Recent Articles

Today’s column, sports fans, is about Placerville, aka Hangtown, a historic foothill community, in many ways like Truckee and Tahoe City. HISTORIC COURTHOUSE Placerville’s historic downtown courthouse, built in 1912 and renovated in 1971, is part of El Dorado County’s four courtrooms, two located downtown and two located in a County administrative complex. The California [...]

Holiday Season To Do List For General Contractors: 1) Trim The Tree; 2) Buy Gifts for Family; 3) Enter Into All Pending Contracts With Subcontractors Before January 1, 2018 On October 14, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1701 into law.  AB 1701 requires general contractors to pay the unpaid wages of their subcontractors’ [...]

How many of you use Johnson’s Baby Talcum Powder? I know my mom was big on Baby Powder when we were infants. My soft little buns saw plenty of Baby Powder, I still feel it sprinkled on my baby behind. I also know you can find Johnson’s Baby Powder on the shelves in most supermarkets. [...]

Cannabis is California’s new green crop – green in every sense of the word – green plants and greenbacks. Studies show that legal weed sales are expected to grow in North America by 26% a year through 2021, nearly a $22 billion market. And that may be low. CALIFORNIA CANNABIS ACT In June, Governor Jerry [...]

I like to think that most landlords are decent and honorable and treat their tenants well, keeping the premises in good condition and timely refunding deposits. But I also know, especially as our office represents a lot of landlords, good ones only of course, that a few landlords are unscrupulous.  In any barrel you can [...]

I know I am dating myself, but it was at least 30 years ago, at least 30, when I stumbled upon these so-called “Construction Definitions.” I have no idea where these came from, but I doctored them up and added a few of my own. While these definitions definitely have a “woe-is-me” whine, they remind [...]

Under California law, a sperm donor (appropriately) is not treated as the parent of a conceived child. Not so fast, under County of Orange v. Brian Jeffrey Cole, that hard and fast rule may not be so hard after all. LET’S HAVE A BABY Brian Jeffrey Cole and Mie Lynn Tsuchimoto had a relationship and [...]

This is one of those sad cases where a small child drowns in a backyard swimming pool at a neighborhood party, and the courts are asked to decide if anyone is at fault.  Not that that is much consolation to the family. The purpose of writing this column is to remind ourselves to take personal responsibility [...]

You’ve heard it before, “Crime doesn’t pay.” Unless you are Al Capone then it paid well. Perhaps that expression best describes bank robbers. I mean, who robs a bank? SHOPLIFTING FROM HOME DEPOT Jeffrey Michael Moran entered a Home Depot store in San Jose, placed items valued at $128.00 in his backpack, and left the [...]