Recent Articles

The November 8, 2016 California ballot included two death penalty-related Propositions:  62 and 66. Prop. 62 would have outlawed the death penalty.  I recommended YES.  It was defeated.  Prop. 66 would have sped up the death penalty process.  I recommended NO.  It passed.  Two time loser.  Proposition 66 The so-called “Death Penalty Reform and Savings” [...]

On Cinco de Mayo, a very important day in history, my birthday, I wrote a Law Review about People v. Gonzalez -- critical of the Court of Appeal’s decision -- concluding “a bit of a stretch…" The Justices of the California Supreme Court apparently read the Law Review and reversed the Court of Appeal.  I’m [...]

Let’s face it. For most routine business disputes, the civil justice system is rarely utilized all the way through trial.  Most sophisticated business owners seek practical resolutions to their legal disagreements and realize that the expense, delay, unpredictability, administrative headache, and in some cases, unfriendly venues involved in traditional court litigation commonly compel them [...]

If you wonder what the big deal is about driving while texting or making calls on a hand-held phone, read People v. Jorene Ypanto Nicolas.  I mean, what can go wrong?  The quick answer: you can kill someone and go to prison.   Rear Ended at 80 MPH             Jorene Ypanto Nicolas was driving northbound [...]

Has the trademark GOOGLE or GOOGLING gone the way of aspirin, cellophane and thermos, a “victim of genericide” and no longer protectable under trademark laws?   Cybersquatting Google             Our protagonist, Chris Gillespie, used a domain name registrar to acquire 763 domain names that included the word “google,” such as “googledisney.com,” “googlebarackobama.net,” and “googlenewtvs.com.”             [...]

Have you ever had your baggage not arrive at the baggage carousel when you do? Of course you have. Have you ever heard of someone filing a $15 class action lawsuit against an airline for late baggage?  Now you have. US Airways:  $15 a Bag             US Airways charges its customers $15 to check the [...]

California employees are well protected by the Legislature and our Labor Codes, for example Section 552 of the Labor Code prohibits an employer from causing employees to work more than six days in seven; yet that law was challenged in Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc, and the California Supreme Court ruled that Section 552 allows employees [...]

I’m just plain out of ideas for writing a Law Review this week. There’s no shortage of actual legal cases to brief, but they’re either too complicated, not of general interest or too boring to work into a column. So let me bore you with a couple of potentially funny lawyer-related pieces.    Porter, Porter, [...]

You’ve probably been asking yourself whether non-verbal conduct may constitute a “statement” under California penal codes.  I’ve been wondering the same thing.  If I went up to Truckee’s esteemed Police Chief Rob Leftwich and did the “slit the throat” hand gesture and pointed my finger pistol (thumb up, index finger pointed forward) at Chief Rob, [...]