Search
Copyright © 2018 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Cheryl Miller, based in Sacramento, covers the state legislature and emerging industries, including autonomous vehicles and marijuana. She authors the weekly cannabis newsletter Higher Law. Contact her at cmiller@alm.com. On Twitter: @CapitalAccounts
June 21, 2018
We're looking at the growing push to legalize adult-use cannabis in one of Canada's southern neighbors, New York. Plus, check in with a California lawyer whose arrest last year sent shockwaves through cannabis-law circles. And scroll down to see who got the work. Thanks for reading Higher Law!
June 21, 2018
The state bar on Thursday released figures showing how alumni from many schools in California and around the country performed on the notoriously difficult-to-pass test. There is good news in the numbers for some schools. Some schools, however, produced dismal pass rates.
June 20, 2018
The hearing, more than five hours long, resembled a trial at times. Mendez dove into minute details of the case, asking lawyers for relevant case law, citing arguments in the numerous amicus briefs, questioning the severability of provisions in each statute and quizzing the sides with long lists of what appeared to be prepared questions.
June 14, 2018
We've got some observations on that big marijuana legislation in Washington DC. And in who got the work—keep sending me your new stuff!—PharmaCann picks up a federal lobbyist, and a New Jersey law firm joins forces for a greater share of that state's growing marijuana business.
June 12, 2018
California's judiciary paid a Tulare County Superior Court clerk $120,000 to settle claims that a judge—now removed from the bench—harassed her over several months in 2013. The court released the five-page settlement document in response to a newly amended Rule of Court that requires the disclosure of any agreement in which taxpayer money was spent to resolve misconduct allegations against a judge.
June 11, 2018
The $500,000 slashed from the Commission on Judicial Performance's budget by lawmakers has been restored in a spending deal approved by the governor and legislative leaders.
June 08, 2018
Two appellate courts and more than half of the trial courts had responded by Friday afternoon that they had no responsive records to release. Alameda County Superior Court unveiled a page on its website that contains links to what court officials said are all "documents reflecting the resolution of claims or litigation."
June 07, 2018
"Despite the delays [in] licensing, we are still the first state on the East Coast that will be dispensing adult-use product and our regulatory structure is comprehensive," said Kevin Conroy, co-chair of Foley Hoag's marijuana group.
June 07, 2018
Catch up with Foley Hoag's Kevin Conroy on the state of retail sales in Massachusetts. Plus: a roundup of cannabis election-related news from California. Thanks for reading Higher Law.
June 06, 2018
As California's notoriously long ballot-counting process continued Wednesday, here are six results the legal community is talking about.
June 06, 2018
The election results close the book on a divisive campaign that raised difficult questions about how the judicial system handles violence against women, how the public views judicial decision-making and independence and how judges under political fire should respond.
June 01, 2018
Five judge—including Aaron Persky, the target of a recall campaign—could lose their jobs on Tuesday. Here's what to know.
June 01, 2018
Brown's superior court selections include Duane Morris partner Richard Seabolt; Wendy W. Y. Chang, a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson; and William Crowfoot, an assistant U.S. attorney and former senior associate at Paul Hastings. Scroll down for a full list of the appointments.
May 31, 2018
California scrapped a bill that pushed for workplace protections for employees who consume medical marijuana. Sacramento's new U.S. attorney outlines his cannabis enforcement priorities. Plus: the latest federal lobbying disclosures. Thanks for checking out Higher Law! And please sign up and forward to colleagues.
May 29, 2018
"The reality of the situation is that there is so much black-market marijuana in California that we could go after just the black market and never get there," Scott says. His office priorities focus on illegal grows on federal land, drug cartels and interstate trafficking.
May 29, 2018
“The argument that these companies have tried to use in the past—that they’re just a technology platform—doesn’t pass the smell test,” San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera says. “People go to Microsoft or Salesforce for software. People go to Uber or Lyft for a ride.”
May 25, 2018
Opponents of the bill—including the state Chamber of Commerce and drug-tester Quest Diagnostics—argued the proposed worker protections were too broad and threatened employers' statutory authority to maintain a drug-free workplace.
May 24, 2018
“The campaign applied for and obtained a permit from the California Film Commission to film at the courthouse by going through the same legal process that is available to everyone," a lawyer for Becerra said in a statement. Becerra's team called the Jones lawsuit "baseless and frivolous."
May 24, 2018
The Judicial Council approved the open records rule less than six weeks after Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye charged a group of lawyers and judges with drafting rules that would require "all levels of the state court system" to make public financial settlements that resolve harassment or discrimination claims against judges.
May 24, 2018
What's on tap: The tricky task of protecting intellectual property tied to cannabis. Also, everyone's talking about the problem of banks shunning the marijuana industry, but what's the solution? Welcome to Higher Law.
May 21, 2018
Three days after the state bar announced an all-time-low 27.3 percent bar exam pass rate, the list of the fortunate few who passed California's 2018 bar exam is now public.
May 21, 2018
Dave Jones is raising questions about the propriety of a Xavier Becerra campaign ad inside the Third District Courthouse. Becerra's campaign manager called Jones's complaint a "desperate attempt" to save a "floundering campaign."
May 18, 2018
The historically low scores will fuel more debate over lowering California's second-highest-in-the-nation pass score. After months of discussion and study, the California Supreme Court decided last year not to reduce the required passing, or cut, score.
May 18, 2018
Steven Moawad, the California state bar's chief trial counsel, has withdrawn his nomination from the state Senate, effectively ending his tenure as the agency's top prosecutor.
May 17, 2018
The three-senator budget subcommittee, composed of two Democrats and one Republican, did not discuss the proposed cut before voting unanimously to recommend it to the full Senate Budget Committee.
May 17, 2018
Catch up with Michael Correia of the National Cannabis Industry Association's director of government relations, about the upcoming lobby days in Washington. Also: a marijuana app company is hit with a new class action, plus check out our In the Weeds roundup for the latest must-read headlines.
May 16, 2018
The Rules and Projects Committee unanimously agreed to send the amendments to Rule of Court 10.500, the judiciary's open records guidelines, to the full Judicial Council. If the council authorizes the changes at its May 24 meeting, the expanded-access rule would take effect June 1.
May 16, 2018
"The best test on any lawsuit is whether you're still in court," Becerra said during the AG's debate Tuesday. "You didn't hear them say which [lawsuits] they would get rid of. Everyone of those 32 is to protect your interests."
May 11, 2018
What to know? The rules don't specifically mention lawyers serving clients in the marijuana industry. In most cases, lawyers can't sleep with their clients. Conflict of interest rules are broader and less case-specific. And more.
May 10, 2018
New Orleans is the place to be this week for the MJBizCon NEXT conference and the National Cannabis Bar Association's cannabis law panels. Catch up with Steve Schain of the Hoban Law Group. Plus: A snapshot on valuation challenges in the industry, and scroll down to see who got the work.
May 08, 2018
"Some CJA members have expressed concern that the disclosure of settlement agreements would be contrary to the understanding that the agreements would remain confidential despite case law interpreting" open records rules, the California Judges Association said in a comment about the proposal.
May 04, 2018
Calling yourself a California bar "member" would be a thing of the past.
May 03, 2018
Conagra Grocery Products Co., NL Industries Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Co. are pushing to qualify a November ballot initiative that would eliminate their court-determined liability to remediate lead paint contamination.
May 03, 2018
What first-quarter California lobbying registrations reveal about legislative and campaign advocacy. Plus: Insurance regulators approve California's first policy for landlords renting to cannabis businesses.
May 01, 2018
The company's political activity coincides with a busy political season as lawmakers and regulators try to shape permanent rules for the medical and recreational cannabis industries.
April 27, 2018
The Recorder asked every trial and appellate court in the state for workplace harassment documents—including any settlements—under the judiciary's open records rule.
April 27, 2018
Three cannabis lawyers tell us some foundational questions they ask before engaging new clients in this space. Plus: scroll down for highlights on first-quarter marijuana lobbying records.
April 24, 2018
The proposed changes, a response to media reports about settlements involving alleged workplace misconduct by judges, will be vetted at a public meeting Thursday by the Judicial Council's Rules and Projects Committee before being circulated for public comment.
April 20, 2018
What do President Trump's statements on marijuana might mean for state-legalization efforts? Plus, California is trying—again—to find a banking solution for cannabis businesses and a marijuana law boutique expands to meet demand.
April 16, 2018
The judicial commission in 2016 sued to block the first-ever audit, arguing that conflicting laws could make records improperly subject to public disclosure.
April 13, 2018
"The current rule does not make it clear enough that these records should be disclosed," Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye said this week.
April 12, 2018
New York City-based Acreage Holdings, which operates marijuana businesses in 11 states, has a surprising new ally, and the FDA is seeking public comment on marijuana's classification as a Schedule 1 drug.
April 11, 2018
Los Angeles County Judge John Lord was publicly admonished for talking to a reporter about a pending case and for publicly suggesting prosecutors gave preferential treatment to a white domestic violence victim.
April 11, 2018
"So why do you care if there's an injunction against the actions that you're disavowing?" Chief Judge Sidney Thomas asked Readler, the acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Division in Washington.
April 10, 2018
"The public has a right to know how the judicial branch spends taxpayer funds," Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said Tuesday.
April 06, 2018
If the pilot programs are approved, the utility commission will begin crafting "a broader framework" allowing companies to accept paying passenger.
April 06, 2018
The plaintiff states will divide the settlement funds. California, Connecticut, New York, Georgia and the District of Columbia were among the states that challenged the proposed $54 billion tie-up.
April 06, 2018
The plaintiff states will divide the settlement funds. California, Connecticut, New York, Georgia and the District of Columbia were among the states that challenged the proposed $54 billion tie-up.
April 02, 2018
"We cannot ignore the safeguards built into the DNA Act," the majority ruling said.
March 30, 2018
Prop 65 is a regular target of business groups who say its private-right-of-action provisions and far-ranging scope leads retailers and manufacturers to post so many warning signs that consumers have come to ignore them.
March 29, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra wanted the DOJ suit moved to San Francisco, where a judge is hearing the state's challenge to a Trump administration proposal to deny law enforcement grants to cities and counties that do not cooperate with federal immigration agents.
March 27, 2018
In providing the sexual harassment settlement amounts in aggregate, lawyers for the Judicial Council declined to identify the judges, the terms of the settlements or the nature of the allegations.
March 27, 2018
If Uber chooses to restart its testing program in California, "Uber must apply for a new vehicle testing permit," state motor vehicle regulators said.
March 23, 2018
According to information released to The Recorder Friday, since 2011 the Judicial Council of California has paid $296,000 to resolve three sexual harassment complaints against judges and $225,000 to resolve two complaints against employees.
March 21, 2018
A federal magistrate judge says he intends to permit California to depose two officials—Thomas Homan, the Trump administration's pick to lead the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Todd Hoffman of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department—as part of the suit seeking to block California's immigration laws. The judge told U.S. Justice Department attorneys to make sure the officials bring documents with them to the depositions.
March 21, 2018
The appellants are trial court judges who were elected in the summer of 2012 but whose new terms did not start until Jan. 7, 2013, six days after the pension changes went into effect.
March 19, 2018
"On the national front we have unprecedented disruption, attacks on the free press, threats to the rule of civility and the rule of law and judicial independence," the chief justice said Monday.
March 19, 2018
According to police officials in Tempe, Arizona, an autonomous Uber car with a safety driver behind the wheel last night struck and killed a woman crossing the street outside a crosswalk.
March 16, 2018
Cryptocurrencies and alternative payment companies are eyeing the state-legal cannabis industry, a market that remains shunned by traditional banks.
March 16, 2018
Tech companies find some comfort in protections accorded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Weedmaps, which helps consumers connect with marijuana dispensaries, is the latest to throw up that shield in the face of regulators.
March 13, 2018
"It's been a pretty wild ride and the last seven months have been no exception. Generally there's a lot of things Nevada does really well, and at the top of that list are just a number of highly regulated industries," says Melissa Waite of Jolley Urga Woodbury Holthus & Rose.
March 12, 2018
The U.S. Justice Department and the California Attorney General's Office fired off a round of arguments over scheduling and venue for the government's big immigration case against the state. U.S. District Judge John Mendez in Sacramento wasn't having it. On Monday, he told the attorneys to knock it off.
March 09, 2018
Bar leaders say the agency doesn't have the estimated $15.5 million to pay for the new fingerprints and ensuing background checks, so they're passing along the costs to members.
March 08, 2018
Steven Bailey, the retired El Dorado County judge now running for attorney general, suggests a state disciplinary investigation tied to his tenure on the bench "was timed to coincide" with his campaign for the Republican nomination.
March 07, 2018
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions: "California is using every power it has—and some it doesn’t—to frustrate federal law enforcement." California Gov. Jerry Brown responded: "This is basically going to war against the state of California." Meet U.S. District Judge John Mendez, who was assigned to preside over the blockbuster suit.
March 05, 2018
Gov. Jerry Brown's still mulling a Supreme Court pick, nearly a year after Kathryn Mickle Werdegar announced she was stepping down.
March 01, 2018
Despite projections of a $7 billion state marijuana industry, major banks and credit unions are still wary of attracting the scrutiny of federal regulators if they accept deposits tied to cannabis-related businesses.
February 27, 2018
Gov. Brown's appointments include partners from Jones Day; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Irell & Manella; Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani; and Perkins Coie.
February 27, 2018
Sandra Brown, the former acting U.S. attorney for California's Central District, has joined the Beverly Hills tax firm Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez.
February 26, 2018
Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, has introduced legislation that would require most active lawyers in the state to provide at least 25 hours of free legal services each year. Attorneys could opt out of the requirement—if they pay $500 to the state bar's legal aid program.
February 22, 2018
The law firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Van Dermyden Maddux concluded Sen. Tony Mendoza had "more likely than not" acted in a "sexually suggestive" way toward five employees and a lobbyist.
February 21, 2018
The Commission on Judicial Performance has initiated disciplinary proceedings against a recently retired El Dorado County judge who is now seeking the GOP nomination for state attorney general.
February 20, 2018
"We are already dedicating a lot of our enforcement staff just on advertising because it is that important," Lori Ajax, chief of the Bureau of Cannabis Control, said.
February 16, 2018
Andrew Weitz of Encino was originally scheduled to go on trial this month on 52 counts of professional misconduct.
February 15, 2018
"This Kafkaesque process is the Senate’s response to the #MeToo movement," according to the complaint, filed by the Sacramento firm Downey Brand.
February 15, 2018
Scott, a former Orrick partner, has already taken the reins of the attorney's office in the 34-county Eastern District.
February 14, 2018
Under the new agreement, traffic experts and law enforcement officials can view the data so long as the city shields the information from public disclosure.
February 13, 2018
"One good public verdict will do more to deter sexual harassment than 100 arbitrations," said Cliff Palefsky, an employment law specialist at McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky in San Francisco.
February 08, 2018
Meet Beverly Hills tax attorney Charles Rettig, a name partner at Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez.
February 06, 2018
Eleven groups press the court to drop a requirement that lawyers who practice in the district be admitted to the State Bar of California.
February 05, 2018
The Recorder catches up with Brad Johnson of Sacramento's Harrison, Temblador, Hungerford & Johnson. "This has been a trying time for us as attorneys because there's not a great deal of assurance in some of the guidance we're providing our clients," he says. "And the best that we can do is continually refer back to and rely on the actual statutory text and the text of the emergency regulations as support for what we're saying."
February 01, 2018
Marijuana businesses and related trade associations spent more than $1.6 million in 2017 lobbying. Here's a look at some of the shops that got the work.
February 01, 2018
The U.S. attorney general's cancellation of the Cole memo "does not mean that petitioners now face an elevated danger of self-incrimination by cooperating with the IRS audits," a Justice Department tax lawyer tells a Colorado judge.
January 30, 2018
"Jeff Sessions has taken us steps backwards," state Treasurer John Chiang said. "And so it's crystal clear that we're going to have to face some additional challenges."
January 29, 2018
Nontraditional payment service providers are flocking to serve state-legal cannabis markets that remain largely shunned by major banks.
January 24, 2018
Patrick Soluri and Osha Meserve, representing the California Growers Association, a six-year-old coalition of cannabis farmers, have asked a Sacramento County Superior Court judge to block the state from issuing multiple small-scale cultivation permits to a single person or business.
January 23, 2018
"It's time for him to leave the bench and I am confident that in June the voters will agree," recall proponent Michele Dauber, a Stanford Law School professor, said.
January 23, 2018
Who says California's bar exam is too tough? Not graduates of University of Chicago Law School. All 28 Chicago alumni who took the bar exam for the first time in July 2017 passed.
January 19, 2018
The state Department of Justice plans to hire 18 of the 19 new attorneys allocated in the 2017-18 budget by the end of February. Those attorneys—14 deputy attorneys general and five supervisors—are part of the 31 new positions and $6.5 million in extra funding.
January 17, 2018
As Uber ventures into non-emergency patient transport, a Washington lobbyist will focus on compliance matters, HIPAA and health care policy as it relates to ride-sharing and innovation.
January 16, 2018
The office of Secretary of State Alex Padilla began accepting applications for marijuana-related trademarks earlier this month.
January 16, 2018
"I have decided not to contest certain allegations and agree to resign," Judge Elizabeth W. Johnson said in a letter. "This is so voters can make a reasoned and informed choice about who should be their next judge without distractions about me."
January 12, 2018
"If absolute immunity is not granted to the taxpayer, there will be a full claim of Fifth Amendment privilege," lawyers for the dispensary said in court papers in Colorado this week.
January 11, 2018
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer's David Reis, who heads the firm's labor and employment practice, cautioned against such a move. Changing harassment laws would prove "a very clumsy way to shape human behavior," he told a legislative committee.
January 10, 2018
"With this proposed budget, the courts will be better equipped to truly provide access to justice for all," Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said.
January 04, 2018
Cole, now a Sidley Austin partner, said he thought his namesake Justice Department memo outlined "a valid policy and was moving things in the right direction."
January 04, 2018
John W. Vardaman III says Sessions' rescission of Obama-era guidance on marijuana puts U.S. attorneys "in a very tenuous position."
January 03, 2018
Wilke Fleury's Robert Lamb responds: "Our firm fully supports the movement to address sexual harassment and adamantly denies any suggestion that we have mistreated any employee for his or her involvement in such movement."
January 03, 2018
McGregor Scott, formerly a white collar partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, was sworn into office Dec. 29 in Sacramento a day after U.S. Chief District Judge Lawrence O'Neill ordered his appointment. Separately, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions named Gibson Dunn's Nicola Hanna to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
December 28, 2017
"Our first duty as attorneys is to our clients and the ethical rules that apply to us," Khurshid Khoja, founder of Greenbridge Corporate Counsel said. "We are licensed by the state and it's our duty to protect confidentiality and to keep our clients safe." He added: "We can't have banks interfering with that."
From Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum LLP
Learn how in-house legal teams are harnessing the power of big data to save costs, reduce compliance issues, and increase profitability by leveraging predictive analytics.
From AbacusNext
Disaster down-time could cost your law firm hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. This paper outlines key considerations and best practices to use in devising your disaster recovery plan.
From Exterro
Use this rule 26(f) meet and confer checklist to ensure you’re prepared to negotiate effectively and identify reasonable e-discovery terms.
With this subscription you will receive unlimited access to high quality, online, on-demand premium content from well-respected faculty in the legal industry. This is perfect for attorneys licensed in multiple jurisdictions or for attorneys that have fulfilled their CLE requirement but need to access resourceful information for their practice areas.
Our Team Account subscription service are for legal teams of four or more attorneys. Each attorney is granted unlimited access to high quality, on-demand premium content from well-respected faculty in the legal industry along with administrative access to easily manage CLE for the entire team.
Gain access to some of the most knowledgeable and experienced attorneys with our 2 bundle options! Our Compliance bundles are curated by CLE Counselors and include current legal topics and challenges within the industry. Our second option allows you to build your bundle and strategically select the content that pertains to your needs. Both option are priced the same.
Dynamically explore and compare data on law firms, companies, individual lawyers, and industry trends.
Legal Compass includes access to our exclusive industry reports, combining the unmatched expertise of our analyst team with ALM’s deep bench of proprietary information to provide insights that can’t be found anywhere else.
Legal Compass delivers you the full scope of information, from the rankings of the Am Law 200 and NLJ 500 to intricate details and comparisons of firms’ financials, staffing, clients, news and events.
June 25, 2018 - June 27, 2018
Austin, TX
The Annual Conference For Senior Claims Managers In Insurance Organizations
June 27, 2018
Philadelphia, PA
This complimentary CLE-eligible program is designed to provide in-house counsel with the latest developments on legal topics
June 27, 2018
Philadelphia, PA
Join us as we honor those lawyers who have left an indelible mark on the legal community in Pennsylvania and beyond.
webseminar
ALM Marketing Services | June 05, 2018
When drafting arbitration clauses, specificity matters. The last thing you want is a disagreement over the provision itself. That would defeat the purpose of the arbitration, and result in litigating the meaning of the clause.
webseminar
ALM Marketing Services | May 25, 2018
Join this webcast for an understanding of how new approaches to diversity evaluation and emerging technologies can help track a firm’s performance to achieve better gender diversity in litigation.
webseminar
Sponsored by: Zapproved | April 23, 2018
[ON-DEMAND] Sponsored by: Keeping up with case law is challenging. New opinions come out every day, and they’re…
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Wilson Elser's Boston office is currently seeking a Defense Litigation Associate Attorney.This is an excellent opportunity for attorneys loo...
Apply Now ›New York, New York, United States
Wilson Elser's NYC office is currently seeking Attorneys to join our Complex Tort & General Casualty group.This is an excellent opportun...
Apply Now ›New York, New York, United States
Wilson Elser's New York office is currently seeking a Defense Litigation Associate Attorney This is an excellent opportunity for lawyer...
Apply Now ›
06/18/2018
NYLJ Web
RECORD ACCESS CORPORATION is pleased to announce that
View Announcement ›
06/11/2018
NYLJ Web
MARIAN POLOVY, LAW OFFICE OF is pleased to give thanks to founder of the firm
View Announcement ›
06/11/2018
NJLJ Web
In Memoriam
View Announcement ›As part of your digital membership, you can sign up for an unlimited number of a wide range of complimentary newsletters. Visit your My Account page to make your selections. Get the timely legal news and critical analysis you cannot afford to miss. Tailored just for you. In your inbox. Every day.
Follow Us
Copyright © 2018 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Sign In
Sign In