Recent Articles

           While voter apathy is quite common in many common interest development associations (often referred to colloquially as homeowners’ associations (HOAs)), one issue that bucks that trend by engendering strong opinions and driving member participation within communities is short-term (transient) rentals.  The proliferation of Airbnb, Vrbo, and similar online platforms has led to an increase [...]

As you may recall, after the 2008 market crash and recession I wrote a handful of Law Review columns strongly criticizing institutional lenders for dealing unfairly with their borrowers. I met with innocent homeowners, many who were talked into filing applications for loan modifications, only afterwards to be foreclosed on by the lender. Most lost [...]

            For hundreds of years, hundreds of thousands of employers in California have hired some workers as independent contractors, without withholding, using 1099 forms. Its been a convenient way to do business, considerably less expensive than treating everyone you hire as a full-blown employee with obligations to pay workers compensation, disability, overtime, meal periods, rest [...]

            Anthony Ray Drayton, Jr. grabbed his former girlfriend MG in a bear hug and pushed her toward the edge of a Caltrain platform as a train approached. He let her go, pulled back, and she escaped uninjured. Oh yes, I forgot, Drayton told her son who was standing nearby, “do you want to see [...]

In criminal cases, judges often rule whether an item used by a person charged with a crime is a “dangerous weapon” or a “deadly weapon”. Today we discuss two cases: one involving a victim kicked with tennis shoes and the other, a victim threatened with a key. DRUG DEAL GONE BAD Paul Swallow, egged on [...]

Governor Gavin Newsom signed close to 1,200 new laws this year, most to take effect on January 1st. In no particular order, here are a few you may find of interest. AB 5 (INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR VS. EMPLOYEE) Assembly Bill 5, sometimes called the gig-worker law, is more than that. AB 5 makes it almost impossible [...]

On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) – codifying the "ABC test" used to classify  California workers as either employees or independent contractors.  The ABC test was first introduced in April 2018 in the California Supreme Court decision Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. The Superior Court of Los [...]

            Today’s case involves premises liability. When are property owners responsible for incidents that occur on their property including criminal attacks? PARKING LOT ASSAULT             The Freemont Corners Shopping Center in Sunnyvale houses approximately sixteen retail stores, including the Peacock Lounge which as the name suggests is a bar. Tayler Williams is a drummer who [...]

            There are all sorts of ways to describe real property such as a lot and block, a complete perimeter reference to a subdivision map, metes and bounds (point A to point B to point C to point D) description, as well as using an assessor’s parcel number (“APN”). The preferred way to describe real [...]