GUEST COLUMNS
Friday, April 10, 2026
California's new 2026 construction laws limit retentions on private projects and create a structured claims process to speed payments and reduce disputes.
Futures prediction markets raise questions about legality, insider trading, and unpaid bets, with the Supreme Court poised to decide the limits of federal preemption and states' rights.
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Can the new state and local adaptive reuse laws incentivize residential conversion of underutilized office buildings and retail centers?
PFAS, or "forever chemicals," have gone from hidden hazards to unavoidable headaches for California lawyers, regulators and property owners.
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Retirement plan disclosures are about to get less digital and more complicated, as the Labor Department's proposal would require certain benefit statements to be furnished on paper, even when plans otherwise rely on electronic disclosure.
The California Legislature has enacted a slew of AI regulations for employers to contend with, increasing litigation risks and compliance costs as employers increasingly use AI tools in their hiring and workforce management.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
As AI takes on a bigger role in the workplace, California is sending a clear warning: when it comes to hiring, firing, and discipline, humans--not algorithms--must be the ones making the call.
California's judiciary and legislature are in a high-stakes dispute over the use of AI in courts, balancing judges' independence and efficiency against the need for transparency, accuracy and public accountability in legal decision-making.
Monday, April 6, 2026
The Supreme Court is considering whether President Trump can use an executive order to reinterpret the 14th Amendment and undermine birthright citizenship, raising critical questions about presidential power and constitutional limits.
Illinois v. Trump highlights the clash
between federal power and state control over the National Guard, showing how
the Posse Comitatus and Insurrection Acts restrict presidential use of military
force at home.
Friday, April 3, 2026
The Supreme Court is considering whether President Trump can use an executive order to reinterpret the 14th Amendment and undermine birthright citizenship, raising critical questions about presidential power and constitutional limits.
California's bar ethics committee has a new warning for attorneys using AI -- but the real problem isn't hallucinations, it's the missing accountability layer that only a licensed attorney can fill.
Thursday, April 2, 2026
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, guarantees that anyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen and ensures all citizens receive due process and equal protection under the law.
The court upheld Seattle's App-Based Worker Deactivation Rights Ordinance, rejecting Uber and Instacart's constitutional challenges and confirming the law regulates conduct, not speech.
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
California's expanded military diversion law gives lawyers a vital tool to secure just outcomes for veterans by addressing service-related conditions instead of defaulting to conviction.
California's aggressive tax regime is now targeting luxury car owners and dealers using out-of-state schemes like the Montana loophole, turning what once seemed like routine tax avoidance into a growing wave of audits, penalties and even criminal prosecutions.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Existing insurance programs may provide coverage in some circumstances, but insurers are increasingly introducing exclusions and limitations aimed specifically at AI-related risks.
Entertainment transactional attorneys shape Hollywood deals to prevent disputes, but even well-intentioned agreements--like vague commission contracts or unclear rights-acquisition publicity carve-outs--can trigger costly conflicts if terms aren't carefully defined upfront.
Monday, March 30, 2026
CARE Court has gone from experiment to scoreboard, with counties now judged on filings, outcomes and their ability to turn court orders into real-world treatment.
As cross-border disputes involving China increase, U.S. counsel must recognize fundamental differences in discovery, judicial roles, evidentiary rules, precedent, timing and enforcement between U.S. and Chinese litigation systems.
Friday, March 27, 2026
Most law firm business plans fail not from poor strategy but from weak execution, including vague goals, limited partner buy-in, and disconnects among marketing, client service, and business development.
The IRS's new guidance on qualified production property (QPP) clarifies eligibility, allocation and recapture rules, giving taxpayers a significant opportunity to claim accelerated depreciation for property used in manufacturing, refining or production.
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Twenty years after Kelo v. City of New
London expanded eminent domain to include broad "public purpose," states
like Louisiana have pushed back with constitutional limits, as illustrated by
the recent rejection of a port authority's attempt to transfer condemned land
to a private developer.
Cybersecurity has always sounded like a thriller--and AI has just handed every would-be operative a new set of lethal capabilities to exploit the attack vectors and surfaces that make networks vulnerable.
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
The 9th Circuit puts ideology above women's privacy, forcing a Korean spa to abandon centuries-old traditions, religious beliefs and the safety of its patrons.
Every lawyer should know a few key tax rules that can shape what plaintiffs actually take home after a case resolves. Settlement wording, the claims involved and even how checks and Forms 1099 are issued can change the tax result.
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
In its complaint, the Personal Care Products Council argues that mandatory warnings for products containing diethanolamine constitute misleading compelled speech about risks not established in real-world product use.
California's new proposed PAGA rules aim to crack down on frivolous lawsuits, tighten notice requirements and give the state more oversight of settlements.
Monday, March 23, 2026
The guidance shows how Treasury intends to integrate the Trump Account program into the IRS's existing administrative framework rather than building an entirely new benefit-delivery system.
Courts already function largely online; completing the transition to a near-fully remote system would deliver meaningful cost savings while improving access, efficiency and convenience for the public.
Friday, March 20, 2026
In light of recent U.S. military action against Iran, this article analyzes the definition of war, the constitutional allocation of war powers between Congress and the President, and the War Powers Resolution and exceeded presidential authority.
With construction costs projected to stay high through 2026, developers can no longer depend on historical pricing or boilerplate contracts, particularly on high-rise and mixed-use projects where risk and feasibility are tightly linked.
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Education Code ยง 94874(i) unconstitutionally outsources California's core regulatory authority over degree-granting colleges to private federal accreditors, undermining state separation of powers and judicial accountability.
A quiet custody hearing in Orange County on Sept. 11, 2001, showed why the rule of law endures: courts judge conduct, not nationality, religion or the conflicts of nations.
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
A California appellate decision clarifies how courts interpret ambiguous insurance policy language, showing that a single undefined word can determine coverage and liability on complex construction projects.
Proposition 19 is reshaping many of California's most iconic cities and neighborhoods by eliminating the broad parent-to-child exclusion from property tax reassessment, a rule that governed intergenerational real property transfers for decades.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
With financial backers playing an increasingly influential role in civil cases, AB 931 is designed to prevent plaintiffs from being puppeted by funders while preserving attorneys' independence.
California appellate court rules that collecting license plate data without a publicly posted privacy policy constitutes actionable "harm" under state law, exposing businesses to significant liability.
Monday, March 16, 2026
Assembly Bill 1680 proposes expanding the California FAIR Plan to offer more comprehensive homeowners coverage, but the economic challenges of implementing these reforms raise serious questions about their long-term viability.
California's Workplace Know Your Rights Act consolidates existing workplace notice requirements and adds new obligations, continuing California's longstanding practice of expanding the notices employers must provide to inform employees of their rights.
Friday, March 13, 2026
The assumption that metabolic health is a static backdrop in personal injury law no longer holds. Weight, diabetes, cardiovascular risk and inflammation, once facts in the record, are now variables that can change over the life of a case.
A new proposed rule would reinstate weighted factors for determining independent contractor status under the FLSA, giving employers a more predictable framework than the Biden-era totality-of-the-circumstances approach.
Thursday, March 12, 2026
In California's 2026 gubernatorial race, the eight-way Democratic field and only two Republicans creates a real possibility of a Republican shut-out--where both General Election slots go to the GOP for the first time in 20 years.
Courts have long confined intentional
interference with expected inheritance to situations lacking a probate remedy.
In Halperin v. Halperin, California narrows that path even further,
reinforcing probate as the primary forum for inheritance disputes.