GUEST COLUMNS
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
From Halloween to New Year's, America's four major holidays form a deliberate cultural scaffold that lifts a diverse nation from welcoming strangers to honoring survival, strengthening intimate bonds, and finally embracing future possibility.
Liability insurers' use of catch-all language in Intellectual Property and Habitability exclusions -- designed to eliminate coverage for entire mixed lawsuits -- may conflict with California Insurance Code section 530.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
A $10,000 sanctions case revealed how deeply generative AI unsettles the legal system. The passion it inspires isn't new. Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics wrestled with the same anxieties about imitation, untrained power, and institutional fragility. Their wisdom offers a roadmap.
President Trump's pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of trafficking over 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S., has drawn widespread criticism as contradictory to his simultaneous military escalation against drug traffickers.
Monday, December 8, 2025
California's legal market presents complex risks, and some firms explore international insurers, such as Lloyd's of London, as an alternative to domestic coverage.
Business cases turn on getting documents into evidence, so trial lawyers must beat hearsay objections by knowing what counts as operative documents, party admissions, or admissible business records -- and laying the foundation early.
Friday, December 5, 2025
Military bases previously renamed to remove Confederate associations have been renamed again to their original surnames, now honoring different individuals with the same last names who served in various American conflicts.
The IRS has launched electronic filing for § 83(b) elections via Form 15620, allowing founders and service providers to submit online while keeping the 30-day deadline and employer-copy requirement, though filers should be mindful of technical quirks, save PDF confirmations, and coordinate with their companies to ensure accuracy.
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Meteoric rise of deepfake AI-generated content creates risks for attorneys.
Most plaintiffs in contingent fee cases must
report the entire settlement as income under Commissioner v. Banks, even
though their lawyer is paid a share, but with careful tax planning -- such as
using above-the-line deductions for qualifying claims -- they can usually avoid
paying tax on the portion of the recovery that goes to their attorney.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Despite equal ability, Black and Latino students are routinely denied early algebra access -- turning a curricular choice into a civil rights problem hiding in plain sight.
California law requires landlords to remediate hidden black mold (Stachybotrys chartarum) and structural decay rather than merely covering it up.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Just as USDA acted to sustain WIC, it could -- within statutory bounds -- lawfully consider similar tools to bolster SNAP's contingency funding and help ensure benefit continuity.
California is facing a dual crisis as the engineered stone silicosis epidemic among immigrant workers grows -- now over 435 confirmed cases -- and courts struggle to manage hundreds of complex, coordinated lawsuits, creating both a public health and legal emergency.
Monday, December 1, 2025
Plans to convert Baldwin Hills from oil production to parks or housing overlook the constitutionally protected property rights of current owners, raising the prospect of regulatory overreach and the need for compensation under established law.
Mismanaging client funds -- through commingling, overdrafts, or poor recordkeeping--is the fastest route to serious State Bar discipline, making proper trust account management, including IOLTA compliance, essential for every lawyer.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
The QSF regulations give claimants and their counsel broad flexibility -- there's no requirement to use a trust, but rather the opportunity to do so when it suits the situation.
Judges can enhance fairness and public trust by using respectful, clear and compassionate communication to humanize courtroom proceedings and foster a sense of justice for all participants.
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Noland v. Land of the Free makes clear: AI can assist, but lawyers remain fully accountable for every word they file.
In probate law, only those with a genuine, sustained relationship or legal stake can petition to override another's autonomy, and casual acquaintances or well-meaning strangers do not have standing.
Monday, November 24, 2025
*Ramirez v. McCormack* confirms that suing opposing counsel for actions taken while representing their client -- including post-settlement advice -- is barred under California's anti-SLAPP statute, and failing to address both prongs of the motion can forfeit any defense.
Under new federal guidance, more than 3,000 rural tracts now qualify as opportunity zones, opening the door for investment in overlooked areas -- from California's Central Valley to remote corners of the country.
Friday, November 21, 2025
Broken or unstable utility vault covers and exposed wires on sidewalks across the U.S. create predictable, preventable hazards that current inspections and enforcement fail to address.
The Noland decision delivered a sharp warning to lawyers: use generative AI at your own risk, because only human judgment -- not predictive tools -- can ensure competent, ethical legal work.
Thursday, November 20, 2025
California's post-wildfire recovery efforts in early 2025 revealed both the promise and the pitfalls of its disaster laws -- exposing a system in urgent need of modernization as climate threats grow.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled against transgender individuals this year, allowing bans on military service, healthcare and identity recognition. With key cases on transgender athletes approaching, the Court shows little inclination to protect them from discrimination.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
A recent amendment to California's data breach law imposes a firm 30-day notice deadline, limiting companies' discretion to postpone alerting residents to threats.
AI tools are transforming mediation practice, from document analysis to settlement predictions, but the distinctly human elements of trust-building, empathy and reading the room remain irreplaceable in resolving disputes.AI in mediation: The modern Prometheus?
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Unlike the masked Lone Ranger who upheld justice, today's masked ICE agents raise serious legal concerns as they operate more like villains than heroes.
If you're falsely imprisoned but not exonerated, your legal recovery may be taxable --highlighting a peculiar gap in how the tax code treats lost freedom.
Monday, November 17, 2025
In State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v.
Diblin, the California Court of Appeal reaffirmed that intentional conduct
cannot constitute an "occurrence" under a liability policy, holding that even
when a jury finds negligence, coverage is precluded if the injury stems from
intentional acts.
Plaintiffs' attorneys are increasingly turning to Washington's CEMA to challenge text-based refer-a-friend programs, drawn by its broad liability standards, statutory damages, and fee-shifting provisions.
Friday, November 14, 2025
Five years after Liu v. SEC, courts remain
split on how to apply its limits on disgorgement, leaving the SEC's most potent
remedy in need of Supreme Court clarification.
Trump calls up the National Guard in Illinois, citing "rebellion" and insufficient forces; courts and critics say there's no threat, raising 10th Amendment, federal-overreach and domestic-military concerns.
Thursday, November 13, 2025
A GOP lawsuit over California's new district maps tests whether the state's largest ethnic group -- Latinos -- can still qualify for voting protections despite their numbers but persistent political underrepresentation.
California's wildfire litigation is echoing the post-Katrina struggle over causation, with courts now facing the pivotal question of whether smoke damage counts as "direct physical loss" -- a decision that will shape recovery for years to come.
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
On Veterans Day, we honor Justice Buck Compton -- a Silver Star-winning D-Day hero, Band of Brothers paratrooper and longtime California Court of Appeal justice -- whose extraordinary life blended courage in war, dedication to public service and a commitment to the law.
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