and ratios prevail in punitive damages—even in California.
Detection or Prevention of Substance Abuse Top ↑
Trends in Employee Drug Testing
Although some uncertainties remain, state law controlling drug testing is more predictable than ever. Here's a look at the emerging legalities of workplace-testing policies.
(Special Credit -- Detection or Prevention of Substance Abuse)
Curing the Ills of Work-Related Stress
If the practice of law feels stressful to you, that’s because it is—and studies bear that out. A look at the high toll of stress on the job and what you can do about it.
(Special Credit -- Detection or Prevention of Substance Abuse)
The Maelstrom over Medical Marijuana
Though patients extol its virtues, we seem to be no closer to a legal compromise on medical marijuana.
(Special Credit -- Detection or Prevention of Substance Abuse)
California's Drug Initiative
A new California statute mandates that defendants convicted of nonviolent drug possession offenses be sentenced to probation and treatment instead of incarceration. But the juries are still out on how and when to apply it.
(Special Credit -- Detection or Prevention of Substance Abuse)
Drug Test Results
Issues surrounding drug use and abuse arise for clients in almost all fields of legal practice: criminal law, family law, insurance law, employment law, personal injury, workers compensation-even lawyer discipline.
(Special Credit -- Detection or Prevention of Substance Abuse)
Help for Addicted Attorneys
How and where substance- abusing or emotionally distressed attorneys can get help.
(Special Credit -- Detection or Prevention of Substance Abuse)
Discrimination Top ↑
The Battle for Equality
America has not yet become a "post-racial" society, and the battle against illegal racial discrimination continues.
Elimination of Bias Top ↑
Accomodating Lawyers with Disabilities
A number of steps required by law and dictated by reason can help remove barriers for lawyers with disabilities.
(Special Credit -- Elimination of Bias)
Gender Bias in the Law
Though you might hope that gender bias would be less apt to develop in the legal world, it flourishes. Here's a look behind the enduring stereotypes that sustain it.
(Special Credit -- Elimination of Bias)
Bias in Mediation and Arbitration
There’s an ugly secret behind mediation and arbitration, long lauded as methods of resolving disputes neutrally: Bias grows and flourishes there.
(Special Credit -- Elimination of Bias)
Employment Top ↑
Banning Off-Duty Smoking
In an effort to curb escalating health care costs, some employers have turned to controversial measures in recent years, including workplace policies that ban smoking off duty.
Rules for Sexual Harassment Training
A new law mandates that California employers provide sexual harassment training, which may also help shield them from liability. Here’s why—and how.
How Employers Lose Lawsuits
Learn how copping these five common bad attitudes—from ignoring a one-person complaint to confusing the overlapping intricacies of state and federal laws—can land employers in court.
Harassment at Work: The Current Truth
The workplace is a different world since Anita Hill's charges against Clarence Thomas brought the issue of harassment on the job to the forefront of public awareness. Since then, the laws have been written and rewritten--in ways that may surprise you
Environmental Regulation Top ↑
California's Global-Warming Battle
The largest impact of California's multiprong legal response to global warming may be that it has brought the national debate into even sharper focus.
Evidence Top ↑
Rules for Sealing Evidence
They’ve been on the books for a while, but now courts are starting to take the rules for sealing evidence seriously.
Hidden Perils of Audio Recording
It is a form of legal Russian roulette to tape-record conversations or use them as evidence in a civil lawsuit--at least without knowing the potential repercussions.
Expert Testimony Top ↑
New Standards for Expert Testimony
Litigators have mostly been left in the dark to divine the standards for admitting expert testimony. Where we are now--and how the state Supreme Court may help in the future.
Family Law Top ↑
Religious Divide
Time for another look at religious-upbringing provisions in prenuptial agreements.
Insurance Top ↑
Trade Secret Insurance
Suppose your client hires a rising star away from a competitor in its industry to improve the company's manufacturing process, design a superior product, improve distribution methods, or revamp the marketing approach. Shortly after the whiz kid begin
Insurance Law Top ↑
A Liability Insurer's Duty to Settle
Misjudgments in insurance settlements have the potential to yield catastrophic results: for the carrier, exposure to bad faith claims; for the policyholder, the possible loss of coverage. A look at the law and some practical solutions.
Intellectual Property Top ↑
Big Change in Patent Law
Recent decisions have changed the standards applying to patent litigation in ways that might erode a patent's value - and slow the pace of innovation.
Do You Own Your Website?
Many people misunderstand the Copyright Revision Act and often ignore it--two mistakes you can't afford to make if you hire consultants to work on your firm's website or to write software.
Trademark Tangles on the Web
Tussles over the use of trademarks on the Internet are mostly being resolved through an unexpected source—established legal principles, with a few new twists for good (if confusing) measure.
Copyright Myths Debunked
Learn the realities behind that mysterious symbol, Sonny Bono's legacy, and what could happen if you dress Darth Vader like Barbie.
Internet Law Top ↑
Legal Aspects of Data Security
Breaches in data security can be expensive and embarrassing for you and your clients. Here's a look at the emerging laws on the topic--and some practical tips for keeping computers safe from hackers.
Judicial Misconduct Top ↑
Judges Behaving Badly
A look at some injudicious judicial behavior--and what you can do if it happens in your case.
Jury Practice Top ↑
The New Civil Jury Instructions
A task force recently examined the state’s civil jury instructions— proving that when it comes to guiding jurors, less really is more.
Law Practice Management Top ↑
Getting Interim Fees
You might not always be able to follow the adage about getting the fee first. But you may qualify for interim attorney fees under a number of fee-shifting statutes.
Attorneys Fees Applications
A demand to or from opposing counsel to pay legal fees will usually be made under: (1) a contract provision authorizing the award of fees, (2) a state or federal statute authorizing fee awards in the specific action, (3) an equitable theory such as t
Legal Ethics Top ↑
Inadvertent Disclosure
What should you do when you discover that your opponent has inadvertently disclosed a privileged document? The wrong move can get you disqualified.
(Special Credit -- Legal Ethics)
Ethics and Corporate Conflicts
Gaps in case law and ethics rules force lawyers to navigate uncharted waters when representing corporate clients with potentially adverse interests.
(Special Credit -- Legal Ethics)
The Ethics of Unbundling
You've heard clients clamoring for unbundled legal services. Here's how to offer them--and do it ethically.
(Special Credit -- Legal Ethics)
Ethical Billing Practices
Learn the statutory and ethics mandates controlling billing - and practical tips on how to comply with them.
(Special Credit -- Legal Ethics)
Ten Commandments of Deposition Ethics
Following these rules of ethics in conducting or defending depositions not only makes a lawyer a better advocate, it helps boost credibility and effectiveness in court.
(Special Credit -- Legal Ethics)
Litigating the Press
The hazards of litigating in the press, and the limits of the litigation privilege.
(Special Credit -- Legal Ethics)
Conflicts
Conflicts of interest are a litigator’s reality
(Special Credit -- Legal Ethics)
Litigation Top ↑
Are Settlement Talks Confidential?
Lawyers routinely label settlement communications "confidential." But some are indeed discoverable and may be used as evidence in a subsequent case.
Practice and Pleading Top ↑
Choosing State or Federal Procedure
A comparison of the changing state and federal procedural rules will help you decide whether to make a federal case out of it when you file.
Practice and Procedure Top ↑
The Dirt on Unclean Hands
Whether the unclean hands defense will reach a jury is a crapshoot, but it can cripple a case if it does. Here's how and why.
Real Estate Top ↑
Tree Law
The top ten issues attorneys should consider when handling disputes over trees.
Time Limits for Project Approvals
Today you're seeing a real estate client with a well-located piece of property under option to purchase and some market-driven ideas. A financing package is in the works, but the project's costs will increase for every extra month it takes to get dev
SLAPP Top ↑
Recent Anti-SLAPP Developments
Under the anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute, a defendant who is sued for speaking on a public issue or for petitioning the government can obtain an early termination of the action if the plaintiff lacks evidence to
SLAPP Happy
An update on the California Anti-SLAPP statute.
Slapping Down SLAPP Suits
A review of the new cases interpreting California’s anti-SLAPP statute shows many questions are still unanswered.
Tax Top ↑
Taxing Matters in Settling Cases
Here's help in identifying the red-flag items in settlements so you can alert your client—whether a plaintiff or defendant—to risky business in potential tax issues.
When Clients Must Report Fee Payments
Navigating reporting obligtions for attorney-related payments has never been easy. And new Middleman regulations may have made the waters even murkier.
Torts Top ↑
Risky Assumptions
California practitioners have been bedeviled for decades about how to define and apply assumption of risk in negligence cases. A look at the tangled past and the new hope that the supreme court will soon hand down definitive deliverance.
Unfair Competition Top ↑
The New Unfair Competition Rules
Recent changes to the state’s unfair competition law will affect how business is run in California—and who can sue when it runs amok.
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