Solo & Small Firm Section

On March 15, the State Bar published its second biennial report to the Legislature on its efforts to further diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in California’s legal profession. The report documents the significant progress the State Bar has made in the last two years in fulfillment of this aspect of its statutory mission. Read more

A court may sanction attorneys for engaging in meritless actions or tactics with the intent to harass or cause unnecessary delay. (Cal. Code Civ. Proc., § 128.5.) But what is meritless to one person may be a rational extension of the law to another. Luckily, there's a safe harbor provision in the statute for that. Read more

The “lodestar” method is commonly used by judges and arbitrators to determine attorney fees for a prevailing party. The loadstar is calculated by multiplying the reasonable number of hours by a reasonable hourly rate. However, may the court consider lack of civility as a reason to reduce an attorney fee request? Read more

Spring has sprung. Many firms are really getting back into the Spring of things with counties opening up more and more and apparently a full scale opening of California as of June 15, 2021. Read more

Not every judge or lawyer is ready for virtual court appearances, the key is to be prepared when it is your time. Read more

In this fun, one hour CLE we will go into details about what to expect when making digital forensics part of your cases. Digital forensics have long piqued the interest of anyone that wants access to that almost magical ability to know what happened in the past. Better than our memories are the facts that can be found on a digital device. Read more

Want to shine a light on a fellow practitioner? Read more

Applications are now available for the State Bar’s expanded Provisional Licensure Program, a week ahead of the March 1 deadline set by the California Supreme Court. Read more

In an “action on a contract” that provides for attorney fees and costs, the party prevailing on the contract is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and other costs. Read more

Don’t want the baby thrown out with the bathwater? Use a “severability” or a “partial invalidity” clause to prevent a court from declaring an entire contract invalid or unenforceable just because a single provision in the contract is declared invalid or unenforceable. Read more