Coming Next in the California Labor and Employment Law Review

The Rule Against Perpetuities. Ferae Naturae. A to O.

While many legal profundities learned in law school may seem a bit muzzy now, there’s one that likely comes to mind and stays there: Get the fee first. Good advice. But often hard to follow, given the plethora of fee-shifting statutes and varying judicial glosses related to it.

In the March issue of the Law Review, Berkeley sole practitioner Richard Pearl takes on the topic, with a focus on the numerous cases that have made it all the long way to the California and U.S. Supreme Courts. He is the person for that job: author of California Attorney Fee Awards (published by California’s Continuing Education of the Bar and updated annually), teacher of the LawLine course “Attorney’s Fee Advocacy in California,” and counsel in many—maybe even most—of the leading appellate cases on attorneys’ fees in both the California and federal courts.

In the Law Review, Pearl traces the evolution/devolution of USSC fees cases from the 1975 decision in Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society, which affirmed the “American rule” of attorney’s fees, to last year’s Lackey v. Stinnie, which introduced new murkiness into the issue. (And here’s something related and ticklish—the arguments in full as lipsynced by cartoon characters at Scotus Toons.)

After you learn by reading the Law Review article, whether or not enhanced by cartoon character wisdom, you can gain MCLE credit by applying for self-study credit.

The March issue also includes insightful summaries of cases and topics of interest by our cadre of subject matter experts:

• California Employment Law Notes (Anthony J. Oncidi)
• Wage and Hour Case Notes (Lauren Teukolsky)
• Public Sector Case Notes (Katharine McDonagh and Max Sinclair)
• NLRA Case Notes (Jeffrey S. Bosley and Monica Rodriguez)
• ADR Update (Jonathan D. Andrews), and
• Cases Pending Before the California Supreme Court (Phyllis Chen).

And in the closing cantor of the pages, Labor & Employment Section chair Stephanie J. Joseph offers words for carrying on, fees or no fees.

BECOME A CONTRIBUTOR: Submissions are always welcome. We encourage you to take a look at our Editorial Policy and to send us your article ideas for consideration.

Barbara Kate Repa
Managing Editor

Katie Mola
Editor-in-Chief

Laura Ziegler Davis
Editor-in-Chief