Litigation abuse is all too familiar to those engaged in the herculean task of getting new development approved in California.  See, for instance, Jennifer Hernandez’s 2022 report for the Center for Jobs & the Economy, titled “Anti-Housing CEQA Lawsuits Filed in 2020 Challenge Nearly 50% of California’s 100,000 Annual Housing Production” and blogged on here.  Or a 2022 case out of the First District, Tiburon Open Space Committee v. County of Marin (2022) 78 Cal.App.5th 700 (blogged on here), in which the court lamented the fact that CEQA can “be manipulated to be a formidable tool of obstruction” and concluded with the rather dire observation that “[s]omething is very wrong with this picture.”  With the Legislature seemingly incapable of undertaking significant CEQA reform (see Art Coon’s thoughts on the topic here – still relevant and trenchant seven years later), it is perhaps not surprising…

You can find Judge Ho’s opinion, and Judge Ramirez’s concurrence, at this link. Although the law is titled as against “vote harvesting” it seems a pretty clear violation of the First Amendment. The fact that the court relied on… Continue reading The post Fifth Circuit Panel, Citing Purcell, Stays District Court Order Against Enforcing Texas S.B. 1 Provision Against “interaction with one or more voters, in the physical presence of an official ballot or a ballot voted by mail, intended to deliver votes for a specific candidate or measure.”  appeared first on Election Law Blog.

But what about the Pentagon Papers, you ask? A damn good question. It exposed a massive conspiracy underlying the Vietnam War, one that the public needed to know. And wasn’t “Deep Throat” a hero, telling Woodward and Bernstein to “follow the money”? But that was a long time ago, when the whistle-blower was the oddity, and what the whiteblower revealed was big. Huge. Compelling journalists to reveal their sources could have significantly changed the course of history back then. Is it still true today? Exposing such things depends, of course, not just on journalists but also on brave officials willing to sound the alarm about government misconduct. Even when their disclosures are clearly in the public interest, these whistle-blowers — or sources, in the journalistic parlance — often hide their identities to avoid punishment or retaliation. In this way, bringing essential information to the public often depends on protecting the identity…

Below is my column in the New York Post on the recent interview of Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz defending his record on free speech. The interview with Fox host Shannon Bream only magnified concerns over what I previously described as the most anti-free speech ticket in centuries. Here is the column: Roughly five centuries ago, a new dance first reported in Augsburg, Germany was promptly dubbed the “waltz” after the German term for “to roll or revolve.” Today, there is no more nimble performer of that dizzying dance than Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. Indeed, “Walzing” has become the Minnesota governor’s signature political two-step after his controversial statements on his allegedly socialist views, eliminating the electoral college and other topics. On Sunday, Walz’s dance partner was Fox News host Shannon Bream, who seemed to be fighting vertigo as the…

I found this waiting for me when I got home from hospital/rehab, postmarked Sept. 12. The return address on the envelope said it was from the “Democratic Party of Florida”. And why not–I’ve donated to it. So I opened it up. It was not what I expected. Fake_letterr Although this is an evil fake–a dirty trick–I hesitate to call it fraud since there is no attempt to get money. It’s just lunacy of the first order. But I suppose there are people who are prepared to believe Democrats are Communists. It is after all a staple of local Spanish-language radio…. The content, however demented, is protected by the First Amendment. But claiming it is a production of the “Democratic Party of Florida” is a lie. But not every lie in politics is illegal; if it were Trump would have been in jail a long time ago. Incidentally, if you want more stuff like this, the “Combat Veterans for Congress PAC” homepage (I won’t…

The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO) held their 2024 Charities Conference on October 8-10. This conference is the sole annual event at which charity regulators and nonprofit organizations and their attorneys, accountants, fundraisers, and advisers can meet, learn about, and discuss issues of interest across the charitable sector. The conference will provide an opportunity to hear from regulators and others in the nonprofit sector on current issues, including sessions on: * Matters of Current Interest from State Regulators* Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) Role in the Nonprofit Sector* Fraud Resilience Among Charitable Organizations* Boards Facing Crisis* Fiscal Sponsorships, Legal Framework, Benefits, and Pitfalls I had the pleasure of speaking at last year’s conference and enjoyed attending this year’s. Some highlights below: Partnering for Public Good Graduated…

The trial court thought that the board members of the Coachella Valley Water District had brought an entirely frivolous anti-SLAPP motion, so awarded the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association over $180,000 in attorney's fees for the frivolous motion.The Court of Appeal, by contrast, thought that the anti-SLAPP motion was not only frivolous, but meritorious, so reverses and grants the "frivolous" motion on appeal.Interesting how different judges can reach such dramatically disparate rulings, eh?

Former footballer, Joey Barton has made a statement in open court, in which he apologised for suggesting that Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine had a sexual interest in children in a series of online posts and stated that he recognised the allegations were untrue. In settlement of the claim, Barton agreed to pay £75,000 in damages and legal costs, in addition to a further £35,000 for posts published after Vine issued his claim, after the High Court ruled that the posts were defamatory in May. However, before the High Court hearing on Friday 11 October, Barton posted another video on X, depicting Vine wearing a pair of heeled shoes and the caption, “Perfectly normal. Nothing to see here.” Vine’s barrister stated that posting the videos “negates the vindication of a statement” and Steyn J warned Barton about the risk of contempt of court should he breach the undertakings he had given not to harass Vine. The Independent, Metro,…

?Advance release contract law opinion: Sicignano v. Pearce (Breach of contract; defamation, defamation per se; fraud; Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (§ 42-110a et seq.); special motions to dismiss pursuant to anti-SLAPP statute (§ 52-196a); separation of powers doctrine; ex post facto clause of United States constitution.)

Fifteen years ago, courts generally avoided categorical pronouncements about the legitimacy of competitive keyword advertising. That produced a string of waffly or irresolute rulings, such as the appellate rulings in Rescuecom v. Google (2d Circuit) and Rosetta Stone v. Google (4th Circuit). Whatever legal ambiguity might have existed then has been decisively resolved, at least with respect to competitive keyword ads that don’t use the trademark in the ad copy. Courts almost never found trademark infringement in those cases, but it was only in the last decade that we started to get opinions saying this bluntly and clearly. That’s why I welcome the Second Circuit’s ruling in 1-800 Contacts v. Warby Parker, part of 1-8oo Contacts’ irrepressible efforts to revive the litigation genre. The Second Circuit says, unambiguously, that “the mere act of purchasing a search engine keyword that is a competitor’s trademark does not alone, in the context of…

A couple of keyword ad cases from a couple of months ago. Alsa Refinish LLC v. Walmart Inc., 2024 WL 3914512 (C.D. Cal. July 31, 2024) The trademark owner Alsa sells chrome paint. Walmart doesn’t carry the trademark owners’ items. In searches for the trademarks in Walmart’s internal search engine, Walmart only shows unrelated items–not items from the trademark owner or any competitors. Alsa complains about the following screenshots:   The second screenshot is an organic search result–a dead-end for the trademark owner. The court says “Because Walmart does not pay search engines to return organic search results or index webpages, it does not “use” the marks in connection with the sale or advertisement of goods.” The court adds: The Google search results are simply Walmart webpages that contain search results themselves. Any user can produce this type of page by navigating to Walmart’s website and typing a search…

Section 230 cases are coming faster than I can blog them. This long blog post rounds up five defense losses, riddled with bad judicial errors. Given the tenor of these opinions, how are any plaintiffs NOT getting around Section 230 at this point? District of Columbia v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 2024 D.C. Super. LEXIS 27 (D.C. Superior Ct. Sept. 9, 2024) The lawsuit alleges Meta addicts teens and thus violates DC’s consumer protection act. Like other cases in this genre, it goes poorly for Facebook. Section 230 The court distills and summarizes the conflicting precedent: “The immunity created by Section 230 is thus properly understood as protection for social media companies and other providers from “intermediary” liability—liability based on their role as mere intermediaries between harmful content and persons harmed by it…. But-for causation, however, is not sufficient to implicate Section 230 immunity….Section 230 provides immunity…

In a published decision filed October 7, 2024, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s judgment rejecting a CEQA challenge to the revised EIR for the State Capitol renovation project based on recent legislation exempting that project from CEQA.  Save Our Capitol! v. Department of General Services (Joint Committee on Rules of the California State Senate and Assembly) (2024) ___ Cal.App.5th ___.  This was the Court’s third published appellate decision in the CEQA litigation over the controversial project; see my posts dated January 2 and January 23, 2023 and May 23, 2024, covering the Court’s initial two published decisions finding flaws in the project EIR, and in the trial court’s premature discharge of the remedial writ, and my post dated July 11, 2024 covering the dispositive statutory CEQA exemption enacted through SB 174. The Court of Appeal’s Opinion Little more need be said regarding the substantive…

After nearly four years of court battles, Proposition 22—also known as the Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act—has been upheld by the California Supreme Court. The voter-enacted law allows drivers for app-based transportation and delivery companies—also known as “network companies”—to be classified as independent contractors, as long as several conditions are met. Summary of Proposition 22 In January 2020, Assembly Bill No. 5 (AB-5)—the landmark bill that created a streamlined test for determining which workers are independent contractors—took effect. AB-5 codified the “ABC test” set forth by the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Super. Ct. Under the ABC test, a worker may be treated as an independent contractor only if the hiring entity can meet three conditions. After the enactment of AB-5 made it virtually impossible to classify workers as independent contractors, many…

By Thomas A. Robinson, co-author, Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law Editorial Note: All section references below are to Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, unless otherwise indicated. Traveling Employee Injured in Fall Down Employer’s Unobstructed Stairs. Acknowledging that generally, traversing stairs is a neutral risk and injuries resulting therefrom are not compensable under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, but construing the state’s rules on traveling employees, an Illinois appellate court affirmed a finding of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that a town’s “blight inspector” was a traveling employee and accordingly, that injuries sustained by him in a fall down unobstructed stairs at a town office building were compensable [see Town of Cicero v. Illinois Workers’ Comp. Comm’n , 2024 IL App (1st) 230609WC, 2024 Ill. App. LEXIS 819, § 7.04 n. 41.1]. The court agreed…

California law provides that any licensee of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control or agent or employee of the licensee, who sells, gives or delivers to any person any alcoholic beverage between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. of the same day, and any person who knowingly purchases any alcoholic beverages between those hours, is guilty of a misdemeanor.  Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 25631.  Thus, if it 3 in the morning and you are looking for a drink, you are out of luck in California.  Your luck, however, may soon change as a result of legislation recently passed by the California legislature.   AB 3206 (McKinnor) allows the sale of alcoholic beverages between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. at an on-sale licensed premises operated in a fully enclosed arena with a seating capacity of at least 18,000 seats located in the City of Inglewood, subject to certain conditions.  If that sounds very specific, it is.  The only arena that fits this…

The California Legislature has banned more food ingredients in the name of food safety. This time, six food dyes are being banned from California’s public schools. Passed unanimously by the California Senate and Assembly, the California Food Safety Act only awaits the governor’s signature to become law. The bill prohibits public schools from serving food and beverages containing synthetic colorings, which California lawmakers believe are linked to neurobehavioral issues experienced by some children. Assembly Bill 2316 bans dyes in schools, including Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3. The ban follows the complete prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and distribution of any foods anywhere in California containing the additives red dye no. 3, titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, and propylparaben. Jesse Gabriel, the Assembly representative who has sponsored both sets of bills, said the state is responsible for…

Last month, two key legal developments in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance highlighted the risks posed to customer service companies that use an independent contractor business model. The first involves a Colorado company using agents to provide customer support through an app-based platform. The company was sued in a proposed class and collective action lawsuit based on the allegation that the company misclassified the agents as ICs and not employees. The second involves a $3 million settlement between a nationwide customer service support company and the U.S. Department of Labor, which sued the company alleging it had misclassified as ICs the workers that provide customer service to its clients. Many companies in the customer service industry use an independent contractor business model. Workers in that type of trade or occupation usually can be classified legally as ICs under federal and most state laws if their relationships with the…