eNews

The Environmental Law Section is now soliciting nominations for the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, to be awarded at the 2019 Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite Read more

Bruce is a Director of Global IP at Illumina, a San Diego-based biotech company creating solutions for genetic research. He began his legal career at Foley & Lardner in Washington, DC, before transitioning to in-house counsel roles at HP and now at Illumina. At MIT, Bruce earned his master’s and Ph.D. in two different engineering fields, and he later received a law degree from Georgetown and taught IP law as an adjunct professor at George Mason University. Read more

In 2012, the California Legislature passed the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act, which created the “CalSavers Retirement Savings Program” (Cal. Govt. Code §§ 100,000 – 100,050; Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, §§ 10000 – 10007). CalSavers is a government run retirement savings plan for employees of employers with 5 or more employees. Read more

I have been giving a lot of thought regarding what technology to share this month. I decided this month, May, the month with the fewest letters, is a good month to reflect on taking days away, or at least one day away, from technology.
Have you ever walked down a street and noticed how many people are looking at their phone, or talking on their phone, or simply listening to something on their phone? Or, how often have you walked into a bar or restaurant and seen a group of people “sitting together,” and at the same time, not talking to one another. Rather they are together, yet each is alone and focused on their cell phones. Yes, this is the current state of our society. People feel like they’re connected but studies show there is disconnect, and other logical neurological changes taking place, with so much screen time. Read more

The State Bar’s Board of Trustees is recommending a fee increase for California lawyers in 2020 and in future years. In fact, the Board “set the fee increase as the agency’s number one legislative priority.” Under the proposal, licensing fees will increase approximately $430 for 2020. Read more

A Luddite attorney is not a competent attorney, at least according to the ethical rules. But how much and what type of technology do you need to understand?
ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, Comment 8 specifically states that an attorney’s duty of competence includes keeping “abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” Read more

It’s May and that means its already time for The New Normal: Mastering Modern Day Business Law Communication, an in-person program we’re putting on with the Business Law Section. It’s going to be an incredible opportunity to work or travel in the morning, learn about the impact of emojis, how to make your website ADA compliant, and get an hour of competence credit. Bring the family and stay for the weekend enjoying all Santa Barbara has to offer. Can’t make it in person? We’ll live stream it to wherever you are, so make sure to sign up. Read more

When Rules Don’t Apply is a documentary concerning the conspiracy among leading tech CEOs in Silicon Valley, like Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt, who agreed not to hire each others' employees. That secret deal denied professional advancement and better pay to the very people who made their companies successful. Government lawyers used antitrust laws for the first time in a labor case to prosecute companies like Apple, Google, Pixar, Adobe, Intel, Intuit, and others. Read more

Everything is now in place for 9th Annual Advanced Wage & Hour Conference and 36th Labor and Employment Law Section Annual Meeting, which will take place on July 18 and 19 at the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles. Registration will open shortly, and you’ll have the option to register for one or both days. We also have a webinar coming up later this month that explores the Supreme Court’s arbitration decisions of 2018-2019 and implications for class and representative action employment litigation. Read more

The May issue of our Section’s Labor & Employment Law Review will feature an article by Andrew Friedman and Taylor Markey titled “A Refresher on and Thoughts About Unconditional Offers of Reinstatement.” In that article, the authors consider the following questions, among others: What is a valid unconditional offer of reinstatement? What are the “special circumstances” justifying the rejection of such an offer? What are the consequences of an unjustified rejection? Who bears the burden of proof on the issues of whether an offer was “unconditional,” and whether the rejection of the offer was reasonable? Who determines whether the rejection of the offer was justified? Does California even recognize the unconditional offer of reinstatement doctrine? Read more