Inter-City Express

Qualified immunity only serves to deny our clients' Constitutional rights and there is good case law on our side in the 9th Circuit in most cases. When considering whether to take on a case or where it should be filed, it is important to research the key qualified immunity cases to show that the conduct of the police violates clearly established law, which is what is needed to defeat summary judgment and get your case to a jury.

Closed-off Interstate 10 is no stranger to major damage or political attention

The lasting toll of California's COVID layoffs

Brownsville, Texas, to Los Angeles: The migrants forced to travel through American politics

Monday, November 20, 2023

The evolution of distributed law firms

The legal community has seen the emergence of a new law firm structure – virtual or distributed law firms – which allows lawyers to work from any location, set their own hours, billing rates and billing requirements, and provide a lean, non-bureaucratic administrative model.

California keeps expanding school curricula. What about improving key subjects?

California wants to rollback environmental rules for cannabis. That won't help ailing growers

No place is safe: New national report on climate change details sweeping effects

Friday, November 17, 2023

You can't be an expert in everything

Legal work is very much a team sport these days, and optimally serving clients in complex matters almost always requires a team of individuals with varied skills and expertise.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

A view from the Hague

Although The Hague Convention is not a topic we deal with every day, the core values of the Convention are topics that we deal with in nearly every child custody case.

Inside California's billion-dollar bet to overhaul unemployment

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

UFW wins 1st farmworker union vote under new state law

Recognizing fake news now a required subject in California schools

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Can Google Maps be held liable for negligence?

The death of a man who followed outdated Google Map directions poses the question of whether GPS technology should be considered a product or service for purposes of pursuing a strict liability theory.

Will Gavin Newsom wind up as one of California's unpopular ex-governors?

San Quentin Prison is decaying and California would rather 'transform' it than fix it

Monday, November 13, 2023

California will finally see a highly competitive contest for US Senate

It will take big solutions to overcome decades of bad homelessness policies

California's unemployment insurance system is so poorly funded it pays 2004 wages

Epic-Google battle opens with claims of Android app distribution monopoly

Why tiny homes will remain part of California's homelessness equation for years

Can cities foster serendipity when workers are at home?

Practical advice for companies preparing for California's new emissions laws

NEWS

General News Friday, December 8, 2023
San Francisco sues online flavored tobacco companies "San Francisco and California have done a good job of enforcing against brick-and-mortar tobacco retailers, but online retailers are the next frontier in this fight.," said City Attorney David Chiu.

General News

Friday, December 8, 2023

Sacramento escalates pressure on city over encampments

"The city has misinterpreted and misused the Boise decision," DA Thien Ho said. "Specifically, the Boise decision allows you to have restrictions as to time, place and manner. So you can have restrictions based on time. In fact, the City of Sacramento outlaws comping during the day at City Hall property. But they won't afford that same protection to the rest of the community."

General News Friday, December 8, 2023
Senators support codified standards for migrant minors The Department of Health and Human Services said its proposed "foundational rule" would incorporate applicable provisions from the Flores settlement, such as transportation standards and monitoring requirements.

General News Friday, December 8, 2023
Felony trial caseloads decreased in 2023, San Francisco court says Presiding Judge Anne-Christine Massullo said, "Judges have held more defendants to answer to criminal charges in preliminary hearings this year — about 70% higher than last year.

General News Thursday, December 7, 2023
University of San Francisco tries to dismiss claims by baseball players U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler previously ruled that, though the plaintiffs sufficiently claimed they suffered discrimination and sexual harassment, many claims were time-barred.

General News Thursday, December 7, 2023
Justices ask practical questions on OxyContin deal Pratik A. Shah, a partner with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP who represents unsecured creditors, said a successful government objection would leave his clients with nothing because members of the Sackler family cannot file for bankruptcy.

General News Thursday, December 7, 2023
Draft guidance aims to clarify judges' duty in case of attorney misconduct "I don't think the rule changes the existing requirements. It simply clarifies them, which I think is very helpful for the judges because this has to be addressed case by case," said Edith R. Matthai, who spent her career defending attorneys and judges.

General News Thursday, December 7, 2023
Study: JD candidates at ABA accredited schools declined 25% Graduates of California-accredited law schools had a pass rate of just 21% on the July 2022 bar exam, compared with 67% for graduates of ABA-accredited schools, according to the State Bar.

General News Wednesday, December 6, 2023
New Assembly Judiciary chair commits to funding courts Assemblyman Ash Kalra was a deputy public defender in Santa Clara County for 11 years.

General News Wednesday, December 6, 2023
FTC tries again to halt Microsoft's acquisition of Activision FTC Chair Lina M. Khan, an appointee of President Joe Biden, has a mixed record in blocking mergers but has vowed to keep trying to block corporate acquisitions she believes are not in the public interest.

General News Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Buchalter acquires Trainor Fairbrook Trainor Fairbrook in Sacramento practiced real estate law, business litigation and trusts and estates.

General News Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Attorney says cryptocurrency lender withheld $2.5M loan According to Michael L. Gabriel, representing himself in a putative class action, Blockas.com demanded that he pay a $5,000 "tax clearance fee" to exchange his loan from Bitcoin to U.S. dollars.

General News Tuesday, December 5, 2023
High court to hear arguments on tax control ballot measure Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Legislature and former Democratic Party Chair John Burton petitioned the court in September to take the initiative off the ballot.

General News Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Plaintiff wins sanctions duel over motion to compel "The judge sanctioned us for not giving a detailed enough explanation as to why we disputed whether the plaintiff was injured," said defense attorney Lance D. Orloff of Grant Genovese & Baratta LLP.

General News Tuesday, December 5, 2023
8 banks must produce documents in state's suit over high fees "Defendants failed to set the rates at the lowest possible interest rates, as their agreements with California required," stated the state's complaint, signed by Todd M. Schneider of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP.

General News Monday, December 4, 2023
Senators warmly receive nominee for US court in Sacramento "You present a dilemma for me. You seem like a pretty qualified guy," U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., told Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk E. Sherriff.

General News Monday, December 4, 2023
Judge greenlights discovery of 'Rust' weapons supplier Defendant PDQ Arm & Prop LLC and its founder, Seth Kenney, sought to be dismissed from the case, arguing that California lacked specific jurisdiction over either of them.

General News Monday, December 4, 2023
'Ad Astra' infringement case is dismissed A screenwriter said the movie starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones mirrored a script he wrote.

General News Monday, November 27, 2023
Niantic's women workers can pursue class action "The ruling is a watershed moment for sexual harassment and gender bias cases because it clarifies that the protections of the 2021 Ending Forced Arbitration Act do indeed encompass cases in which sexual overtures are not the focus," plaintiffs' attorney Genie Harrison's statement said.

General News Monday, November 27, 2023
Former office manager admits stealing $1.19M from law firm Jairo Tomas Santos began writing the fraudulent checks in March 2016, roughly 15 years after he was hired by the firm, according to a news release issued by U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey.

General News Monday, November 27, 2023
SEC accuses Kraken of operating unregistered securities exchange The flurry of activity by federal prosecutors and regulators is designed to send a message to entities handling virtual currency, government officials said.

General News Friday, November 24, 2023
After success, CAOC acknowledges role in legislative change Consumer attorneys feared concerns the Judicial Council, the California Defense Counsel and the California Employment Lawyers Association might have with SB 652, which changed the burden of proof for expert testimony on medical causation.

General News Friday, November 24, 2023
Negligence suit against PG&E would interfere with regulator, high court says The state Supreme Court's decision will go back to the 9th Circuit panel that asked the question and will decide Gantner's appeal.

General News Friday, November 24, 2023
Former White House chief of staff named Airbnb chief legal officer Ron Klain had been a partner at O'Melveny & Myers since April.

General News Wednesday, November 22, 2023
SanDisk again sued in San Jose over storage drives SanDisk attorneys deny there is any malfunction that causes its storage drives to become unreadable by computers.

General News Wednesday, November 22, 2023
State Bar sends Supreme Court another unpopular alternative to exam "They really need to focus on the administration of the bar and discipline. Yet they persist in doing these other things. One can only guess why it's being done," said John P. Cotter, a Sacramento partner at Diepenbrock & Cotter LLP.

General News Wednesday, November 22, 2023
CAOC takes aim at ruling on school districts One of the most significant aspects of the ruling was that it means schools are not subject to the Unruh Act's provisions allowing for treble damages.

General News Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Virginia must decide if Arent Fox deceived client Peraton Corp. says Arent Fox got the company to sign a waiver allowing him to represent CACI International in a trade secrets case in Virginia in which Peraton is a defendant.

General News Tuesday, November 21, 2023
College cross-sues museum over lent Diego Rivera mural The City College of San Francisco says the costs of moving the mural back should be paid by the museum, but the museum says it has already expended more than the loan contract called for.

General News Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Sen. Laphonza Butler will keep Feinstein's judge vetting committees Joseph W. Cotchett, a partner with Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP who advises Biden on judicial nominees and other issues, praised the decision because it avoids delays.