Solo & Small Firm Section

This month’s SSF Attorney of the Month Spotlight falls upon attorney David B. Durrett of the law firm Young, Cohen & Durrett, LLP. Mr. Durrett was nominated and a finalist this year for the SSF Excellence in Practice Award by his peers. Read more

You moved for summary judgment, received the opposition papers, and now it’s your turn to reply. Read more

Can you believe it, we are in July and 2021 is already more than halfway over! Read more

Richard D. Kaplan’s gained a reputation over three decades in practice for resolving complex criminal defense matters that threaten livelihoods and reputations. Perhaps of equal importance is his ability to achieve these results quickly, allowing his clients to move past the matter and on with their lives. Read more

The year 2020 caused all of us to embrace a new era of remote Zoom mediations and hearings. We also learned how to electronically sign settlement agreements with geographically diverse participants. Electronic signatures allow convenience and efficiency, but there are specific rules that govern authentication. Bannister v. Marinidence OPCO, LLC (May 21, 2021, A159815) __ Cal.App.5th __ [2021 WL 2036529] applied those standards, and found that an employee did not electronically sign an arbitration agreement with her employer. Read more

It is June, Summer is officially here this weekend and the world is back in full swing …well just about. Read more

Practitioners Ashod Mooradian and Erin Joyce will explain recent changes in the ethics rules on competence and fee sharing and COPRAC opinions which may impact solo and small firm practices. Read more

On May 7 the State Bar released results of the February 2021 California Bar Exam and announced that 1,151 people (37.2 percent of applicants) passed the General Bar Exam. Read more

Before filing a motion to compel discovery responses, the parties must engage in a "reasonable and good faith attempt at an informal resolution of each issue presented by the motion." (Code Civ. Proc., § 2016.040.) What constitutes a good faith meet-and-confer effort depends on a variety of factors. Read more

Code of Civil Procedure section 998 was enacted to encourage settlement of lawsuits before trial. The statute provides a cost shifting financial disincentive to a party who fails to achieve a better result at trial than that party could have achieved by accepting his or her opponent’s settlement offer. Read more