CLA eNews

As we kick off 2022, we hope you are taking advantage of the many benefits of belonging to the California Lawyers Association. Read more

Oyango A. Snell, former in-house counsel for the Western States Petroleum Association, was named CEO and Executive Director of CLA last month following a nationwide search. We interviewed him shortly after he started on Dec. 13. Following are some excerpts from the interview. Read more

Have you met your goals for the year? How are you shaping your goals for the year ahead? As 2021 comes to a close, it’s a good time to look back on the year and evaluate your law firm’s performance. What changes have been made, and where you can improve in the year to come? The new year is a good time for a fresh start, but if you wait until January 1, the year will have already started by… Read more

We are thrilled to announce the arrival this month of CLA’s new CEO and Executive Director, Oyango A. Snell. He comes to us from the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), where he served as the organization’s first in-house general counsel in its 114-year history. Read more

By now, you should have received your annual license fee notice from the State Bar of California. Did you know that you can renew your CLA membership at the same time you pay your yearly license fees? Read more

California’s AB 150, which was signed into law on July 16, 2021, may provide an opportunity for owners of pass-through entities to negate the $10,000 limit on the SALT deduction. Read more

Earlier this year, CLA held its first diversity stakeholders meeting, convening policy experts, program providers, bar association leaders, judges and law school representatives. Last month CLA published a report on the meeting, which was designed to bring attention to all the work being done in the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and pathway-to-law space in California. Read more

What are the best practices for maintaining successful, ethical, positive and productive client relationships? A successful lawyer works with the client to establish client objectives, and anticipates, minimizes and de-escalates common client concerns and complaints. Read more

Decluttering is about much more than having space on your desk to place your laptop or room in the closet for new clothes. Having an abundance of clutter in our professional and personal spaces is a source of anxiety and unnecessary stress. It can be distracting, draining, and hold us back from productive work. Tidying our physical spaces and clearing out clutter can put us in a more positive, peaceful state of mind. Read more

We were told at any early age not to talk to or to trust strangers (or to accept candy from, or get into a car with them). We might be tempted to assume that any person so schooled would have, as an adult, extended that lesson to include unfamiliar lawyers. If so, a person not represented by a lawyer should be counted on neither to trust nor to seek guidance from an unfamiliar lawyer or one representing an opposing party – a kind of Caveat Emptor (or caveat advocatus). Read more