Business Law eNews

The California Lawyers Association has created a new advisory group to help ensure CLA members stay up-to-date with their ethical obligations. The new Ethics Committee will create educational content, comment on proposed rule changes, write advisory opinions on emerging ethical issues, and issue ethics alerts and reminders to CLA members. Read more

Courtesy of CEB, we are bringing you selected legal developments in areas of California business law that are covered by CEB’s publications. This month’s feature is from the July 2019 update to Internet Law and Practice in California. References are to the book’s section numbers. See CEB’s BLS Landing Page for special discounts for Business Law Section members. The most significant legal developments since the last update include developments in such important topic areas as copyright, patent, human resources, website accessibility, electronic contracting, privacy, initial coin offerings, taxation of Internet transactions, and litigation issues. Read more

BLS Vice-Chair Corey Weber, BLS Executive Committee Advisor Tom Phinney, and Insolvency Law Committee (ILC) members Misty Perry Isaacson, Maggie Bordeaux and Cathy Ta attended the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Spokane, Washington on July 20-25, 2019 as Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. The Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference is held once a year and participants include judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Courts and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, court staff, Lawyer Representatives, and other invited guests. Read more

At the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Spokane, Washington, BLS Executive Committee Advisor Tom Phinney was elected to a three-year term on the Conference Executive Committee. As a member of Conference Executive Committee for the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, Tom will help to plan the educational programs and events at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference for 2019-2022. Read more

A newly enacted law requires every publicly held corporation whose principal executive offices are located in California, according to the corporation’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to have at least one female director on its board by the end of 2019 and at least two, or three, female directors by the end of 2021 if the board consists of five, or six or more directors, respectively. Read more

The BLS is a proud Diversity Partner sponsor of the California Minority Counsel Program’s 2019 Annual Business Conference taking place September 11-13 at the L.A. Grand Hotel Downtown. The Annual Business Conference is the biggest annual business and diversity conference for attorneys in California, consistently drawing over 500 attorneys and diversity leaders from leading companies, law firms and agencies. Read more

As we approach the start of the new State Bar/California Lawyers Association year, your Business Law Section Executive Committee and Standing Committee leaders are working hard to provide the high quality content and networking opportunities that make membership in the BLS so beneficial. Even better, the BLS and CLA are forming and deepening relationships with local and affinity bar associations, regulatory agencies, industry leaders and judges, to explore opportunities for collaboration wherever possible. Read more

We are happy to report that CLA’s first-ever Solo and Small Firm Summit, which was held in Huntington Beach last month, was a smash hit! Given that the majority of practitioners (and thus our members) in California are in solo practice or with small firms, it is critical that we provide cutting-edge and practical resources to this demographic. We are pleased that the BLS contributed to the 27 CLE sessions and 13.75 hours of MCLE credit offered at this “The 21st Century Law Firm” program. Read more

Courtesy of CEB, we are bringing you selected legal developments in areas of California business law that are covered by CEB’s publications. This month’s feature is from the April 2019 update to Selecting and Forming Business Entities. References are to the book’s section numbers. See CEB’s CLA Section Member Discount Page for special discounts for Business Law Section members. The most significant legal developments since the last update include developments in such important topic areas as federal tax law, conflicts of interest, LLP eligibility, and blockchain technology. Read more

The BLS’ Health Law Committee, Bet Tzedek Legal Aid Foundation, the California Minority Counsel Program Ambassadors Council, the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association and the CLA are collaborating with the LA County Law Library to provide a unique volunteer opportunity for attorneys to give back to their community on October 26, 2019. Read more