GUEST COLUMNS
Friday, June 26, 2026
As Kirkland & Ellis reportedly invests roughly $500 million in its own AI platform, many lawyers are asking a pressing question: How can smaller firms keep up?
Smoke inhalation injuries are routinely underestimated, delayed in presentation and catastrophic when untreated. For elderly residents in nursing homes and care facilities, the window between exposure and irreversible harm is shorter than most people realize.
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
As federal antitrust enforcement falters and monopolies tighten their grip on the economy, California's COMPETE Act aims to close a century-old loophole and give the state stronger tools to rein in dominant corporations.
Insurance coverage disputes always start with questions about the interpretation of insurance policies. But despite decades of court decisions explaining the governing principles, differences persist over a key question: whether and when extrinsic evidence can be considered in interpreting policy language.
Monday, June 22, 2026
Restraints that won't hold: What Godoy v. Linzner means for California fiduciaries and beneficiaries
A new Court of Appeal decision, Godoy v.
Linzner, holds that trust provisions restricting beneficiaries' ability to
sell inherited property can be struck down as unreasonable restraints on
alienation under Civil Code section 711.
Simple professional courtesies, such as accepting reasonable procedural suggestions, meeting and conferring before raising discovery disputes, and reciprocating accommodations, make arbitration hearings more efficient, effective and professional for everyone involved.
Friday, June 19, 2026
Monsanto v. Durnell asks whether federal pesticide labeling law preempts state failure-to-warn claims, a question emerging from decades of Roundup litigation that could significantly reshape corporate liability and toxic-exposure lawsuits nationwide.
Post-primary analysis of Proposition 50's redistricting shows a near-elimination of competitive California congressional districts and a strong projected Democratic advantage in the state's House delegation.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other developed nation, yet Americans do not live longer or healthier lives in return. As California's economy overtakes Japan's to become the fourth largest in the world, the Golden State has both the scale and the responsibility to lead the nation toward universal healthcare.
Atrazine's growing legal and scientific scrutiny is forcing new questions about manufacturers' duty to warn, environmental exposure, and liability as evolving research challenges long-standing regulatory assumptions.
Monday, June 15, 2026
The Harry Raymond car bombing remains one of the darkest chapters in Los Angeles' legal history, offering a nearly century-old warning about the dangers of unchecked police power, retaliation and failed accountability.
Vox Populi: From California Environmental Quality Act comments to citywide bans: Why the data center backlash is becoming a legal risk developers cannot ignore.
Friday, June 12, 2026
A Cybertruck owner drove into Grapevine Lake in "wade mode" and was cited for lacking boat registration, raising the question under Stewart and Lozeman whether a Cybertruck--or any unconventional craft--can qualify as a "vessel" under federal maritime law's practical-use test.
Don't obsess about using AI, obsess about having a strategy: Leaders gather in New York to discuss how law firms can respond to accelerating AI adoption by strengthening strategy, governance, data quality, and operational execution to drive growth and remain competitive.
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Rutgers' reported $516 million athletics deficit shows how quickly college football can become a financial sinkhole when spending outpaces governance, highlighting the need for stronger oversight, clearer NIL rules and potentially a dedicated commissioner to impose accountability.
FIFA aggressively protects its World Cup intellectual property and commercial rights, creating significant legal risks for advertisers and sponsors around ambush marketing, trademark use, player endorsements and cross-border advertising compliance.
Monday, June 8, 2026
The Department of Labor's proposed rule would standardize the joint-employer test under federal labor laws and expand clarity--along with potential liability--for employers using shared or contracted workforces.
AI-powered legal guidance platforms are emerging as a new client intake tool by helping confused consumers better understand their legal issues and connect with appropriate attorneys, potentially improving access to counsel and strengthening small firm client development.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The housing crisis is about inequality, not environmental law.
A little-known agreement between the DOJ and VA will allow federally appointed VA attorneys to seek state court conservatorships or guardianships for vulnerable veterans--particularly homeless veterans lacking decision-making capacity--prompting concerns about civil liberties, unfunded mandates on counties, and the federal government's refusal to release the underlying memorandum for public scrutiny.
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
California's 2025 Song-Beverly reforms aim to speed lemon law litigation and force early resolution through strict deadlines and sanctions, but uneven manufacturer participation has left a fragmented system whose effectiveness remains uncertain.
No matter how good the language in a settlement agreement may be, tax language in a settlement agreement does not guarantee the desired tax treatment.
Monday, June 1, 2026
California is turning fashion compliance into full-spectrum accountability, binding brands to labor, climate and supply-chain impacts while sharply raising the bar for sustainability claims.
As the nation turns 250, access to justice remains one of the clearest measures of whether America is living up to its founding promise.
Friday, May 29, 2026
As YouTube takes a more active role in creator monetization and brand partnerships, new legal and business questions will emerge around ownership, leverage, transparency and how value is divided among platforms, creators and advertisers.
Trump's rollback of federal anti-corruption enforcement may ease pressure on multinational businesses, but states and foreign regulators are stepping in to police conduct the DOJ is now deprioritizing.
File photo
Judge Harold W. Hopp
Judge Harold W. Hopp
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NEWS
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General News
Friday, June 26, 2026 |
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| A Los Angeles judge denied Prologis' effort to overturn an $8.8 million Carson odor verdict but continued hearing arguments on whether alleged jury instruction errors warrant a new trial | |
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General News
Friday, June 26, 2026 |
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| A lawsuit alleges San Jose State University and the California State University Board of Trustees violated the Public Records Act by delaying the release of documents and withholding records, including a nondisclosure agreement signed by SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson in connection with the Bay Area Host Committee for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. | |
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General News
Friday, June 26, 2026 |
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| Six months after Canada expanded its citizenship eligibility to people with ancestral ties to the country, genealogists, archivists and government vital records offices have mobilized to respond to the flood of new requests for historical information. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 |
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| The cottage cheese squeeze, I have learned, comes from a confluence of trends in health and food production leaving grocery shelves empty and stretching cottage cheese makers to their limits. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 |
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| The settlement was announced after a jury was seated in San Francisco Superior Court. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 |
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| A federal judge is weighing whether a Munich forum-selection clause bars startup Zync Inc. from pursuing a trade secrets complaint against BMW before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Zync argues that the ITC's authority to enforce federal trade laws cannot be contracted away and that the parties' agreement expressly preserves claims arising under "mandatory laws." | |
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General News
Monday, June 22, 2026 |
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| Networks spread behavior -- a concept called social contagion -- but some members of a group, such as those with more education and those who are most connected, can shape what the crew believes and does more powerfully. | |
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General News
Monday, June 22, 2026 |
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| Los Angeles judge says Edison's broad discovery demands could jeopardize January bellwether trials, raising the possibility of severing crossclaims against SoCalGas from the main Eaton Fire litigation. | |
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General News
Monday, June 22, 2026 |
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| Attorneys for Carson residents who won an $8.8 million verdict over a 2021 odor crisis argue the trial record supports the jury's findings as defendants seek judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial. | |
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General News
Friday, June 19, 2026 |
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| A ballot measure that would create broad exemptions and accelerated review procedures under CEQA has qualified for November, drawing praise from business groups and warnings from environmental law experts. | |
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General News
Friday, June 19, 2026 |
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| The heartbeat of the artificial intelligence economy sounds like a low-frequency thrum of a neighbor's central air-conditioning unit, an airplane flying overhead at high altitude or a truck engine idling down the road. But it feels like the vibrating, rhythmic pulse of a subwoofer from a party that will never end. | |
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General News
Friday, June 19, 2026 |
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| AI.Law filed a federal patent infringement lawsuit against competitor Eve Legal, alleging the company's document-generation platform uses technology covered by a patent for organizing unstructured legal materials and producing AI-generated legal documents. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 |
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| On Friday, SpaceX raised $75 billion in the largest initial public offering in history. The company employs 1,600 people near Bastrop, which means that a sizable chunk of the town's 14,000 residents just got rich or at least richer. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 |
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| After hearing competing arguments over copying and patent validity, an Oakland jury found that Quince did not infringe Deckers Outdoor Corp.'s design patent covering the UGG Classic Ultra Mini boot. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 |
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| A proposed class action alleges Anthropic overstated the amount of usage available under its most expensive Claude subscription plans, misleading customers who paid up to $200 per month. | |
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General News
Monday, June 15, 2026 |
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| The California Supreme Court declined to review a Court of Appeal ruling largely upholding a massive judgment in a two-decade battle over an alleged oral real estate partnership among the Jogani brothers. | |
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General News
Monday, June 15, 2026 |
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| A wrongful death lawsuit filed in San Francisco alleges OpenAI's GPT-4o chatbot reinforced a 24-year-old woman's suicidal ideation, discouraged her from seeking outside help and contributed to her death. The case is expected to join coordinated product liability litigation against the company. | |
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General News
Monday, June 15, 2026 |
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| After sitting on the sidelines of the artificial intelligence race for much of the past four years, Apple last week revealed its plan to catch up, reintroducing an improved version of its digital assistant, Siri, and adding features to its AI system, Apple Intelligence. | |
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General News
Friday, June 12, 2026 |
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| A Los Angeles jury found Johnson & Johnson solely responsible for Maria T. Lozano's fatal mesothelioma and awarded her heirs $32 million, rejecting the company's argument that other environmental or occupational exposures caused her illness. | |
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General News
Friday, June 12, 2026 |
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| The city argues the requirements violate constitutional limits on federal spending authority, infringe on Congress' power over appropriations and mirror legal issues already being litigated in a separate challenge to the Trump administration's cancellation of research grants. | |
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General News
Friday, June 12, 2026 |
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| In the race to dominate the artificial intelligence industry, companies are opening themselves up to new money, borrowing cash and raising equity from investors after years of relying on their own profitability. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 |
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| Plenty of us are reeling from ever-rising prices of consumer electronics driven by industrywide shortages of memory components. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 |
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| Rejecting Ricoh's argument that determining liability would require individualized review of hundreds of thousands of contracts, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter found that class members can be identified through the company's records and that common issues predominate. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 |
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| A federal judge ruled that Apple's iPhone touchscreens do not infringe a Neonode patent, finding the patent failed to adequately describe a claimed limitation involving gliding motions on a touchscreen. | |
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General News
Friday, June 26, 2026 |
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| A Riverside judge ordered the city to refund more than $40.8 million to water customers after finding officials improperly diverted utility revenue to general government operations in violation of Proposition 218. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 |
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| In California, a sprawling 4,000-mile network of canals winds through citrus orchards and fields of tree nuts, delivering irrigation and drinking water to homes and farms across the state. | |
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General News
Monday, June 22, 2026 |
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| Proposed compromise would cap some auto-accident recoveries while imposing new rideshare safety requirements. | |
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General News
Friday, June 19, 2026 |
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| Banks' lawsuit against Netflix has sparked debate among media and entertainment lawyers, who say the case highlights the tension between editorial freedom, celebrity reputation and the commercial use of a public figure's likeness. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 |
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| The governor alleges federal investigators are scrutinizing him and his family, while legal experts say even an investigation that produces no charges can impose years of personal, political and financial strain. | |
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General News
Monday, June 15, 2026 |
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| Fresh off an unopposed reelection, San Bernardino District Attorney Jason Anderson discusses judicial shortages, AI-assisted evidence review, recruitment challenges and lessons exchanged with Bosnian prosecutors and judges seeking to modernize their justice system. | |
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General News
Friday, June 12, 2026 |
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| A Los Angeles judge refused to overturn a landmark $6 million jury verdict against Meta and YouTube in the social media addiction litigation, ruling that claims centered on allegedly addictive platform design features are not barred by Section 230 or the First Amendment. | |
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General News
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 |
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| When Sacks, Glazier, Franklin, Lodise, McMurtrey & Scheerer LLP launched 25 years ago, trusts and estates litigation was still emerging as a distinct legal specialty. | |