GUEST COLUMNS
Friday, April 23, 2021
In the 9th Circuit (as well as the 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 11th Circuits), the test for determining whether the use of a third-party trademark in an expressive work.
The era of California's big climate ambitions is over, even as California's megadroughts and wildfires worsen.
California, which has been mired in a pandemic recession for the last year, enjoyed some modest economic gains in March as the state's unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%.
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Earlier this week, American Rivers released a list of the nation's most endangered rivers. California's McCloud River is included because of the federal government's proposal to raise the height of Shasta Dam.
We Americans are blessed with abundant — even overabundant — consumer goods and services and often take that fact for granted.
Child care providers are pushing back against a state plan to restart in-person inspections after a year of sanitizing, social distancing and restricting parents and other outsiders from entering their sites in an effort to keep COVID-19 at bay.
California is once again into a critically dry year with memories of the last drought all too fresh. Scientists warn that "boom or bust" water years are the new normal, and we all knew we'd be back here again. The question is, what have we learned and what have we done about it?
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
On March 19, the California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard JAssessment, known as OEHHA, proposed amendments to its regulations for Proposition 65 safe harbor warnings to address exposures to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC) and cannabis smoke.
Car shoppers may find that bargains are scarce this year. But better prices on trade-ins may help ease the pain.
Monday, April 19, 2021
Pfizer and BioNTech recently asked the Southern District of California to dismiss a patent infringement claim from Allele Biotechnology related to Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine.
Friday, April 16, 2021
Earlier this month, camera crews once again gathered in the Sierra Nevada to watch a man plunge a pole through the snow. The pole was removed and, following a tense few moments, Californians learned we experienced another dry winter, and we are plunging further into drought.
The court issued a narrow ruling that correctly recognized the FCC's commitment in the context of its Section 202(h) quadrennial reviews to ownership diversity as an important and freestanding policy consideration.
Is there a legal duty to protect others from harm caused entirely by third parties? "It depends," goes the standard refrain.
Thursday, April 15, 2021
By any standard, California is experiencing one of its periodic droughts after two successive years of below-normal precipitation.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Last week, California's top legislative leaders unveiled a plan to spend more than half a billion dollars on efforts aimed at protecting the state from catastrophic wildfires.
Reliance on binding precedent may no longer be enough
Building investor trust while mitigating litigation risk
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Los Angeles County Superior Court's restraining order courts in a year of emergency.
Tax filing is a little more complicated this year.
Every year, tens of thousands of equine aficionados gather in the streets of Bishop for one of the biggest events in the Eastern Sierra: Mule Days.
Only in the last decade have California courts recognized as tortious conduct the intentional interference by one person in the expected inheritance of another.
Monday, April 12, 2021
Saving for retirement is never easy, but women in particular can face unique challenges. Statistics from a recent Morningstar special report on women and investing show why it's important they make retirement planning a personal priority—and start as early as possible.
In the years leading up to the pandemic, many high-profile allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination were in the headlines, typically relating to attorney compensation and promotions. While the pandemic has certainly dominated all stories over the past year, the scourge of harassment and discrimination remains a vital issue for law firms.
Friday, April 9, 2021
Joel Lopez died of COVID this January. Apart from his wife Maria and his 2-year-old daughter Julieta, few people noticed. I did. For me, Joel was the living embodiment of why some of us love practicing criminal defense. I had the privilege of representing Joel for 23 years. During those years, Joel and I suffered wins and losses, but we never gave up trying. That is our story, and I want to share it.
Finding Google's copying a fair use, the Supreme Court ended Oracle's decade-long attempt to recover copyright damages. The battle began between these tech giants when Google designed its Android software platform for mobile devices, such as smartphones.
Last week, a group of youth leaders from Richmond met over Zoom to discuss their visions for community resilience to climate change. Some in high school and others in their 20s, all are members of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network and come from Asian refugee and immigrant families.
On March 26, MSCHF's collaboration with Lil Nas X to produce "Satan Shoes" was announced via Twitter — and caught the attention of the media and Nike. Promoted in a tweet for their unique design of incorporating authentic Nike Air Max '97, with 60 cc ink and one drop of human blood, MSCHF announced it would be selling a numbered drop of 666 shoes (the devil's number) at the price of $1,018 each beginning March 29.
Thursday, April 8, 2021
In this era of ideological polarization and perpetual partisan warfare, it's difficult to grasp the collegial, bipartisan ambience that once prevailed in California's Senate.
Time was not on John Metzger's side. The 72-year-old Californian was seeking justice after being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a terminal cancer he developed after years of exposure to asbestos through his work as a laborer in the oil industry.
On March 30, the federal court in California Chamber of Commerce v. Becerra issued a preliminary injunction enjoining Proposition 65 acrylamide cancer warnings for foods, holding that such warnings violate the First Amendment.
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom got some good news last week with a new statewide poll indicating that just 40% of California voters would support a recall were the election to be held now.
Two dozen state legislatures are considering bills on financial-literacy education, an unusually high number, proponents say.
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Just as the Biden administration is pushing to raise taxes on corporations, a new study finds that at least 55 of America's largest firms paid no taxes last year on billions of dollars in profits.
On March 19, San Francisco Mayor London Breed signed the "COVID-Related Hazard Pay Ordinance." The ordinance became effective March 22 and requires "General Grocery, Specialty Grocery, or Pharmacy" businesses to pay their San Francisco employees an additional $5 per hour until the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended.
We learned recently about the tragic loss of Angelo Quinto, a 30-year-old Navy veteran and Antioch resident who died after family members called 911, hoping to get him help.
San Francisco Bay's life support systems are unravelling quickly, and a wealth of science indicates that unsustainable water diversions are driving this estuary's demise.
On March 24, the 9th Circuit sitting en banc affirmed the district court's dismissal of a Second Amendment lawsuit challenging Hawaii's licensing law, which requires that residents seeking a license to openly carry a firearm in public must demonstrate "the urgency or the need" to carry a firearm and that the applicant be actively "engaged in the protection of life and property" when openly carrying a firearm.
Monday, April 5, 2021
One of California's perpetual political conflicts may be heating up again, which requires some background to understand because it is so convoluted.
Disrupting the health care status quo takes courage. Recently, Assemblymember Jim Wood, who chairs the Health Committee, stood up boldly for a statewide infrastructure for sharing health data to strengthen public health, improve equity, transform Medi-Cal, and improve the quality and affordability of health services.
Life in California feels as if it is finally returning to normal.
Last month, a motion was introduced with the Los Angeles City Council that has the power to implement real, lasting change for young people and the city.
Friday, April 2, 2021
More than 90% of wetlands in the Central Valley – and throughout California – have disappeared beneath tractors and bulldozers. So it's not surprising that multiple studies show a similar decline in bird populations that depend on them, in California and beyond.
The Ninth Circuit recently considered an issue of first impression: What standard of review does an appellate court apply when reviewing a district court's grant of summary judgment in a trademark infringement case on the equitable basis of the unclean hands doctrine.
Thursday, April 1, 2021
One patient recovering from COVID-19 finally started eating after a family member was allowed to bring home-cooked meals to a hospital in Fresno. Another patient's racing heart calmed at a hospital in Monterey when a relative was allowed inside.
Before California's housing shortage contributed to a surge in homelessness and tipped median home prices close to $700,000, an obscure state financing agency led by top elected officials had the opportunity over the last decade to help private developers build a trove of affordable housing.
If not for a persistent mail carrier, Lance Hastings might not have discovered all of the fake unemployment claims.
Two years ago, CalMatters housing writer Matt Levin described a factory in Vallejo that was building housing modules that could quickly — and relatively inexpensively — be assembled into multi-story apartment houses.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
The new law designates "human resources employees" and supervisors of minors as "mandated reporters" under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act ("CANRA"). It also requires employers to provide written notice and one-time training for all non-minor employees covered by the Act.
Monday, March 29, 2021
An increasingly popular investment strategy is known as environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. It allows you to focus your investments in ways that are designed to generate a more meaningful impact beyond dollars and cents.
Friday, March 26, 2021
The young California condor stood patiently in a makeshift field laboratory, tolerating the team of biologists taking a blood sample to test for lead poisoning.
While the relationships among the various levels of American government are often cooperative, always lurking in the background is what one might characterize as a political food chain.
The quarterback drops back to pass, spots a receiver and cocks his arm to throw, but the football slips out of his hand, a lineman from the other team snatches up the loose ball and runs for a touchdown.
The validity of a United States patent can be challenged in federal court litigation. Patents can also be challenged in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which, in most cases, is a quicker and less costly process.
During the last cataclysmic recession, California's state government was forced to cleave billions from its budget to close an historic deficit.
Tens of millions of Californians live and work in buildings that burn natural gas to power their air heating and cooling, hot water and cooking equipment. This energy use in turn causes about 10% of statewide greenhouse gas emissions and substantial amounts of harmful indoor air pollution.
Thursday, March 25, 2021
California's senior U.S. senator is once again in the center of a media maelstrom — or feeding frenzy — over whether she'll serve out the remaining four years of her current term.
An affordable housing crisis has long afflicted the Coachella Valley. Even before the pandemic devastated our local economy, more than a third of renters spent more than half their income keeping a roof over their heads.
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Abraham Sanchez knew exactly how he wanted to spend his stimulus check.
Last December, during the biggest-known COVID-19 workplace outbreak in Fresno County, public health officials said they were investigating Foster Farms' chicken processing plant in southeast Fresno.
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar
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