Recent Articles

            As a real estate lawyer, I am asked at least once a week about the rights and obligations of easement holders. If property owner A has an access easement and road over B’s land, may B install a gate? If A and B share a driveway or parking area, who can use and who [...]

Bike season is in full gear in Truckee-Tahoe and here at Porter Simon we have been riding to work, competing in local races (see Truckee Dirt Fondo, Tour de Manure and Lost and Found Gravel Grinder) and generally logging time in the saddle on the area’s endless miles of single track, double track, roadways, streets [...]

            Picturesque Santa Monica on the coast of Southern California serves 90,000 residents and houses as many as 500,000 visitors on weekends and holidays. As the Federal Court of Appeals wrote: “Similar to other popular tourist destinations, Santa Monica is struggling to manage the disruptions brought about by the rise of short-term rentals facilitated by [...]

            A common occurrence in our area, given the frequent lack of survey monuments, is a neighbor’s inadvertent building over your property line, whether it be a driveway, a fence, a deck or even a portion of a house.  Must the encroachment over the boundary line be removed or may it legally remain in place?  [...]

            The California Legislature passed a phased lead ammunition ban signed into law by Governor Jerry in 2013. The ban was adopted following the adverse effect of lead ammunition on the endangered California Condor and other birds who sometimes feed on the entrails of animals shot by hunters. NEW LAW PHASED IN             The 2013 [...]

            I have written in earlier columns about the importance of honoring a request made by a disabled person for a guide dog, signal dog or service dog. Apparently, a certain homeowner association did not get the message.             A new Nevada case, Sanzaro v. Ardiente Homeowners Association, underscores the point. ANGEL: NOT A MERE [...]

            Underage drinking at fraternity parties and events, a historical reality on college campuses throughout the country is unacceptable and can be legally disastrous – especially when it results in serious injury or death. Today’s column discusses a case resulting from an incident at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (“SAE”) fraternity chapter at the University of [...]

As most of you faithful Law Review readers know, more or less every April -- National Donate Life Month -- we do an organ and tissue donor column. This message bears repeating.             Well over 100,000 people in the United States are in need of an immediate organ transplant. On average, 20 people die every [...]

A landlord that successfully litigates an unlawful detainer action against a tenant should think twice before evicting the tenant from the premises.  A tenant that loses a judgment on possession of the premises has the right to appeal the judgment.  If the tenant is evicted, and then the judgment is reversed on appeal, the improperly [...]