GUEST COLUMNS
Thursday, June 24, 2021
The Supreme Court of the United States recently held that PTAB judges are unconstitutionally appointed. But, the Court also held that providing the Director of the USPTO with more oversight over PTAB rulings will remedy the unconstitutionality of the PTAB judges.
In a sign of worsening drought, the state on Tuesday warned about 4,300 users to stop diverting water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, stretching from Fresno to the Oregon border.
California recently passed its June 15 reopening benchmark, leaving employers with unanswered questions regarding their workplaces and employees.
Legal disputes come in all shapes and sizes. And there are almost always tax issues for plaintiffs, defendants, or both. Plaintiffs receiving money worry if and how it is taxable, whether they can deduct or offset their attorney fees, and more. Even without the special and complex rules governing qualified pension and retirement plans, the tax treatment of a legal settlement can be daunting.
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Kming Rosenthal recently inherited $5,000 after her birth mother passed away last year. Rosenthal, 72, who lives off her social security disability benefits and doesn't have much in savings, welcomed the extra cash.
The stakes are high this summer for South Los Angeles parent Renee Bailey. Her daughter Cali just finished kindergarten, but she spent most of it on a computer screen at home where her reading, arithmetic and handwriting skills all declined.
As California lawmakers and state agencies figure out how to implement the state budget bill, they must include major investments to restore the natural infrastructure we rely on for our water, oxygen, and climate mitigation: forested watersheds.
The conflict du jour in Washington these days is the sweeping Democratic bill — passed by the House but hung up in the Senate — to overhaul voting procedures.
It is appropriate to assert that standards make the world go round, especially when considering the impact that standards have had on the advent of worldwide shipping. The legal field also needs standards. There are nascent standards for legal data and LegalTech, plus we need to stretch further and aim for standards to empower the emergence of AI Legal Reasoning (AILR) systems.
Researchers estimate that by 2025, we could see 8 million autonomous vehicles on the road.
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Earlier this month, the German parliament adopted a new law designed to limit the availability of injunctions in patent infringement suits.
Many people might say that cheating on your taxes is the best way to get into serious trouble with the IRS. They would be partially right, and that is certainly not a good way to start.
Monday, June 21, 2021
While many other nations around the world have enacted broad reforms in recent decades to replace criminal sanctions with health focused strategies for addressing problematic drug use, the United States has persisted in waging its Drug War at home and abroad.
The opinion permitted the California Legislature to address perceived pension abuses, even if the modification reduces some employee benefits, while upholding the requirement of the California Rule that detrimental changes otherwise must be accompanied by offsetting new advantages.
The Federal Trade Commission as well as consumer groups and rental companies are warning travelers about schemes that lure them into booking phony reservations through fake customer service numbers and websites.
Friday, June 18, 2021
If the stock is held in a taxable account, it means that a decision to sell shares at some point in the future may result in a taxable gain.
A key for California businesses to get an advantage in the highly competive and inceasingly global post-COVID economic era is to establish, strengthen and expand their brands.
Although the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act made it harder for patent holders to sue multiple, unrelated defendants for patent infringement in a single lawsuit, it is still quite common for patent holders to file separate, simultaneous lawsuits against multiple defendants in the same court.
Thursday, June 17, 2021
The lawsuit alleges that users are not informed or asked for consent to have their activities and personal information are captured during a visit to GM websites.
Assembly Bill 794 strips away language requiring essential manufacturing and assembly to be done in the United States.
While I believe that Starbucks filed the application with the intent to enter into a naming-rights deal, I also believe that they won't do so unless the right opportunity presents itself.
Attorneys are expected to be zealous in the pursuit of justice for their clients. There is though a limit to this ardent goal, and sometimes overzealousness arises. In the future, there will be AI-based attorneys, for which zealousness ought to be expected, and surprisingly, overzealous can emerge too.
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
The Biden administration's so-called "Green Book" has nothing to do with the environment, and everything to do with taxes, or tax hikes actually.
Today, as U.S. and global growth prospects brighten, companies are in growth mode and finding it in places that may have been overlooked — including Eastern European tech sector.
California has finally achieved the zero population growth that some environmentalists had urged decades ago, but it has its own set of challenges.
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
District Attorney George Gascón was elected on promises that he would reform and reshape the justice system in Los Angeles, the largest district attorney's office in the country.
Monday, June 14, 2021
Developers who were hoping for an expansion of opportunity zones recently got some disappointing news.
Hours after President Joe Biden "strongly supported" moving Major League Baseball's All-Star Game from Georgia, the league complied.
After running Sonoma County's public health laboratory nearly around the clock for months, Rachel Rees has only recently been able to downshift and give her microbiologists some vacation time. They need it: Two are wearing wrist braces for repetitive stress injuries after processing tens of thousands of COVID-19 tests.
This year's hurricane season began early, with a named storm forming before the official start June 1, and it is expected to be active. If you lack flood insurance, especially if you live near the coast, this is the time to consider it.
The governor has put forward what may be a generational proposal for bridging the digital divide with billions of dollars in federal and state surplus funding. It sounds like a no-brainer: The Legislature's budget proposal contains $7 billion in funding with the financing/implementation details to be worked out later, after the budget deadline, June 15.
Friday, June 11, 2021
5 steps to help you successfully navigate today's housing market | Personal Economy | By Ryan Onishi
In many parts of the country, home prices have been soaring. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median existing-home price rose more than 17 percent in the one-year period ending in March 2021. This reflects just how competitive the market has become for homebuyers.
The following question was posed during a roundtable discussion: "What steps can a court take when it determines that a self-represented civil litigant is not mentally competent to participate in the proceedings?" The answer is...
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Last summer, the National Labor Relations Board asked for public input as to whether it should rescind, modify or simply retain its long-standing contract bar doctrine.
Lawyers craft legal arguments for their court cases. AI-based legal reasoning systems will be able to assist in such efforts and might eventually be able to do so autonomously. For those that have the wherewithal to afford such AI systems, they can stockpile a vast array of as-yet disclosed legal postures, though some believe that such hoarding is wrong and needs to be made available to all.
New York's post mortem right-of-publicity statute recently came into effect.
Rarely are college bean-counters skeptical of receiving more money, but a plan to give California's community college system hundreds of millions of dollars for faculty is dividing finance officials and professors.
With just a few days before California's June 15 budget deadline, advocates for immigrant families are hoping Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers can reach agreement to expand health care, food and financial aid to undocumented immigrants who are excluded from federal safety net programs.
As public health and health care leaders, we are overjoyed to see diminishing numbers of COVID cases. But that isn't the only number we need to watch as we recover from the pandemic.
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
There once was a time when Angelenos with the misfortune of ending up in a car crash could at the very least count on an officer to arrive on scene and sort things out.
With rare exceptions, such as a need to discuss administrative matters, an ex parte communication between an arbitrator and attorney is unethical.
California's evolution into a cultural melange in the latter half of the 20th century posed a question that still looms: Can such a complex society achieve the broad social consensus that's a prerequisite for effective governance?
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
"Going Dutch" now may mean increased corporate liability for climate change impacts after a Dutch court found that Royal Dutch Shell has a duty of care to affirmatively and swiftly address the impacts of climate change.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District recently adopted a first-of-its-kind "indirect source rule" that makes owners and operators of warehouse distribution facilities responsible for pollutants generated by the diesel trucks that service their facilities.
Monday, June 7, 2021
This is shaping up to be a banner summer for teenagers looking for a job. But, employment experts say, they shouldn't wait to apply, because competition for jobs may increase as the economy reopens.
A trifecta of climate change rulings — finding standing in NGOs and individuals against contributors to climate change and governments — present new thinking on duty, the standard of care, causation and the levers available to protect the planet.
Friday, June 4, 2021
Soft law is oftentimes the precursor to official and formalized on-the-books hard laws. The range of soft law is somewhat expansive, including codes of conduct, ethics guidelines, company policies, etc. When there is a new innovation or domain, soft law typically comes out the gate first, before hard laws kick in. This is indeed the case for AI and a recently released database about the soft law AI by Arizona State University is a veritable treasure trove on this topic.
For most investors, it's no surprise that markets are subject to up-and-down fluctuations over time.
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 39 "does not permit a district court to alter a court of appeals' allocation of the costs listed in subdivision (e) of that Rule."
With California staring down the barrel of a deficit of 3.5 million homes, the scale of the problem has overshadowed the potential of smaller housing developments to provide a solution.
Thursday, June 3, 2021
If your uncle, best friend or bank loans you money, is it taxable? Nope, not if it's a real loan. But the loan or income distinction lands many people in trouble with the IRS.
Before the Kardashians, before Empire, before "Crazy Rich Asians," there was "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" with Robin Leach. Moore v. Teed, 48 Cal. App. 5th 280 (2020), is about the unfulfilled wishes and dashed dreams of the $13 million dollar "fixer upper."
We recently wrote about a case in the Southern District of New York against Mashable relating to the embedding of content from social media platforms like Instagram.
A pivotal First Amendment case involving student use of social media and the allowable boundaries of school regulation of off-campus speech is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
If you were told that there's a law on the books that lets police target people for special prosecutions on the basis of race, would you believe it?
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
In February, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, introduced the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act of 2021 to "overhaul" U.S. antitrust law.
The intentional deprivation of the life of an appeal can occur contractually.
A single paragraph on Page 180 of Gov. Gavin Newsom's revised 2021-22 budget refers to one of the state government's most vexing dilemmas — an immense debt it owes to the federal government for support payments to millions of Californians who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Students attending college in the fall will pay higher interest rates than last year on money borrowed to finance their education.
Irreparable harm, although a necessary element of injunctive relief, can be difficult to pin down in unfair competition cases. Any brand owner would intuitively understand the competitive harm that could result from losing control of their reputation.
A unanimous Supreme Court held that if the cops want to get inside your house and take your guns, they're going to need a warrant. This decision comes amidst a growing interest in red flag laws and gun control across the country, where legislatures are creating legal procedures for confiscating firearms from those believed to be mentally unstable or dangerous.
As a father and a pediatrician, I know how much California's kids and young people have suffered during this pandemic: Schools went online. Sports teams took a hiatus. Friend hangouts were postponed. And family holidays were paused.
Friday, May 28, 2021
As California is aiming to scrap the color-coded tier system that has restricted the operations of businesses by June 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed into law Senate Bill 93. SB 93 provides rights to certain workers that have been laid-off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly employees in the hard-hit hospitality industry.
Gas prices fell sharply at the beginning of the pandemic but have been rising steadily in recent months.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly made housing affordability a top priority of his administration. But getting a good read on his thinking can be difficult.
Last November, I was supposed to go home. I had served 17 years in prison for a crime I committed at age 20. I was granted clemency by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Nov. 10, 2020, because of the person I worked to become.
Notwithstanding the dangers of celebrity-legislating, the attention to conservatorships created by the Britney Spears case has engendered a productive discussion about current conservatorship law and a series of proposed reforms in Senate Bill 724 (Allen).
Thursday, May 27, 2021
On May 7, the Justice Department released a proposed rule that adds teeth to President Joe Biden's promise to crack down on "ghost guns" — homemade firearms that lack serial numbers.
Hard seltzer first hit the marketplace about five years ago and rapidly grew in popularity with sales exceeding $4.5 billion in 2020.
The reason for the startling default judgment against the Endo defendants in a recent case was founded in a fraud on the court, based on misrepresentations made by the defendants in the discovery process to suppress or conceal discoverable evidence.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Two unknowns of European trademark law were just answered in a case involving one of the oldest and largest wineries in Los Angeles, San Antonio Winery.
A recent Supreme Court ruling may give oil companies an advantage when it comes to removing climate change lawsuits to federal court.
The Declaration of Independence proclaims "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," but despite our aspirations, all Americans do not enjoy equal opportunity.
There is a seamless connection between what Gavin Newsom is saying and doing as governor and his campaign to survive a recall, encapsulated in the slogan "California Comeback."
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Special college-savings programs known as 529 plans, which have been around for more than two decades, have become cheaper and more flexible over the years. But families should still do some comparison shopping before choosing a plan, advisers say.
Jordan Lyric's landlord leaves a running rental bill taped to their door. This month, the total was $12,000 owed for a $1,100-per-month studio. Lyric, 28, who uses a non-binary pronoun, is hoping they have a shot at qualifying for rent relief under a lottery conducted by the City of Los Angeles to provide emergency renters assistance to low-income tenants who have fallen behind on rent in the pandemic.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the latest legislative effort to dismantle the legal precedents established in Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years ago.
More than 10 years ago, the State Bar was warned about Thomas Girardi and failed to take public disciplinary steps.
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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