GUEST COLUMNS
Thursday, February 25, 2021
The Lunar New Year is one of the biggest holidays in many East and Southeast Asian cultures. For most families, it is ordinarily a time for celebration. This year, for many families, it became a time for mourning.
California's management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been, to say the least, erratic with ever-changing state decrees on business openings and closings and personal conduct and, most recently, a chaotic rollout of vaccinations.
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Over six years, Lorraine Luongo went from renting out a spare room in her house in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to owning and managing 10 properties that she listed on Airbnb.
Acts of hate are not new to California or to the United States, and they are becoming more rampant.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
From the COVID-19 pandemic to a resulting economic recession to widespread protests calling for racial justice, we have faced challenges that altered our lives and shone a light into the country's significant inequities.
President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the landmark Paris Agreement takes effect on Feb. 19, formally marking the reemergence of U.S. climate leadership on the world stage.
Just a year ago, CJ Paillant lived in a brand new apartment complex in Oakland's Jack London Square with a rooftop terrace, a game lounge and a pool with a hot tub that he and a friend rented for nearly $5,400 a month.
Add this to the financial fallout from the pandemic: More consumers are complaining about errors on their credit reports, and many are frustrated when trying to fix the mistakes, according to federal complaint data.
The immense drop in state revenue that Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators anticipated last year when COVID-19 struck the state never materialized.
Monday, February 22, 2021
We must prioritize disabled people for COVID-19 vaccination. They are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death. However, California's vaccination plans are leaving them behind.
Ivo Puidak, who cooked for Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan as the head chef at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, built the Galena Canning Co. into a thriving specialty food business, selling premium barbecue sauces, salsas and seasonings around the country.
New state mapping data details California's school-reopening divide, in which hundreds of school districts — mostly smaller and rural or inland — are offering in-person instruction to elementary students while many of the state's largest, urban districts remain indefinitely in remote learning.
Californians with high-risk medical conditions will qualify for COVID-19 vaccines starting March 15, the state's health secretary announced today.
Friday, February 19, 2021
The answer is "Yes" because the U.S. government has waived sovereign immunity for claims of patent infringement. However, special rules and certain limitations apply.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
State officials are fond of giving their high-concept — and expensive — new programs snappy, one-word acronyms derived from much-longer and often awkward official titles.
It's difficult to dispute that the Trump administration led to an increasing tension on social issues. And, people took to their social media accounts to express their opinions. Many employers joined in expressing their political opinions by supporting different movements.
A federal judge in Orange County recently dismissed charges against four criminal defendants, citing an unconstitutional delay in holding jury trials due to the COVID pandemic. Some of these cases involved serious offenses.
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
The tax filing season opened Friday, and with it a question different from other tax years: How will the stimulus payments and unemployment income affect taxes?
The creation of dictionaries has its own strange body of lore, far more exciting than one would think. Samuel Johnson and his companion-biographer James Boswell pretty much covered the waterfront of Johnson's composition of his 18th Century dictionary.
Lawyers in the act of practicing law can be envisioned as playing a type of game, ostensibly a variant of chess. It makes sense to therefore contemplate how chess is played, and especially how AI chess-playing systems work since this can reveal insights for those that practice law and also for how AI might someday be your partner in undertaking legal reasoning.
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has made Americans even more aware of the importance of planning for the unexpected.
Friday, February 12, 2021
Under the Copyright Act, an owner of a copyright suing for infringement may elect to seek statutory damages instead of actual damages.
How soon teachers can expect to get vaccinated depends largely on where they live and could determine whether the bulk of California's students return to campuses this spring — or next fall.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom has unilaterally decided to eliminate California's death penalty for capital crimes even though it remains in the law.
Ever since the first announcement of COVID-19, a proverbial legal whirlwind swept through all aspects of life, upending everything as we knew it.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Investors have been forced to cope with an extremely low interest rate environment for an extended period of time, which creates challenges for those who need to maintain a level of liquidity in their portfolios to safeguard their investments, or are saving for near-term goals.
As California inches toward progress on COVID-19 vaccinations, we must face overlapping challenges of an unprecedented health crisis and an economic crisis.
There is an ongoing national awakening of the need to examine our institutions and practices for race inequity that is not readily apparent.
Last August, hundreds of thousands of Californians saw their lights go out when climate change produced a record-breaking heat wave that drove peak electricity demand to unsustainable levels.
As COVID-19 began surging through California a year ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and ordered widespread restrictions on personal and economic activity to curb infection rates.
During some of the darkest days in the pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom offered some optimism: the winter surge of COVID-19 would be it. Liquid gold — the first batch of vaccines — was just days away.
Monday, February 8, 2021
The pandemic and stay-at-home orders have forced thousands of financially dried up California businesses to shut down, but for Dan Zhao, they became the reason to start a new one.
Money usually triggers taxes, and that is true for lawyers too. When the client pays you, you have income.
The city of Sacramento recently took a giant leap toward becoming a more affordable, equitable and sustainable city.
Like many professions, COVID-19 has dealt a body blow to the legal industry, which has caused many attorneys to worry about job security and future career goals, or even reassess current career choices.
If you're among the army of retail investors who have made big money trading in shares of GameStop and other previously downtrodden stocks, one thing is certain: The tax man will come.
Friday, February 5, 2021
California provides three statutorily recognized construction payment remedies: (1) mechanics liens; (2) stop payment notices; and (3) payment bond claims. Each is intended to provide payment protections for those who furnish labor, materials and services on a construction project. However, each is also different in important ways.
California's increasingly volatile warming climate is making droughts more intense, and complicating water management.
Is it possible to legally protect an idea? The answer is: not really.
At the epicenter of the pandemic, a cacophony of beeps, alarms and whooshing ventilators haunt our public health nightmare.
On Jan. 6, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a frenzied ploy to invalidate the presidential election.
As a native Californian, I've seen how growing inequality can tear apart communities and drain our state's economy of the vibrant middle class it once championed.
Thursday, February 4, 2021
A year ago, California's most pressing political issue was, by common consent, a housing crisis.
Just because 2021 has arrived does not mean that injured plaintiffs and lawyers won't encounter challenges which emerged in 2020. COVID-19 is still a significant risk and continues to cause widespread shutdowns and lockdowns to businesses, institutions and courtrooms. It also change the landscape or personal injury matters.
As quoted in a 2017 Daily Journal article the federal antitrust agencies were serious when they warned: "DOJ intends to proceed criminally against naked wage-fixing or no-poaching agreements [in the labor markets]."
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Most employees take steps to separate their work lives and their personal political activities. Social media and the prevalence of telework during the COVID-pandemic make this boundary more difficult to maintain, however.
On Jan. 19, the 58th director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Andrei Iancu, stepped down from his post, the day before the transition of the next presidential administration.
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
The first thing Deborah Bell-Holt does each morning is check whether water still flows from her bathroom faucet.
In 2020 California courts rendered a number of significant decisions regarding insurance.
For more than a half-century before Dynamex, California courts had looked to Borello and its predecessors to classify workers as employees or independent contractors.
Monday, February 1, 2021
California State University students will not see their tuition rise for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year, promising rare good news for the system's nearly 500,000 students battered by a year like no other.
The start of a new year gives many people motivation to take a fresh look at their finances and focus on their goals for the future—but, as the year progresses, this enthusiasm can fall to the wayside.
Friday, January 29, 2021
In The Sherwin-Williams Company v. PPG Industries, Inc., the court had to decide whether Plaintiff The Sherwin-Williams Co. should be bound by its prior admission to the United States Patent and Trademark Office during vacated reexamination proceedings.
Newly appointed leaders at the California Air Resources Board began this year with a monumental task ahead of them. California's progress on climate change is slipping – and it will take bold leadership and a visionary approach to put the state back on track.
Even if you apply First Amendment principles, the 17 companies (and counting) that deplatformed former President Donald Trump are not acting unlawfully.
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Another day and still another maneuver in California's erratic management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most people — even those who know very little about taxes — are likely to say that a stream of royalties is probably taxed as ordinary income.
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
In this article and accompanying self-study test, readers will learn about trial procedures in eminent domain cases.
Monday, January 25, 2021
As Americans have increasingly turned to digital devices and online shopping as a result of the pandemic, there has been an unfortunate rise in identity theft and fraud as scammers attempt to exploit the situation. Alarmingly, 10% of US adults report being a victim of identity theft since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attorneys general for several states, including California, allege that the rule allows nonbanks to avoid state usury caps by nominally partnering with a national bank.
Friday, January 22, 2021
The Supreme Court recently denied petitions for certiorari in two of the most highly watched intellectual property cases before the Court.
Deals on high-end apartment rentals in the Bay Area are blowing up.
Thursday, January 21, 2021
The 2020 election was evidence of the power of Latinx voters in California. With an estimated 5.5 million Latinx votes cast during the pandemic, Latinxs were a decisive force in the outcome of the 2020 election representing 31% of the total 17.8 million votes cast in California.
When was the last time this happened? The answer is never.
Last week, the California Democratic Party attempted to link the Republican-backed drive to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom to the riotous invasion of the U.S. Capitol building by supporters of soon-to-be ex-President Donald Trump.
The first doses of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in California in mid-December. Although vaccines will not widely be available to most employees for many months, it is not too early for employers to start planning.
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
President Donald Trump's call for action for his supporters to assemble in Washington on Jan. 6 to save America and "stop the steal" spiraled out of control when his supporters violently stormed the Capitol waving Trump flags and regalia. His Dec. 19 tweet that the protest "will be wild" turned out to be shockingly and dangerously accurate. Five people are now dead.
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
President-elect Joe Biden's potential appointment of U.S. District Judge Merrick Garland as the nation's next attorney general signals the significant shift in priorities for white collar investigations and prosecutions that can be expected in the new administration.
As the new year begins, criminal law practitioners in Los Angeles county are beginning to adapt to massive changes brought about by both changes in state law and by the incoming George Gascón administration at the district attorney's office.
Monday, January 11, 2021
Friday, January 8, 2021
Nearly unnoticed in the wrangling over the amount of COVID relief payments, the stimulus bill signed into law on December 27, 2020 also included several interesting intellectual property provisions.
One of the biggest divorce settlements of 2020 was finalized on Dec. 24 when the EU-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement was reached between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1864, the new California Consumer Financial Protection Law.
Thursday, January 7, 2021
As attorneys who work with individuals in California's six immigration detention centers, we have seen firsthand our immigration legal system transform into a deportation machine for those seeking protection from violence and persecution.
For decades, a cliché about California was that the weather was always sunny and mild during Pasadena's Rose Bowl Parade on New Year's Day, and snowbound television viewers in other states were thus enticed to migrate westward.
This term the U.S. Supreme Court will reconsider rulings finding the National Collegiate Athletic Association's rules restricting its member conferences and schools from offering players compensation beyond athletic scholarships at cost of attendance unlawfully restrain trade by preventing conferences and schools from competing with each other for the student-athlete's athletic services (and thereby violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act).
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has been no zombie apocalypse, but it has forced law firms to reevaluate how they do business, particularly across state lines.
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Parents with school-age children are filling in as teacher more often these days due to COVID-19 and distance learning. Why not add a few lessons on money fundamentals while you have a captive audience?
Thursday, December 31, 2020
California's community colleges are expected to receive a massive infusion of federal relief money to buttress their crimped finances and send desperately needed cash directly to students after Congress last week approved a $900 billion rescue package and $1.4 trillion spending bill.
When the state Employment Development Department released a new report on jobsthis month, it had a tinge of optimism.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
A 1-year-old in Fresno raking in $167 a week. An ex-state employee stealing $200,000 from California's unemployment system, some by impersonating Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
If you are nearing or in retirement, you may be reconsidering your housing needs. Does your current home feel like it's too big for your needs?
Monday, December 28, 2020
One of the last books written by Dr. Seuss, "Oh, The Places You'll Go" is one of the bestselling books during graduation season each year. The copyright for this book, like all of the works of Dr. Seuss, belongs to Dr. Seuss Enterprises, LP, which issues licenses for the creation of new works under the Dr. Seuss brand.
Thursday, December 24, 2020
California's fiscal squeeze tightened up Sunday when congressional leaders reached agreement on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that did not include direct aid to state and local governments.
While coronavirus cases are surging across California and overwhelming intensive care units, the country's top infectious disease expert said today he's "cautiously optimistic" that college students can return to campus in the fall.
In his sequel to "Alice in Wonderland," Lewis Carroll depicts a fantastical world in which his heroine finds that, like a reflection in a mirror, everything is reversed, including logic.
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
California, we have a problem. Gun sales are surging and a good number of these gun purchases are in direct response to the fear of the pandemic and social unrest, according to a recent UC Davis study.
With the end of the year nearing, investors must quickly yet carefully consider last minute tax planning strategies.
Nearly halfway through his first term, Gavin Newsom faces a critical period that could make or break his governorship.
California demands a new compact for higher education – one that is based on Black people thriving.
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Monday, December 21, 2020
What seemed like a Herculean task just months ago is now here: the COVID-19 vaccine.
For many of us, the new year means a fresh start and the chance to set new goals. As you consider your resolutions, you may want to add "strengthen my financial foundation" to the list.
Friday, December 18, 2020
The timing could not have been more ironic.
Most patent applications are initially rejected on obviousness grounds by the patent examiner in the US Patent and Trademark Office.
After a very divisive election, it is now time for unity as we enter this phase of the COVID-19 crisis. For the sake of everyone's health, now is the time for respectful listening and dialogue across religion, race, region and politics.
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Gov. Gavin Newsom already faces the complicated chore of filling several high-profile political positions.
Footage will provide a far richer and more accurate understanding of the legal issues and evidence presented during the trial than anything available in a transcript. Video recordings are powerful storytelling tools that journalists often use to inform the public about the judicial branch.
Carlos Acosta's fall semester at the University of Southern California was a lot more grueling than he expected — and it wasn't just because of the Zoom classes.
Gov. Gavin Newsom this week allowed playgrounds to reopen statewide. It was a reversal of a portion of the current health order that had shuttered playgrounds since Sunday.
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Consider this unnerving situation: You apply for a loan only to learn that your credit report is marred by a delinquent debt — one that you have already paid or maybe don't recognize.
Monday, December 14, 2020
We are worried about the future of American democracy.
Friday, December 11, 2020
In 10x Genomics, Inc. v. Celsee, Inc., 1-19-cv-00862 (DDE 2020-12-04, Order) (Colm F. Connolly), the District Court ordered the defendant to produce documents and give testimony about communications between defendant and its new corporate owner concerning the litigation and the provisions in the acquisition agreement that concern the litigation.
With California's eviction moratorium set to expire in less than 60 days and 2 million people at risk of losing their rental homes, a group of tenant-friendly lawmakers want to forestall evictions for another year.
This year, California broke a sad record. We had the largest wildfire in modern history, burning more than 1 million acres over seven counties and sending choking smoke across the state
California's crisis of affordable housing appears to be running smack into another intractable problem: sea level rise.
Thursday, December 10, 2020
The word "controversial" is not a word used to describe the actions of the California Wildlife Conservation Board. Unlike other state agencies that oversee environmental issues, the board's main role is to distribute public funding for popular conservation projects such as purchasing easements and restoring fish and wildlife habitat. Votes by the board are nearly always unanimous.
Eviction defense attorney Nathaly Medina stood behind the acrylic glass shielding the judge from the lawyers and made the same standing objection she's made in every in-person court hearing during the pandemic: It's neither safe nor necessary to be here.
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
This past year, we've faced more than we thought we could.
Californians will likely see the first doses of Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine arrive between Dec. 12 and 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday as he unveiled the state's distribution plans for its initial allotment of 327,000 doses.
California has a new blueprint to deliver on our commitment to meet the Early Learning needs of every California child while improving the quality and training of their teachers and caregivers.
There's nothing new about political jousting over shares of a limited but valuable resource.
As annual open enrollment proceeds for Affordable Care Act health plans, millions of Americans have signed up for low-cost coverage. But some people, like those who earn too much to qualify for financial help under the health care law, may find the cost of a plan daunting.
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
To ensure that agencies act within the law's confines, courts, especially the Supreme Court, must hold those agencies accountable when they act illegally.
After years of mounting failure to address affordable housing and homelessness at the scale of the need required, 2021 will be our big chance.
Over the last four years, the Trump administration has all but eliminated asylum protection in the United States.
Here is the second half of our two-part article on new employment law legislation affecting California employers.
President-elect Joe Biden won the election with the most ambitious education agenda in the modern era. From tripling Title 1 funding for low-income schools to eliminating tuition for most families, his plans will need an Education Secretary with the savvy to match the boldness of the agenda.
Monday, December 7, 2020
Investing used to be easier for retirees. Many sought to generate enough income from the yield created by bonds or short-term investments like money market funds to meet their living expenses.
The case warrants the publicity of publication because it discusses an issue that arises with some regularity, but does not usually involve enough money to make extensive litigation advisable.
Friday, December 4, 2020
In 2019, Carnival Corporation, the owner of the Carnival Cruise Line, attempted to register KING JAMES in connection with a wide variety of services, including retail store services, various retail goods, cruise-ship services, sports, entertainment, banquet services, beauty and health care, and much more. According to Carnival, it planned to name its newest ship King James, and the application seems to indicate that Carnival also planned to use the KING JAMES mark in connection with various other goods and services onboard the ship. As you can imagine, a prominent figure took issue with Carnival's plan. That figure was none other than LeBron James, or as those in the sports world have known him for over a decade, King James.
Despite a seemingly endless era of upheaval – a surging pandemic, contentious election cycle and racial strife – we still have the responsibility to address pressing issues that cannot wait for calmer times. The future of California's water is one of those issues.
An alternative view of California's public school system is that it is a huge industry with six million customers who spend more than $100 billion a year.
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Throughout California, academic grades for children forced into makeshift learn-at-home arrangements rather than receiving classroom instruction have plummeted — and that's among kids who are actually signing on via computer.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Throughout October and November, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors from every part of the state take the first step toward realizing their academic and professional goals by applying to a California State University campus. In this new COVID-19 reality, too many students will have to navigate the transition between K-12 and higher education virtually, and largely on their own.
The holidays are here, and it's time to put out an SOS. Much like the signal transmitted by a ship in distress, this SOS is a call to action, a request for help.
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
California is on fire. And the wildfires we've seen already this year are not just alarming – they're a forewarning. In 2020 alone, record temperatures and tens of thousands of dry lightning strikes led our state to experience five of its six largest wildfires in recorded history.
Even a fortuneteller could not have foreseen what a crazy year 2020 has been.
Monday, November 23, 2020
In the weeks before the coronavirus began tearing through California, the city of Commerce made an expensive decision: It shut down part of its water supply.
Californians will stop at nothing for safer, more reliable and convenient access to legal cannabis. There were more than 35 pro-cannabis ballot measures up for consideration throughout the Golden State on Election Day. Thirty-one of them were victorious.
When it comes to California's persistent shortage of affordable housing, the default position for many politicians is to promote tax credit schemes to incentivize investment in more building.
Monday, November 16, 2020
Come January, California's own Kamala Harris will make history as the first woman and person of color to serve as vice president of the United States. Her transition to the White House will also leave a vacancy in the U.S. Senate, and Gov. Gavin Newsom has an important responsibility to fill that seat.
Ronald Reagan chose Mile Square Park, in the heart of Orange County, for a Labor Day rally in 1984 to kick off his final push for a second term as president.
Friday, November 13, 2020
As states struggle to contain COVID-19 surges, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday warned that California also is experiencing a rise in cases and hospitalizations — though not yet at levels seen across the nation.
With California's junior senator Kamala Harris poised to become America's first female vice president, a remarkable pattern has taken hold: Once again, a woman from California is making history in the nation's capital.
It's been a week since election day, and while there's a modicum of doubt about some outcomes as ballots continue to be counted, overall results are pretty well settled.
One way to challenge the validity of a patent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") is through a petition for inter partes review ("IPR"). The USPTO Director has delegated responsibility to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") to evaluate such petitions to determine whether to institute review of the challenged patent.
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Friday, November 6, 2020
A recent decision confirms that the duty to defend is immediate and, as can be surmised from the Crawford decision although it's not expressly stated in that decision, is not a factual issue to be determined by a jury.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Thanks to a bill signed recently by Gov. Gavin Newsom, California consumers are going to see fewer handguns for sale in the Golden State. Assembly Bill 2847 solves no problems but creates yet another gun control hurdle for law-abiding firearm manufacturers and the consumers that rely on their products.
Americans are experiencing a crisis-of-confidence over the COVID-19 vaccine: a recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that only 51% of Americans would be willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine if one were available today, down from 72% in May.
Californians are casting their votes and making important choices about revenue for local communities, ending the ban on affirmative action, restoring justice for families and selecting our next elected leaders. The ballot decisions and questions come down to: What California do we want for our families and communities?
Friday, October 30, 2020
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared his intent on Sept. 23 to eliminate the sales of new internal combustion engines in the state by 2035, building on ambitious climate and emissions goals dating back to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and strengthened under Gov. Jerry Brown.
Thursday, July 30, 2020
An unpublished decision from the Northern District of California emphasizes how important it is for attorneys to follow patent local rules.
The rule restricts the ability of banking entities to engage in proprietary trading or to have certain interests in, or relationships with, hedge funds and private equity funds.
If there was ever a good time to convince people guaranteed income can make a difference, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs figured it'd be in the middle of a pandemic that is taking a heavier toll in poor neighborhoods and among Black and Latinx communities.
The fact that the Department of Justice is used to carry out the president's broad policy preferences is neither surprising nor unusual. But allowing political considerations to influence prosecutorial decisions in individual cases is not the same thing.
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Even before the onset of COVID-19, the cost of health care was becoming a public health crisis of its own.
The object of this article and accompanying self-study test is to familiarize readers with procedures under the Government Claims Act (Gov. Code Sections 810, et seq.), the statute that must be complied with when litigating actions against public entities.
The court's rationale is that motions under that statute are limited to eminent domain actions and other remedies, such as summary judgment motions are available. The Weiss decision is logically flawed and will inevitably result in waste of precious judicial resources.
Monday, July 27, 2020
The data is in: We now know for certain who really benefited from federal efforts intended for small business recovery. The biggest banks made billions of dollars in fees from the Paycheck Protection Program.
The ABA recently issued an ethics opinion to clarify the line between legitimate advocacy and conduct that would violate Model Rule 8.4(g).
Maitely Weismann moved her 77-year-old mother from New York into a Los Angeles assisted living facility in mid-March, planning frequent visits to help her settle in. The timing couldn't have been worse, as California's pandemic lockdown had just banned virtually all visits in long-term care homes.
Friday, July 24, 2020
Over the course of their lifetime, the average American changes jobs 12 times and works for 5-7 different employers1. If this rings true for you, you may be among the millions of people who have started 401(k) or 403(b) plans with multiple companies over the years.
While a final resolution of the issue in a recent California Supreme Court ruling is long overdue and the court's recent decision brings needed clarity to condemnation law, the work of the Legislature, the Judicial Council and the Supreme Court is incomplete.
As California's daily COVID-19 case count surpassed 11,000 for the first time, it is clear that the state is by no means out of the woods with this pandemic.
Every aspect of life, business and law has been impacted by the current and unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The cannabis industry, which was already a transitioning industry undergoing many challenges, has seen a number of major changes.
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Coronavirus has reshaped how Californians live, learn and work in uneven ways. The pandemic has exposed the state's long-standing digital divide with a significant share of low-income and rural households lacking reliable internet access.
In f'real Foods, LLC et al v. Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. et al, 1-16-cv-00041 (DDE 2020-07-16, Order) (Colm F. Connolly), plaintiffs freal Foods, LLC and Rich Products Corporation sued defendants Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. and Hershey Creamery Company for infringement of four patents on four accused products that are high performance blenders manufactured by Hamilton Beach.
As COVID-19 cases surge in California, some of the state's leading mental health professionals warned of long-lasting psychological fallout that will require enormous investment to help Californians who are suffering. Yet they also praised innovative experiments during the pandemic and said there is reason for hope.
The past few months have seen a historic surge in both state and federal legislation aimed at lessening the detrimental effects of the current pandemic on the health of both individuals and the economy as a whole. This has included multiple congressional relief bills, along with a multitude of other laws by states across the nation aimed at protecting individuals and employees affected by COVID-19.
Despite the concerted efforts to pressure the insurance industry for business interruption payments, none have been successful as one French restaurant, and the ruling is leading to more settlements.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
The past months have been a time of exceptional change and challenge for Green Dot Public Schools -- as they have for most organizations, families and communities.
As fiduciaries, trustees are typically guided by the responsibilities and obligations imposed on them under the law and/or pursuant to a contract or trust instrument. In litigation, courts typically focus more on the sufficiency of the trustee's asset management process and administrative approach than investment portfolio results. It is important, therefore, that a trustee focus on the review process and reevaluate all aspects of the administration.
In grade school, Napat Maneerit was uncomfortable bringing his mother's food to school. As a Thai American living in the United States, he went by Nathan to avoid feeling embarrassed when others mispronounced his name.
Those not knowledgeable in the art of jury selection see little harm in masking jurors and lawyers. But for those of us who spend our careers in the trenches of the courtroom reading the subtleties of juror reactions in order to decide how to exercise the precious few preemptory challenges allowed by law, we will be stumbling blindly — deprived of the essential signs of facial expression.
For high growth tech companies, corporate venture capital can be an attractive investment option. Not only can corporates provide capital, but they can also offer commercial synergies and valuable services — from assistance with product design to regulatory and technical support in specialist areas.
We certainly know that COVID-19 strikes hardest, sometimes fatally, at those who already have weakened bodies, such as the elderly.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an estimated 175,000 business closures this spring, and the delinquency rate on commercial-mortgage-backed-securities has increased more than fivefold in recent months.
According to many polls, President Donald Trump's path to re-election has never looked more difficult. But the polls fail to account for what is known as the "contingent election," which Lin-Manuel Miranda uses in the storyline to the hit musical "Hamilton."
Monday, July 20, 2020
Next in the Negotiating Trauma & the Law Series, interview with Fresno-based immigration lawyer on the importance of giving clients more control; on the imperative of habits to stay healthy in difficult trauma-inducing work.
The nationwide coronavirus lockdown — the first in over a century from a global pandemic — has given us an opportunity to slow down, spend more time with our loved ones, and reflect on our priorities. As we emerge from the lockdown, what lessons can we take with us to thrive in our professional and personal lives in increasingly challenging times? Here are five.
After weeks of uncertainty, it's now obvious that the vast majority of California's six million public school students will be staying, and presumably studying, at home this fall, rather than returning to the classrooms they hastily abandoned four months ago.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Just a few weeks ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom was boasting about California's apparent success in suppressing COVID-19 infections in implicit contrast to other states, such as New York, that were being clobbered by the pandemic.
In the middle of a once-in-a-century health crisis and as COVID-19 cases rise sharply across the U.S., public health leaders are under attack.
Monday, July 6, 2020
Two bills currently before the California Legislature are seemingly moving quite easily through the Assembly and Senate but are facing significant opposition from the California insurance commissioner and insurance consumer organizations.
A Court of Appeal ruling recently added to the growing number of California state and federal courts holding that the websites of businesses that are connected to a "brick and mortar" physical location are covered by the ADA if there is a "sufficient nexus between the claimed barriers and the plaintiff's ability to use or enjoy the goods and services offered at the defendant's physical facilities.
It has been five long weeks since the reckless, highly visible killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Although media coverage has dwindled, uprisings continue to sprout in nearly every major metropolitan area in the United States, calling for an end to police brutality against Black Americans, calling for an end to policing as we know it -- with global support. The people have declared, unequivocally, that it's time to defund the police.
By best estimates, police in the United States killed more than 1,000 individuals last year. Fortunately, there are a number of concrete steps that can be taken in the areas of recruitment, training, liability and root cause analysis to reduce police violence.
Thursday, June 25, 2020
After months of being confined to our homes, thousands of people have been shouting in the streets, risking their lives in the midst of a pandemic to fight structural racism and to be heard. It's time to listen.
The work of crafting a pandemic-era state budget was never going to make California Democrats happy. The question, as soon as the economic fallout from the coronavirus became evident this spring, wasn't whether there would be cuts, but rather, who would take them and how deep they would go.
Marijuana, the IRS and taxes have a difficult relationship. In a recent 9th Circuit ruling, the unhappy story starts with a regular old tax audit.
The 2020-21 state budget agreement, announced this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders, assumes that California's economy will perform a bit better than previously assumed — enough better to add another billion dollars to the revenue side of the ledger.
Unicolors, Inc. creates and markets artistic design fabrics to various garment manufacturers. Some of these designs are marketed to the public and placed in its showroom while other designs are considered "confined" works that Unicolor sells to certain customers.
A wave of bankruptcies is likely due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the economy and the unemployment rate. For someone with an outstanding income tax liability who is considering filing for bankruptcy, a key question will be whether that liability is dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Sisters Maria and Jennifer Salvador start their days before the sun. The Southern California teenagers report to work at an Oxnard strawberry farm with one goal: To harvest as many bright red strawberries as they can.
A society's budget reveals its moral values, and by that metric, 21st century America barely hovers above bankruptcy. Our budgets expose our value of a carceral, police state, or at least one imposed and inflicted upon marginalized communities of color.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced this week that they have a deal on a new state budget to take effect on July 1.
The Death Penalty Clinic at Berkley Law released a study last week that concludes that "racial discrimination is an ever-present feature of jury selection in California."
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
The California Public Employees Retirement System, the nation's largest pension trust, benefited greatly from the runup in stocks and other investments during the last few years, topping $400 billion early this year.
It is inevitable that the ongoing global pandemic will continue to affect nearly all facets of social and business life across the nation. Some bankruptcy courts have utilized their equitable powers to assist debtors in their attempts to reorganize and/or liquidate while accounting for the COVID-19 lockdowns and economic downturn.
Friday, June 19, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic and the protests against police brutality are laying bare long-standing problems and inequities. We are in the midst of social crisis.
On June 9, the California Public Utilities Commission issued an order designating all gig drivers classified as independent contractors as presumptive employees of their respective companies.
In a stinging blow to the Trump administration, Thursday's Supreme Court decision found the administration's attempt to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, was "arbitrary and capricious."
In Duke, the California Supreme Court expanded the power of the trial court to admit extrinsic evidence to correct mistakes in wills, a power neither statute nor case law permitted, holding that such intervention was required to avoid unjust enrichment.
Interest rates recently hit all-time lows as the Federal Reserve made cuts to mitigate the financial impacts of COVID-19. If you're a homeowner with a monthly mortgage payment, you might be wondering if now is a good time to refinance.
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Breanna Dixon doesn't remember struggling to breathe when she overdosed, but her younger brother Joshua hasn't forgotten the sound.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has established a new program for prioritized examination for patent applications for inventions related to COVID-19 and for trademark applications for marks used for certain medical products and services used in connection with COVID-19.
Offering significant relief from the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service recently released Notice 2020-39, providing generous benefits for qualified opportunity funds and their investors.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
One would think that with demonstrations against police brutality raging throughout the state, even in small rural towns, officers who monitored the protests would have been on their best behavior.
Recently, Sen. Mike Braun introduced the Conditional Approval Act, which would amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to allow for a shorter pathway to market — that is, to allow for an early, provisional, and time limited approval — for drug candidates that meet six criteria.
Everyone knows that tax returns are due April 15 most years. In California, that means both the IRS and the FTB. But 2020 has hardly been a normal year.
Only a little more than a week after the protests started, a panel of the 4th Circuit issued an opinion on the use of excessive force by the police against a homeless black man.
Three summers ago, my Stanford Law classmates and I were volunteering at an immigration detention center in rural Texas to help asylum seekers. While we were there, President Donald Trump, in a blink of a tweet, rescinded DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Recognizing the issue as a matter of first impression, the Court of Appeal construed the statutory language as limiting coverage "only if the insured is aware of the hazard or reasonably could have discovered it through exercising ordinary care or diligence."
Easing the restrictions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act's Payment Protection Program program, on June 3, the Senate passed H.R. 7010, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, which had passed the House in late May.
Monday, June 15, 2020
Each juror brings a unique perspective and experience to the process, but together they create new energy. When jurors aren't physically together, some of that will be lost.
Friday, June 12, 2020
In recent months, many insured businesses have turned to their insurers seeking coverage for claims and losses related to COVID-19.
The economic shutdown that we've endured as a nation as we attempt to combat COVID-19 has created significant challenges for small business owners. Even those that were thriving before the crisis are not immune to the effects of a sustained closure or limitation on how they operate.
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on the shortcomings of many of the programs that help protect older adults in California, including our state's food assistance program, CalFresh.
In a report issued on June 4, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees most nursing homes in the United States, estimated that almost 32,000 residents have died of the virus, more than a quarter of all COVID-19 deaths in the country.
The increased use of virtual care, or telehealth, has proven successful amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and its ongoing use offers long-term solutions as uncertainty remains over potentially multiple waves of COVID-19 and the timeline for a vaccine.
Thursday, June 11, 2020
What was once illegal is now a thriving industry. That's right — I'm talking about cannabis. But my initial statement isn't entirely accurate. Although Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have legalized cannabis, the drug remains a Schedule I narcotic under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
In times of crisis, our fundamental views shift, and for many Californians the COVID-19 pandemic has given us a new view of what's "essential."
When California's economy is strong, like it was in January, passing the state's annual budget was a pleasant responsibility. Ample tax dollars and a significant surplus meant that most policy priorities received funding and those programs warranting increases received them.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
While historically the issue of noncompete enforcement has been left to the states, the last year has seen the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission begin to examine the effect of such covenants on the labor market.
On May 21, the SEC published its final rule regarding Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses. While the feedback submitted during the comment period was generally positive and supportive of the proposed amendments, in our view the rule could have negative consequences for investors.
Friday, June 5, 2020
California is facing intersecting crises that place a heavy, dangerous burden on pregnant people.
An Assembly bill that would close a loophole and ensure funds intended for disadvantaged students unanimously passed the Education Committee last month, but it drew significant opposition.
Forty years ago Willie Ramírez entered a hospital and forever gained a place in history. The 18-year-old baseball player, semiconscious and unable to speak, suffered a brain hemorrhage that doctors did not properly diagnose. Why? Mostly it was an incorrect understanding of a term used by the young man's girlfriend and her mother to describe what might have caused his sudden incapacity: "intoxicado."
As we learn more about COVID-19 daily, it is increasingly clear that impacts are largest for individuals with health risks, the economically disadvantaged and people of color. Prisons concentrate these vulnerabilities in a single institution. And institutions with concentrated vulnerabilities put us all at risk.
One possible upside to a down market comes in the form of a long-recognized strategy called tax loss harvesting. The concept took a backseat in the midst of an 11-year bull market, but it has jumped back into discussion now.
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Construction specifications generally come in two flavors: "design" specifications and "performance" specifications. Design specifications set forth the materials to be used and the manner in which work is to be performed which are to be followed by a contractor without deviation. Performance specifications, on the other hand, specify the results to be obtained but do not necessarily set forth the materials to be used or the manner in which work is to be performed to achieve those results.
In the midst of this pandemic, college-age students and their families are considering what to do next fall. The most interesting question posed to me is: should I take a "gap year"?
In Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al v. Serenity Pharmaceuticals, LLC et al, 1-17-cv-09922 (SDNY 2020-05-27, Order), Chief Judge C.J. McMahon of the Southern District of New York ordered an upcoming bench trial set to begin on July 6, 2020 in a patent infringement case to be "all remote," at least in the sense that at a minimum all the witnesses will testify remotely.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Intellectual property and the exclusivity it provides its owners is a valuable tool for cannabis businesses, allowing them to gain a competitive edge. However, California cannabis-related businesses face special challenges in securing and enforcing intellectual property protection in that cannabis is still illegal at the federal level.
I spent my final years at Harvard studying hard and working hard to fight for race conscious admissions policies there. After graduating last year, I returned home to California as another conversation about affirmative action was emerging with Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5.
As the crises cascade one upon the other — pandemic, economic decline and racial conflict — Democrat Gavin Newsom's governorship bears an increasingly eery resemblance to that of Republican Pete Wilson three decades earlier.
A recent report by the Copyright Office includes a series of recommendations on how to reallocate rights and risks in ways some stakeholders like and others do not.
When our Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia introduced Assembly Bill 2736 to give my community and the surrounding areas just a little voice in how a massive project in our region is developed, he was immediately met with an onslaught of opposition led by the National Parks Conservation Association and other Washington, D.C.-based, self-appointed protectors of Eastern Riverside County.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Governments' efforts to address the novel coronavirus pandemic include measures that closed or curtailed many businesses' operations. As governments relax these restrictions, businesses must hire, rehire, or recall employees who were laid off or paid to be on call.
Executive Order N-62-20 establishes a rebuttable presumption, for purposes of awarding workers' compensation benefits, that employees who test positive for or are diagnosed with COVID-19 within 14 days after they perform work at their place of employment contracted the virus in the course of employment.
Friday, May 29, 2020
No one could have predicted with certainty how quickly the COVID-19 pandemic would change the lives of so many around the world. Fear of infection, stay-at-home orders and a rallying cry to help "flatten the curve" have drastically changed how people behave in their daily lives. In the face of so much uncertainty, the need to have an emergency fund -- a tool that can help your family manage the financial fallout in the case of a job loss or other unwelcome impact -- has come to the forefront.
The coronavirus crisis is testing most households and businesses in California, pushing some to the very brink of what they can bear before falling off a cliff.
The coronavirus crisis is teaching us much about our social infrastructure that we either didn't know or took for granted.
The COVID-19 pandemic invites us to grapple with our interconnectedness as we rely on each other to keep ourselves safe and supported. Yet amid efforts to collaborate and creatively solve problems, Southern California Gas Co. is capitalizing on this crisis to bully and to sow division.
This Sunday, just as the disciples were "together in one place," a number of churches throughout the state are planning to mark the occasion by defying local health and safety orders and gathering their members together in one place.
California's recycling rate has fallen from a peak of 50% to 40%, well short of the 75%-by-2020 goal established by the Legislature, according to a recent report by CalRecycle, the state agency that manages recycling programs.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Certain literary or graphic characters may, in some cases, enjoy copyright protection. Think James Bond - or Batman and even his Batmobile. Recently, the Ninth Circuit was called upon to determine whether the Moodsters, "anthropomorphized characters representing human emotions," are subject to the same copyright protection as Batman. Sadly, the Ninth Circuit concluded they do not.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
There is broad acknowledgement across the state that communities of color, particularly black and Latino communities, are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Faced with rebuilding California's economy — one founded upon caring and fairness — let's ignore Wall Street and ivory tower economists. More can be learned from selfless frontline workers, like Danielle Mahabir. Donning sterile gloves and gown, nurse Mahabir, 34, elbows open the door into her intensive-care unit in San Jose. Hot-running ventilators sustain over a hundred patients inside, recovering from strokes, brain injuries or COVID-19 — an eerie climate inside, like an "arid forest waving in the summer breeze," Mahabir said.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the 2nd Circuit's application of res judicata to bar Lucky Brand's assertion of a defense in a 2011 lawsuit where it failed to litigate that same defense in a separate lawsuit in 2005.
By confirming a property interest in employment and fraud as a basis of a public policy claim (albeit in the context of Penal Code statutes), a recent appellate ruling has broadened the definition of statutorily based public policy, to the benefit of unjustly terminated employees.
It's time's up, pencils down for the SAT and ACT tests at the University of California.
Even before COVID-19 rocked California, there were stark economic differences between the state's two major metropolitan regions — the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County-centered Southern California — and the pandemic will widen the gap even more.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
It's a crazy time. You're home with the kids. Your sister Roberta is taking care of mom half a state away and worries that mom won't outlive the virus. Roberta has bills and wonders if mom's estate plan leaves her enough money. You hope Roberta's not being too overbearing or eager about her inheritance, or maybe she's even taking early bites at the apple. But how would you know if she was?
As luck would have it, an urgent client matter required that I make an ex parte appearance at Stanley Mosk in the second week of May, when the rate of COVID-19 infections was alarmingly high and while the Safer-At-Home Order was in full force.
As lawyers, we are trained to examine facts, uncertainty is unsettling. We are goal oriented, so future ambiguity is disturbing. If we are able to meet the moment to embrace growth and change, we have an opportunity to create a new personal and professional paradigm from this bridge in time.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Last month, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a landmark decision concerning the liability of internet intermediaries for intellectual property infringement.
In these challenging economic times, many worthwhile charitable organizations find themselves in a precarious financial position. Meanwhile, they are experiencing unprecedented demand, especially those charities who provide basic needs like food and shelter.
Apple and Google are releasing application interfaces this month that marshal a smartphone's Bluetooth capability to trace a person's movements. The smartphone broadcasts a random identifier that will be recorded by other cellphones that come within close proximity and vice versa.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Eventually, it was bound to happen. A patent application was filed by a machine. Well, not exactly. A human being filed a patent application naming a machine as the inventor.
Adding to the maze of federal and state coronavirus legislation, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced sought-after property tax relief for California homeowners and businesses who have demonstrated financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When California, with 17 million residents, surpassed New York to become the nation's most populous state in 1962, it was a cause for celebration.
You might be tempted to raise prices to try to recoup some of your lost revenue. But be careful — if you do raise prices, you might unwittingly commit the crime of price gouging under California law.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Clem Miller, a congressman from California's North Coast known as Spendin' Clem for his ability to bring home pork-barrel funding, was a shoo-in for re-election to a third term in 1962.
Parker Tenove remembers looking at his track and field schedule for the 2020 spring season, marveling at the opportunity to run at competitions in California cities from Santa Monica to Bakersfield.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Friday, May 15, 2020
As missed rent payments and delinquent mortgages pile up across the state, California Democratic lawmakers Tuesday introduced a series of sweeping proposals aimed at shielding homeowners, renters and landlords from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has stoked fears among businesses that they will be targeted with lawsuits as they reopen for business. They foresee customers and employees lining up to sue, claiming unsafe conditions and negligent exposure to the virus, along with mult-million-dollar wrongful death claims from victims' family members. They envision years of litigation, astronomical legal defense bills, and millions of dollars in payouts.
It has taken a global pandemic to finally move legislators in DC toward progress on consumer privacy issues. Despite an urgent need for a comprehensive legal framework to protect personal data, more than a year after it first began looking at a federal scheme, Congress has not managed to reach consensus on a framework such as the European Union's GDPR or California's CCPA.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
The battle started almost six years ago. A Utah-based company known as Dan Farr Productions ("DFP") decided to use San Diego Comic Convention's ("SDCC") registered trademark COMIC-CON in conjunction with its own comic and popular arts convention, resulting in SDCC filing suit in the Southern District of California. SDCC alleged in its complaint that it has the exclusive right to utilize its COMIC-CON trademarks and has done so in connection with its comic convention since 1970.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Early in his second governorship, Jerry Brown championed a major overhaul of school finance that, he pledged, would close the stubborn "achievement gap" that separated poor and English-learner students from children of more privileged circumstances.
What Congress and the Small Business Association giveth, the IRS taketh away.
On May 5, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, along with the City Attorneys for the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, filed a lawsuit in San Francisco County Superior Court against Uber Technologies, Inc. and Lyft, Inc. alleging that these entities violated California law by intentionally misclassifying their workers as independent contractors rather than as employees.
Monday, May 11, 2020
Under cover of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to sign off on a request to slash health care provider accountability for negligent, reckless and abusive conduct toward patients, which could harm elders, people with disabilities and people in marginalized communities. The governor needs to change his mind.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
On Monday, May 4, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com, B.V. For the first time in the history of the Court, the argument was live streamed via multiple outlets, including CNN, enabling us trademark junkies to listen to the argument in real time.
Take advantage of this quiet time as a point of self-reflection. If you have a lull in your practice, take advantage of all of the free CLE offerings. Learn a new area of law, or educate yourself in your current area of practice. Read up on all of the new rules. We do not know if some of them will be permanent.
Amidst all the chaos and concern, it can be easy to lose sight of some basic tax rules.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
In the context of the numerous lawsuits have recently filed by policyholders seeking compensation for lost business income occasioned by the pending pandemic, a key issue will be whether those policyholders have suffered "direct physical loss or damage" to their businesses.
About three-fourths of the Legislature's 120 seats are occupied by Democrats, which renders the Capitol's relatively tiny band of Republicans pretty much irrelevant.
Just as every dog has his day, every litigant — best in show, purebred, cur, or junkyard biter — can always exercise that right, right? Well, actually not. In exceptional cases, a litigant can so egregiously misbehave that the right to appeal can be lost. We're talking here, of course, about the civil disentitlement doctrine.
The COVID-19 pandemic gives new meaning to the phrase "living the dream." Like millions, I find myself ruminating, so for want of anything better to say, here are my latest reflections. If I waited another three weeks, you undoubtedly would be reading an entirely different article.
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Last week Gov. Newsom announced that eligible seniors throughout California could immediately get three free restaurant meals per day delivered to their door.
As employers contemplate re-opening businesses and returning employees to work, they face a number of litigation risks from the very workers they are putting back on the active payroll. Carefully addressing key legal issues may help to ensure a healthy workforce and avoid the more expensive of these risks.
As the political debate continues about whether to reopen the economy or maintain "stay at home" policies, many employers are working on creative solutions that enable extended remote work arrangements for larger segments of their workforces. Employers face many risks and challenges relating to managing remote workers under California law. Here are 10 considerations that may be helpful at this time.
Thursday, April 30, 2020
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House is reportedly working behind the scenes to reduce wages for farmworkers.
This article will address how work from home mandates resulting from the pandemic also increase the risks to the employer's trade secrets and some potential measures that employers can take to reduce those risks.
For some time there has been a split among the Federal circuits as to whether evidence of willfulness is required in order to award disgorgement of profits for trademark infringement under Section 1125(a) of the Lanham Act.
Public support for marijuana legalization and regulation has been increasing steadily nationwide for years. But the recent decision of elected officials in California and elsewhere to embrace cannabis during the COVID-19 pandemic has solidified its status as part of the mainstream fabric of America.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Restless Californians are letting Gov. Gavin Newsom know they're over his statewide order to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. At noisy street demonstrations and in polite letters from government officials, they're saying: Let us start getting back to normal.
Monday, April 27, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is sending shockwaves through the global and national economy, and, without a doubt, reverberations from the pandemic will have a huge impact on state budgets across the country.
Fifty years ago, Americans celebrated the first Earth Day with hopes of "fixing" our broken Earth.
A party accused of infringing a patent may challenge the validity of the patent in the federal court infringement litigation or in separate administrative proceedings in the Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).
Friday, April 24, 2020
Retirement is an important milestone that often comes after years (or decades) of careful planning. But even the most seasoned planners couldn't have foreseen the severe market selloff that happened in March in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. The abrupt end to the 10-year bull market surprised investors of all ages who are now wondering how long it will take for their portfolios to recover.
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Earlier this month, the California Court of Appeal issued its first published decision addressing unlimited vacation time policies under California law.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the global economy. Companies in the midst of M&A transactions when the pandemic began are likely to have substantial concerns regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the target company's operations and continued financial viability.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Over the past several weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has created images Americans never expected to see in this country: Empty supermarket shelves and people lined up outside of markets waiting to enter to purchase food.
Quarantines, business shutdown orders, and stay-at-home orders may be effective weapons in the global fight against COVID-19, but such policies require immense government power and perhaps equally severe restrictions on freedoms we normally take for granted. With unprecedented measures being rolled out all over the country seemingly by the day, one might ask: What does the Constitution have to say about the coronavirus?
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared the obvious fact that "we are now in a pandemic-induced recession," and appointed an 80-member "Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery" to guide our way back to prosperity.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
A core component of the $2.2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package allows the Small Business Administration to create a Paycheck Protection Program from Feb. 15, 2020, to June 30, 2020, that provides for 100% federally backed forgivable loans for certain eligible businesses and nonprofits hurt by the coronavirus fallout.
In the wake of the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, local governments have begun enacting ordinances designed to extend FFCRA-like leave entitlements to employees not eligible for this particular federal paid leave because they work for employers with 500 or more employees.
As California scrambles to protect more than 150,000 homeless residents from contracting and spreading novel coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom had some harsh words Saturday for cities he accused of blocking the conversion of hotels and motels for emergency housing.
Friday, April 17, 2020
Burbank High School runs a music program that reportedly provided the inspiration for the hit TV show, Glee. It is nationally known for the competitive show choirs its students participate in as part of the program.
Thursday, April 16, 2020
In mid-March, a fear-induced global sell-off triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic ended the longest bull market in U.S. history -- leading us into our first bear market in 11 years.
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed California and the nation into uncharted waters, especially with the impact on our schools.
State and local governments fashion their own responses to the coronavirus crisis, while the national government is slow, contradictory and confused.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
As the rest of us hunker down in place or, donning our masks and gloves, venture tentatively outdoors, there is a subset of individuals particularly maladapted to this coronavirus pandemic lifestyle.
On a recent morning in front of my house, I ran into a neighbor and her husband who were out walking their dog. We stayed 6 feet apart, of course.
The first few days of the coronavirus crisis revealed that the veneer of civilization may be thinner than we assumed.
California health care workers may qualify for discounted hotel rooms under a new arrangement Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday as part of the state's ongoing effort to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Richard Dobbs was coughing, feverish, and preparing to sleep on the sidewalk again. Dobbs, 60 and homeless in Sacramento for the past two years, had just been discharged March 28 from Sutter Medical Center's emergency department, where he was given a test for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and written instructions for how to self-isolate while he awaited the results.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has been a time of heroism: medical professionals saving lives, workers checking people out at the grocery, public officials preparing their communities.
Monday, April 13, 2020
For California's seniors, the coronavirus pandemic is an especially terrifying crisis. For the state, it is also a powerful signal that gaping loopholes in protections for this vulnerable and growing population must change.
Friday, April 10, 2020
Blood tests for antibodies to the novel coronavirus will be "foundational, fundamental," to sending Californians back to work, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday. But medical experts caution that there's still a lot we don't know about whether the tests are reliable enough to ensure people's safety.
In response to the severe economic fallout stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, a record $2 trillion fiscal stimulus package was enacted at the end of March. The wide-ranging CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act is designed to help ease the financial hardships many Americans are facing. You may be wondering what, if any, economic relief is available to you. Here are some possible ways you may qualify for support.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
In 2006, California's pledge to build 1 million solar energy systems on homes, schools, farms and businesses was visionary and audacious, but achievable.
On March 31, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that, pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, certain deadlines for patent and trademark applications would be extended.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Whose appeal is this anyway? Conventional wisdom is that an appeal "belongs" to the appellant. The appellant created the appeal by filing the notice of appeal, and is responsible for the care and feeding of the appeal: pushing the paper and paying the fees. Thus, should the appellant get cold feet about pursuing the appeal, it can pull the plug at any time, right?
Lori Waldman got lucky. She thought she and her 87-year-old father would be sleeping in her car tonight.
The $2 trillion stimulus package will offer relief to many Americans affected by the economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic, but the checks meant to ease the financial hardships won't help families like mine.
In a virtual Q&A last week hosted by CalMatters, two of California's top education leaders gave parents and teachers advice on how to educate students while schools remain physically closed.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
The global pandemic notwithstanding, most California owners are still on the hook to pay their property taxes next week — thus far, the state isn't granting any reprieves.
Monday, April 6, 2020
First with a tweet, then a news conference and interviews, President Donald Trump showed that he is considering trading American lives in the coronavirus pandemic for a healthier economy: "We can't have the cure be worse than the problem."
Friday, April 3, 2020
COVID-19 has precipitated a record drop in the stock market. Here are a few steps to consider.
Since late 2017, women politicos in California have been on an impressive electoral winning streak, gaining a dozen seats in the Legislature and a bushel of victories in mayoral contests from San Francisco to Costa Mesa.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
The world as we knew it a few weeks ago — remember handshakes? — is now upside down. The coronavirus has sickened untold numbers of us, claimed thousands of lives, and shaken almost every corner of society.
As the coronavirus pandemic terrorizes the nation, the federal government generally and President Donald Trump specifically have been criticized — with good reason — for their lack of preparedness and slow reaction.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
As California officials desperately try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, Chris Miller is coaxing a sample of the virus to grow in a secure laboratory at UC Davis.
On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Gavin Newsom took his now-usual spot behind a podium in Sacramento for a livestreamed news conference and rattled off a dizzying list of statistics.
One of the most important decisions facing Californians this November is whether to make any changes to Proposition 13. While voters continue to give Proposition 13 an overwhelming nearly two-thirds approval rating, there are serious questions about whether the tax cap still accomplishes more good than harm.
As states and the federal government wage a battle against the spread of the coronavirus, we also face a real threat to our democratic institutions.
The rapidly expanding COVID-19 pandemic threatens the lives and livelihoods of Californians, but it also lays bare some multi-billion-dollar shortcomings in state government finances that have been ignored for decades, despite many warnings.
Monday, March 30, 2020
The need to delay CCPA enforcement is particularly acute for the state's brick-and-mortar retailers. For many of them, this is one more burden as they shut their doors indefinitely and try to figure out how to stay solvent amid what is quickly becoming the most devastating pandemic of our lifetime.
Trade secret litigation in California is growing, in both volume and impact.
Many California employers have temporarily curtailed or even closed operations as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Even temporary layoffs may require employers to distribute notices under federal or California laws known as "WARN Acts."
Friday, March 27, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is a public health crisis that's spawned a global economic crisis. Schools and businesses are closed. Jobs are being lost. Retirement savings have been decimated. Citizens are being told to shelter in place. Our health care system is being stressed and providers are sounding alarms about equipment and facilities shortages. Dysfunction in Washington only makes things worse.
The Supreme Court likes to pick on the 9th Circuit, and may get another chance when it decides whether to hear a new petition challenging a decision to deny qualified immunity to a police officer who shot an unarmed man to death behind an adult bookstore in San Diego.
When the warm weather finally hits, most of us get bit by the spring-cleaning bug. Our to-do lists often include cleaning out our garages, basements and closets. But this year, it might be time to add another section to the list: finances.
As the coronavirus pandemic was clobbering California — and the rest of the known world — this month, local government officials in Sacramento County enthusiastically decided to ask voters to approve a hefty sales tax increase for transportation improvements.
Last year the court discarded the state litigation requirement, but questions remain.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
There may be a coronavirus pandemic, but California is making it easier than ever for housebound and anxious residents to get buzzed.
Mornings this week have started as always for Ray Ortega and his second-grade daughter: They wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and prepare for their day at school and work.
During his first couple weeks of managing California's COVID-19 crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom's words and actions were impressively cool-headed and measured.
Less than two weeks ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers were in the throes of tackling the twin issues voters considered the state's most urgent concerns: the more than 150,000 Californians without a home and the state's sky-high housing costs.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
This is Sunshine Week, which pays homage to the principle that the public's business should be public even though officials often try to keep us in the dark about their unsavory activities.
Friday, March 13, 2020
For three straight years, state Sen. Scott Wiener has tried to force California cities to swallow more apartment buildings near public transit, arguing it's the only way the state can fill its crippling housing shortage and meet its ambitious climate goals.
In his State of the State address, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared California's homelessness crisis a disgrace and declared: "Health care and housing can no longer be divorced."
When it comes to personal finance, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. That's why money misconceptions can be so dangerous. Here are four common money myths you may have heard -- and perhaps even believe -- that need to be put to rest.
California authorities have attacked the state's wildfire crisis from every imaginable angle, but one of the most stubborn problems involves what happens when fire risk is high and utility companies shut off power so their equipment doesn't spark a blaze.
The high point — or low point — of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris' campaign for president occurred last June during a multi-candidate debate when she lashed out at former Vice President Joe Biden on racial justice.
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
The Securities and Exchange Commission has relied on disgorgement of ill-gotten gains as one of its main and most effective enforcement tools for several decades. It was broadly accepted until fairly recently that the SEC could obtain disgorgement as a form of equitable relief in enforcement actions in federal court.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that has significant implications for the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 600-mile-long underground pipeline intended to deliver natural gas from hydraulic fracturing operations in West Virginia to coastal Virginia and eastern North Carolina, with an expected cost of over $7 billion dollars.
Is the role of the attorney general "being an 'attorney for the president or the country'"?
As a young government lawyer, It didn't take me long to learn that politics can override good policy.
Monday, March 2, 2020
The state high court will soon decide if and when jury trials are available in these actions, including Prop 65.
Employers must compensate employees for the time they spend waiting for management to inspect personal property before they leave work.
A three-day planned power shutdown this past fall was too much for owner Simon Olney of Ol' Republic Roadhouse, a popular Nevada City restaurant.
Friday, February 28, 2020
The California Supreme Court is expected to decide whether state laws governing wage statements and minimum wage apply to employees who perform work both inside California and outside the state.
If you have a pet, you know the costs of keeping them healthy can add up quickly. From annual vet visits, to medication to special diets, pet ownership often includes a variety of expenses. Plus, you never know when they may need emergency care, surgery, or other expensive treatment.
The new lower PFAS levels will result in many more public water systems with wells exceeding the new response levels, and more wells will likely be removed from service until they can be treated.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
It has become commonplace for companies such as Google to use local servers to provide faster service to customers. This practice has raised the question as to whether those local servers constitute "a regular and established place of business" for the purposes of establishing venue in patent infringement suits in the districts where the servers are located.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Gavin Newsom is rushing in where angels — and more cautious politicians — fear to tread by devoting virtually all of his second State of the State address to California's seemingly intractable housing and homelessness crises.
Monday, February 24, 2020
The more or less official rationale offered by the state's Democratic politicians for moving our presidential primary election to March 3 was that the nation's most populous and diverse state should play a major role in choosing a challenger to President Donald Trump and compel candidates to pay attention to our issues.
Back in the 1800s, the expression "pull oneself up by the bootstraps" meant the opposite of what it does now. Then it was used mockingly to describe an impossible act.
Friday, February 21, 2020
While securities fraud remains atop as the most active area for blockchain litigation — due in part to the rush towards initial coin offerings from 2017 onwards — disputes over intellectual property, unfair competition, class action membership, consumer protection, tax, immigration and elections law have begun.
No one can predict the future, but one thing is for sure: If we leave unanswered questions about how to handle our affairs after we pass, life for our loved ones could become much more difficult.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
A crisis, it's been said, is a terrible thing to waste. Stanford economist Paul Romer coined the phrase in 2004 in referring to the nation's waning education levels and it's since been adopted and adapted by others.
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Linda Poskanzer was having a tough time in her late 60s. "I was not doing well emotionally," she recalled. "Physically, I didn't have any stamina. I was sleeping a lot. I wasn't getting to work."
During the pre-industrial era, crops of wheat were planted, cultivated, harvested and processed by hand.
Friday, January 10, 2020
The start of the new year is a great time to focus on your finances and put them into perspective.
Summer hikers, bikers, paddlers, campers, bird watchers, climbers and horseback riders abandon California's cities to marvel in mountainous glory of the Sierra Nevada. The love for the Range of Light is no less when the snow falls.
Monday, January 6, 2020
Fixing the housing crisis should not be a partisan issue. Housing is an American issue and is at the core of what it means to live the American Dream.
Domestic violence is a complex phenomenon that impacts families across generations. Victims can become perpetrators. Perpetrators are often victims. Family members who were never physically touched by violence are still deeply affected. Fear and shame can generate silence. These factors, and many others, allow the cycle to continue.
"Behavioral Legal Ethics" is a relatively new area of the law that deals with how automatic and mostly unconscious processes potentially lead otherwise well-intentioned people to make self-serving decisions, and the implication of such actions for legal policymaking.
You may have heard an old crank in a big house ranting about appliances and unflushable toilets the other day.
Friday, January 3, 2020
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upended divided patent infringement.
When Disney chose to delay the production and release of merchandise related to The Child—commonly referred to as Baby Yoda—from its hit series, The Mandalorian, it created a significant opportunity for unlicensed fans to create and sell such merchandise.
Three appellate courts recently reached different conclusions regarding whether a claim for contractual indemnity "arises from" protected petitioning activity within the meaning of California's anti-SLAPP statute.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Would you be willing to delay your retirement to help your child pay for their first car, college education or wedding? Increasingly a lot of Americans say the answer is yes.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
In the early 2000's, an all-girl band called 3LW performed a song called "Playas Gon' Play," which was written by Sean Hall and Nathan Butler. "Playas Gon' Play" was initially released in May, 2001 and rose to number 81 on the Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Climate change is upending life around the world. Flooding, fires, and freezes, droughts, tornadoes, and disasters once thought to be extraordinary seem to have become commonplace.
Friday, December 27, 2019
It is an historical anomaly that Supreme Court justices are the only judicial category not currently covered by a code of conduct.
Friday, December 20, 2019
Many parents have children who have accrued significant debt while they are in college. College graduates often have multiple loans ? each one requiring its own payments on its own due date each month. Aside from parents giving money, there are steps they can encourage their child to take to help manage those debts.
Friday, December 13, 2019
With the new year upon us, those who collect Social Security or pay into the public retirement program through payroll deduction will see some changes. The Social Security Administration makes cost-of-living adjustments on an annual basis.
Friday, December 6, 2019
California's new independent contractor law, Assembly Bill 5 ("AB 5"), creates a strong legislative preference in favor of employer-employee relationships. As a result, few independent contractor relationships will be lawful after January 1, 2020.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
The priority date of a patent is an important aspect in protecting intellectual property.
Monday, December 2, 2019
When sued for patent infringement, a defendant can still petition for inter partes review ("IPR") of the asserted patent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") if the petition is filed within one year of service of the complaint. But, as Game & Technology Co. v. Wargaming (Fed. Cir. 2019) reminds us, a plaintiff must properly serve the complaint to trigger the one-year deadline. Specifically, "[s[ection 315(b) states that '[a]n inter partes review may not be instituted if the petition requesting the proceeding is filed more than 1 year after the date on which the petitioner ? is served with a complaint alleging infringement of the patent.'" 35 U.S.C. § 315(b).
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
How confident are you about the insurance strategies you have in place to protect against an unexpected turn in your life? Do you feel like you have a clear handle on how to manage your insurance needs effectively?
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Fox Media seeks registration of 'OK, Boomer' | Intellectual Property Perspectives | By Josh Escovedo
If you're plugged into the digital world and its constantly emerging meme trends, you've probably encountered various "OK, Boomer" memes by now. If you're unfamiliar with the trend, here is a brief synopsis.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
The Consumer Attorneys of California, at its annual convention over the weekend, celebrated a successful year of getting bills signed into law and on Saturday night honored attorneys who scored big courtroom victories and settlements.
Monday, November 18, 2019
A raft of new employment laws take effect on January 1, 2020. To help employers prioritize the many required changes to policies, forms, and procedures, we provide a non-exhaustive list of matters requiring employers' attention by year's end. This discussion may not take into account special exceptions contained in the laws, and is not a substitute for legal advice tailored to a particular situation.
Friday, November 15, 2019
The gift-giving season is fast approaching. So, if you are like a lot of people, this means you are spending time trying to brainstorm gifts to give your loved ones ? something that they will use and appreciate. For those disillusioned with giving gifts that are quickly used up or forgotten the moment the wrapping paper comes off, consider a financial gift designed to make an impact. Here are a few financial gift ideas you can feel good about giving.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Virginia Vallejo, a well known Colombian journalist and media personality, authored the memoir "Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar". The book is a factual account of her romantic relationship with Pablo Escobar and a chronicle of the rise of the Colombian drug cartel.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
California's economy has been booming for most of this decade and has generated a cornucopia of tax revenues for state and local governments.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
The Kincade fire ravaged a part of California that has been hit repeatedly by devastating blazes: Wine Country. Eric Asimov, who writes about wine for The New York Times, recently published a four-part series on how the wine world is adapting.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Is your son or daughter heading to college? If the answer is yes, it's an exciting moment in your child's life. But, financially, it can also be a paralyzing time if they do not have a principled approach for managing money. Out on their own for the first time, your child has an opportunity to sharpen their financial skills for the future, but they are vulnerable to mistakes. Thankfully, regular chats about money can help get them on the right path. Here are some suggested financial topics to cover with your college-aged child:
Thursday, November 7, 2019
In Arthrex Inc. v. Smith & Nephew Inc. et al., case number 18-2140, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently considered whether the appointment of the Board's Administrative Patent Judges ("APJs") by the Secretary of Commerce, as currently set forth in Title 35, violates the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Having declared "I own it," Gov. Gavin Newsom is stepping up his personal involvement and political investment in the disaster-tinged bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., wagering his still-new governorship on reforming — or dissolving — the nation's largest investor-owned utility.
Monday, November 4, 2019
I guess it should be no surprise that the same week Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that allows California residents to eat like a Third World country (you're now legally allowed to eat road kill), that they should be forced to live like Third World refugees.
Friday, November 1, 2019
We hear frequent references in the news to the Federal Reserve (or the "Fed," as it is more commonly called). Yet, for many individual investors and consumers, the way the Fed affects their lives is a bit cloudy. So, let's clear the air.
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Should a company be required to license its patents to a competitor? That's one question that arises when intellectual property law and antitrust law intersect.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
The careers of political executives — presidents, governors and big-city mayors — are often defined, fairly or not, by how they respond to crises.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
America is a society that relies heavily on tipping. Tipping allows us to reward excellent service. However, research shows that the amount of a tip is rarely related to the quality of the service. What matters most is the size of the check. If you want bigger tips, induce your customers to order more.
Monday, October 28, 2019
WeWork said it was going to transform the market for office space, reinvent the way people work and elevate the world's consciousness. But in recent weeks, the brutal reality beneath the lofty visions has emerged.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Before 1995, the term of a U.S. utility patent was 17 years from the day the patent issued. In 1994, the federal statutes were changed to make the patent term 20 years from the effective filing date of the patent application. This change was part of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act and was intended to make U.S. patents comparable to foreign patents, which, in most countries, expire 20 years from their filing dates.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Gavin Newsom has a transportation problem — not personally, but politically.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
This article is Part 2 of a two-part series providing an overview of recent California Supreme Court decisions in employment law.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Californians often cite homelessness as the top issue facing their state.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
While so-called cryptocurrencies are widely understood as a means for unscrupulous people to buy and sell contraband online with impunity, they have increasingly become a tool for law enforcement.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
It was a problem that California had come to dread. The risk of wildfires was high. acific Gas & Electric, the giant utility whose power lines and transformers have been blamed for a series of disastrous wildfires in recent years, was determined to prevent another one.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Educational accountability is attracting a lot of political attention — or perhaps lip service — these days in California.
Monday, October 7, 2019
When I was a little girl, my brothers and I would get dressed, eat breakfast and then dash out the door to walk to school. It was our time together to have adventures, gain independence, bond and burn off a little energy before spending the day learning.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
California's longest-running single-issue political battle, over limits on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, is about to heat up again.
Friday, September 27, 2019
For families of individuals with disabilities, crafting a financial plan requires a delicate balance. As a financial advisor, I've seen this balance play out firsthand. Families want to save responsibly, anticipating future expenses including retirement, but need to be careful not to save more than the limits required for government assistance.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
It has been more than 10 years since Bernard Madoff was caught running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, a case that became a cautionary tale for investors and a call to action for regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission made changes in its enforcement division to better detect fraud, established specialized teams and even revamped its system for handling tips from the public.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Reacting to actions in Congress and the White House this week, antitrust attorneys said they were suspicious the Department of Justice's inquiries may be politically motivated, and defended the U.S. model of having two federal agencies handle antitrust investigations as a balance.
Friday, September 20, 2019
For decades, people have subscribed to newspapers, magazines and cable services. Today, that subscription-based payment model is being used across a wide range of consumer products and services.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
No summary was provided
Friday, September 13, 2019
Many people dream of starting a business. And, for some, a spouse or significant other is the ideal business partner. The prospect of building an enterprise with the person they share other parts of their lives with may be appealing on a number of levels from shared passion, convenience and common goals. However, it's important to approach the joint venture with the same care a person would apply to any other business dealings.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Landlords whose tenants sell counterfeit goods can be liable for trademark infringement if they have knowledge of the infringing acts or are willfully blind to the infringement.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo claimed California 477 years ago this month when his three-ship armada sailed into a bay he named "San Miguel," which we know today as San Diego.
Monday, September 9, 2019
A federal judge indicated Thursday he will likely restore the nationwide scope of his prior ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration from enforcing an immigration policy barring almost all asylum applications at the Mexican border.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Insurance is one of the fundamental financial tools for any household. Most people recognize the important role of insurance, but many are unsure about how it works. If you have questions about insurance, you aren't alone. As a financial advisor, I get a variety of questions about insurance.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
One of the more curious anomalies about California is that while labor unions' political power has increased to virtual hegemony, especially in the last decade, union membership has declined just as sharply.
Friday, August 30, 2019
With the real estate market as competitive as it is in various U.S. cities, more people are opting to stay in their current homes. This decision frequently comes with the desire to take on additional house projects, which often impact your financial situation. If you are considering upgrades and remodels, read on for several considerations on how to prioritize your housing projects.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
The atrocious acts in Dayton, El Paso and Gilroy are incomprehensible. How could anyone with any modicum of human decency ever carry out a mass shooting?
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Everything old is new again, at least when it comes to punching loopholes in state tax laws to benefit corporate interests.
Monday, August 26, 2019
Human resources professionals may shudder at the sound of an "audit." For starters, it is difficult to make available the time and personnel needed for day-to-day work. And what if the audit uncovers "bad news?"
Friday, August 23, 2019
Retirement is one of the most important financial goals for many married couples. It's something you may dream about and work hard to reach. But, even if you feel like you are on track in terms of meeting your financial objectives, there is an equally important factor to consider ? are you both on the same page about your vision and plans for retirement?
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Katy Caouette is Flagship's first general counsel, and it's her first venture into the facilities industry.
The Golden State has lost its largest bottle and can recycling chain following a slow-motion collapse
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
The Legislature must fix the California Consumer Privacy Act before it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
People are always changing their minds, day to day. But over the past 20-odd years one group has shifted to an astounding degree: highly educated white Democrats. I'm not sure I understand why this group has undergone such a transformation, but it has, and the effects are reshaping our politics.
Corn-based ethanol cheaper to produce but less environmentally friendly than more advanced biofuels
People are always changing their minds, day to day. But over the past 20-odd years one group has shifted to an astounding degree: highly educated white Democrats. I'm not sure I understand why this group has undergone such a transformation, but it has, and the effects are reshaping our politics.
Friday, August 16, 2019
It's no secret that many American parents want to support their kids by paying for their college education. According to recent Ameriprise research, 87 percent of parents today already have paid for or plan to assist with these costs. Furthermore, 33 percent of respondents have delayed their own retirement, or plan to, in order to help their kids pay for college.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Though California has slipped in the rankings over the past several years, it is still an innovation hub
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Two proposed class actions alleging California's public universities unfairly punish students accused of sexual misconduct will likely win class certification, legal experts say, in what would be the state's first-ever lawsuits seeking mass dismissal of student disciplinary decisions based on alleged due process violations.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
A Fresno-based small business owner is suing the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and its director for allegedly failing to make Amazon pay the state billions in uncollected sales tax.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Paying severance money to a departing employee in exchange for a release of claims is a good decision
Paying severance money to a departing employee in exchange for a release of claims is a good decision
Friday, August 9, 2019
Parents want good things for their children, and a good credit record is certainly something that falls into that category.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
A larger EITC led mothers to move out of shared living arrangements with non-related adults
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Things should be dismal in Silicon Valley right now, with technology's biggest companies under attack from regulators, lawmakers and even President Donald Trump. Not for Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi. The two Stanford dropouts, both 23, are the founders of Brex, one of the hottest young companies today. Their startup's mission? To provide charge cards to other startups.
Californians have wait times of as long as a month and a half for appointments at some DMV offices.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Californians are worn out by the high cost of housing and see no alternative but to leave.
Californians are worn out by the high cost of housing and see no alternative but to leave.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Americans juggle a lot of interest rates in their daily lives. They pay interest on car loans, credit card balances and mortgages. They earn interest, at least a little, on the money they save with banks.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Gentrification is allowing less advantaged families to 'move to opportunity' without even moving.
The federal patent laws provide for an award of attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in exceptional patent infringement cases.
Monday, July 29, 2019
COMPTON — It was bath time and Rosalba Moralez heard a cry. She rushed to the bathroom and found her 7-year-old daughter, Alexxa, being doused with brown, putrid water.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Newsom's vision for addressing the state's homeless problem involves only government.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Even women who are famous for their mastery of a domain find themselves being mansplained.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
The panel is pursuing a split from the State Bar by the end of 2019.
Friday, July 19, 2019
One of the most important decisions you will make in retirement is when to begin receiving your Social Security benefits. Yet this decision often depends on another: whether you plan to retire or keep working. The following are some pointers to help you make both decisions with confidence.
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Given their druthers, many government officials would prefer to do their business ? our business, actually ? behind closed doors and provide sanitized, self-serving versions of their actions after the fact.
Most apartment homes around the country use more energy and water than they need to.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Nearly 110,000 109,089 men and women are sleeping on the streets of major West Coast cities
California employees may claim unpaid wages, unreimbursed expenses, penalties, and interest via administrative complaints filed with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (also known as the Labor Commissioner's office). Claims not settled are resolved via an informal hearing before a Deputy Labor Commissioner.
Monday, June 17, 2019
A culture that has allowed homelessness, filthy streets, and increasingly unlivable conditions to persist.
A culture that has allowed homelessness, filthy streets, and increasingly unlivable conditions to persist.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
The California bullet-train project is a case study in mismanagement of an infrastructure megaproject.
ver the past several years, teenage suicide rates have spiked horrifically. Depression rates are surging, and America's mental health overall is deteriorating. What's going on?
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
High performers don't stop being high performers simply because they take a career break.
When I think about "a technology innovation that specifically and demonstrably improves people's lives for the better," I immediately jump to the value of technology-based companies innovating their recruiting strategies to include non-traditional candidates of all kinds
Monday, June 3, 2019
California currently has 879 Opportunity Zones – roughly a tenth of all those in the United States
David Bornstein points out that a lot of American journalism is based on a mistaken theory of change.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Many of the state's 'contract' workers will be involuntarily reclassified as 'employees'
If your heart is beating and your lungs are taking in oxygen, you know that Game of Thrones recently reached its epic conclusion.
SB 707 is opposed by business groups coordinated by the California Chamber of Commerce, which object to specifics of the bill, such as the definition of a material breach of the agreement and the ability of a civil court to impose monetary sanctions for companies found to have engaged in delays.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
The key to eliminating inequality while fomenting future economic growth
By reading this you will be plunging into the Legislature's almost impenetrably arcane thicket of internal procedures.
Friday, May 24, 2019
S.F.is the nation's leader in property crime, including burglary, larceny, shoplifting, and vandalism.
In January, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the International Documentary Association started hearing worrying reports from journalists and documentarians covering developments related to migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border from Central America.
S.F.is the nation's leader in property crime, including burglary, larceny, shoplifting, and vandalism.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called privacy the "right to be let alone." Perhaps Congress should give states trying to protect consumer data the same right.
One of the requirements for obtaining a patent is the written description requirement -- the specification must include a written description of the invention. 35 U.S.C §112(a).
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
At last count, California's Democratic political leadership had filed four dozen lawsuits against President Donald Trump's administration, reflecting differences on policies large and small.
Voters who supported Proposition 64 were duped by a bait-and-switch
Monday, May 20, 2019
I was honored to speak to the graduating students at Arizona State University. It was an intimidating occasion. Anybody speaking to college students these days is aware of how hard it is to be a young adult today, with rising rates of depression, other mental health issues, even suicide. So while these talks are usually occasions to talk about professional life, my goal was to get them thinking about the future of their emotional lives, which is really going to be at the center of everything.
Several cities and counties have banned fracking here in the Golden State
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Earlier this year Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a so-called "data dividend" because, he said, "California's consumers should also be able to share in the wealth that is created from their data..." The governor provided almost no details then, and few to none since, but the idea seems to suffer from a lack of careful consideration.
In Apple Inc. v. Pepper et al., case number 17-204, the United States Supreme Court considered a case alleging Apple has monopolized the retail market for the sale of apps and has unlawfully used its monopolistic power to charge consumers higher-than competitive prices. As an early defense in the case, Apple asserted that the consumer plaintiffs could not sue Apple because they supposedly were not "direct purchasers"
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Gavin Newsom has spent the last four months telling Californians that he could -- and would -- cure some of California's most pressing social ailments.
Though well-meaning, increases in minimum wage portend deleterious consequences
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Los Gatos company spends much more cash than it brings in, leading to consistent negative cash flow.
More than 40,000 investors descended on Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. The most prominent face of capitalism — Warren Buffett, the avuncular founder of Berkshire appeared to distance himself from many of his peers, who have been apologizing for capitalism of late. "I'm a card-carrying capitalist," Mr. Buffett said.
Monday, May 13, 2019
When it comes to solving the state's housing affordability crisis the Legislature seems at a loss.
When it comes to solving the state's housing affordability crisis the Legislature seems at a loss.
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Employers must pay workers for "reporting time" when employees call in to determine if they will be expected to work, according to the California Court of Appeal's decision in Ward v. Tilly's, Inc.
A study of tiny home downsizers found that their ecological footprints were reduced by about 45%.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
The California Democratic Party and former chairman Eric Bauman have been named in another lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.
California motorists pay $1.17 per gallon more than the national average, according to AAA
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Gary Cohn was born in 1960 in the suburbs of Cleveland. In college at American University he programmed computers and became obsessed with the financial markets.
The CPUC has previously defined safety performance metrics for utilities and the utilities responded
Friday, April 26, 2019
Whether or not the Impossible Burger venture succeeds on a large scale remains to be seen
Whether or not the Impossible Burger venture succeeds on a large scale remains to be seen
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
State legislature has made California's cost of living unaffordable for all too many residents
State legislature has made California's cost of living unaffordable for all too many residents
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
List of expenditures unavailable because financial data is scattered across 500 incompatible systems.
List of expenditures unavailable because financial data is scattered across 500 incompatible systems.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Developers invited to submit proposals to build affordable housing on 1,300 suitable sites in California
Developers invited to submit proposals to build affordable housing on 1,300 suitable sites in California
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
In the jargon of the Capitol, "trailer bills" are measures that accompany the annual state budget -- in theory making the changes of law necessary to implement the budget's fiscal policies.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Last year, Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, testified before Congress and apologized for his company's role in enabling "fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech." As Silicon Valley grapples with its version of becoming too big to fail, Zuckerberg and his industry peers might take lessons from Wall Street, whose leaders have some experience with government scrutiny.
California cities in SMSAs with lowest homeownership rates are most affected by affordability issues
Monday, April 15, 2019
Airlines respond differently to public concerns about fatal accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX 8
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Democratic legislators have already proposed $40 billion in new spending, much of that beyond what Gov. Newsom has proposed.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra has enjoyed a chummy relationship with Democrat-dominated Legislature in Sacramento over the past two-plus years. But friction has cropped up recently as he defends an annual budget of more than a billion dollars for the first time.
Monday, April 8, 2019
It is hard to choose the right communication channel because the issue is quite context dependent
There is an essential aspect of the creative process that everyone can relate to, even people who don't think of themselves as creative. And it's something that almost no one enjoys: failure.
Friday, April 5, 2019
California lawmakers propose inexplicable ban on safer alternatives to conventional cigarettes
California lawmakers propose inexplicable ban on safer alternatives to conventional cigarettes
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
The value of the past lies in remembering how recently higher education was affordable, even cheap.
The value of the past lies in remembering how recently higher education was affordable, even cheap.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Even after two fatal crashes of the Boeing 737, CEO Dennis Muilenburg insisted the aircraft is safe
The two most recent times I saw my friend Makoto Fujimura, he put a Kintsugi bowl in my hands. These ceramic bowls were 300 to 400 years old. But what made them special was that somewhere along the way they had broken into shards and were glued back together with a 15th-century technique using Japanese lacquer and gold.
Monday, April 1, 2019
Only one new home community under construction here in the Golden State for every 45,000 residents.
Only one new home community under construction here in the Golden State for every 45,000 residents.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Second set of regs should deal with practical problems many potential investors are currently facing.
Second set of regs should deal with practical problems many potential investors are currently facing.
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
The information-technology industry has successfully lobbied against attempts to legislate or regulate it
The information-technology industry has successfully lobbied against attempts to legislate or regulate it
Monday, March 25, 2019
The average American consumes roughly 200 pounds of meat a year. According to Jayson Lusk, an agricultural economist at Purdue University, Americans eat more meat per capita than citizens of almost any other country in the world, making them "the king of meat eaters." How did the United States achieve such a status? And what — if anything — should be done about it?
California needs fewer NIMBYs (not in my backyard), and more YIMBYs (yes in my backyard).
Friday, March 22, 2019
All have one or more leading research universities and a large proportion of college-educated people
All have one or more leading research universities and a large proportion of college-educated people
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Voters thought higher pump prices would be used to repair the state's freeways and roads
Voters thought higher pump prices would be used to repair the state's freeways and roads
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Freddie Mac is leveraging data analytics to bring borrowers to the closing table sooner.
Freddie Mac is leveraging data analytics to bring borrowers to the closing table sooner.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Proposedmeasure would require all of California's state and local government agencies to use XBRL
Josef Stalin dreamed of creating a totalitarian society where every individual's behavior could be predicted and controlled but he was born a century too early. He lived before the technology that would have made being a dictator so much easier!
Monday, March 18, 2019
The profit margin of scientific journal publisher Elsevier nearly 40% while Apple is only 23%
Frans and Caroline Swaalf, management consultants in the Netherlands, have been enamored of South Florida since they were graduate students at the University of Miami in the 1990s.
Friday, March 15, 2019
Governments are increasingly banning the use of plastic products, such as carryout bags, straws, utensils and microbeads.
A San Jose federal judge awarded data center design company BladeRoom Group Ltd $30 million in exemplary damages over a claim the company's intellectual property was stolen.
The 2016 voter initiative to keep the death penalty required the state to maintain the ability to "perform any duty needed to enable it to execute the judgment."
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Dozens of people accused of having bought their children's way into elite colleges and universities.
Dozens of people accused of having bought their children's way into elite colleges and universities.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Two of the nation's largest telecommunications providers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in lawsuits claiming they improperly refused to carry programs produced by an African-American owned production studio because of racial discrimination.
The Cadiz Water Project has received numerous validations of its plans, including CEQA approval
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Efforts to shift direction and build more transit-oriented development are moving slowly
Efforts to shift direction and build more transit-oriented development are moving slowly
Monday, March 11, 2019
TCJA offers tools and provisions for both commercial real estate and residential real estate investors.
Raghuram Rajan is a professor of finance at the University of Chicago. Rajan's book called "The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind." Its theme is the fragility of democracy — a fairly radical notion for an economist.
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Taxpayers want to know if new rules incorporated in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act apply to them
This week, the Supreme Court resolved a split in the circuits regarding an issue in copyright law that affects copyright owners in California.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
An Oakland federal judge on Monday struck down San Francisco County's use of money bail for those suspected of crimes but not yet charged as a "significant deprivation of liberty."
California's housing demand will not be met by stealing the profit motive from housing suppliers
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Recreation and commerce flourish in daylight and are hampered by evening darkness
Everyone, it seems, has ideas about new tax strategies, some more realistic than others. Whatever your politics, there is a bipartisan acknowledgment that the tax system is broken. Whether you believe the system should be fixed to generate more revenue or employed as a tool to limit inequality, there is a justifiable sense the public doesn't trust the tax system to be fair.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Freddie Mac is focused on inclusion, defined as the intentional act of making people feel included
Freddie Mac is focused on inclusion, defined as the intentional act of making people feel included
Thursday, February 28, 2019
An option could be to charge electric cars a few extra cents per kilowatt 'pumped into the tank.'
Companies have a number of tools available to them to help protect their intellectual property, including trade secret and other proprietary information that give them a competitive advantage.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
The Bay Area should have added a million housing units since 2000, but only 380,000 units were built.
Fewer than 10% of independent contractors prefer traditional work environments to freelancing
The Bay Area should have added a million housing units since 2000, but only 380,000 units were built.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
The Bay Area should have added a million housing units since 2000, but only 380,000 units were built.
The Bay Area should have added a million housing units since 2000, but only 380,000 units were built.
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.
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