Practice Area Corner Archives

The View Isn’t so Rosie: Drug Testing Requested in O’Donnell’s Custody Battle

Rosie O’Donnell’s prenuptial agreement with a confidentiality provision isn’t keeping her second divorce out of the media limelight. In 2012, O’Donnell married Michelle Rounds, two years later, they adopted a daughter, and last November the couple split up and filed…

Five Tips for Creating a Marketable Legal Professional Resume

Most people can agree that it is a difficult task creating a marketable resume. How does one decide what to include, or determine what to take out? How is it possible to get everything on one page? My best advice…

Summit Features BASF Mediation Panelists and Executive Director

The Mediation Society hosted the first Bay Area Mediation Summit (BAMS) at Nixon Peabody in San Francisco on May 15. More than 20 organizations were invited to participate in an informative afternoon of speakers, panel discussions and networking to share…

Attorney-Client Billing Statements Are Protected By Attorney-Client Privilege Regardless of Whether They Contain Legal Opinions or Advice

As a matter of first impression, the Court of Appeal recently held in County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (ACLU), 235 Cal.App.4th 1154 (2015) that invoices confidentially transmitted from an attorney to…

Meet Barristers Litigation Section Leader Evangeline Burbidge

Evangeline (“Evan”) Burbidge is an attorney at Lewis & Llewellyn, a San Francisco litigation boutique firm focusing on high-stakes civil cases. An active BASF member, she currently serves as a co-vice chair on the Executive Committee for the Barristers Litigation…

Dealing with Workplace Bullying

Small and solo law firm attorneys should expect to hear more about workplace bullying. As of January 1, 2015, mandatory anti-harassment training by employers must contain an anti-bullying component. Covered employers must provide supervisory employees with training about prevention of…

Post-Threat Analysis: SCOTUS reverses conviction in online threats case

On June 1, 2015, in Elonis v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision that a Pennsylvania man’s conviction for posting threatening Facebook posts regarding his estranged wife was a reversible error. The Supreme Court held…

Battery Liability for Offending Unusually Sensitive Sense of Personal Dignity

Under new rules, promulgated by the powerful American Law Institute, offending ultra-sensitive people now carries battery liability. In the olden days, battery was considered an offensive “unwanted touching” based on the reasonable person standard, for example, grabbing a menu out…

May a California lawyer ethically represent a client in respect to a medical marijuana enterprise in California?

Recognizing the conundrum that conflicting state and federal laws create in California in light of the Compassionate Use Act, The Bar Association of San Francisco Legal Ethics Committee composed the first bar association opinion on ethical considerations for California attorneys…

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee Must Obtain Court Approval Before Paying Taxes

In In re Cloobeck, 14 C.D.O.S. 5982, No. 23-15432 (9th Cir. June 12, 2015), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee must notify creditors, set a hearing or opportunity for…

Who Do You Trust with Your End of Life Care?

Many people think that a trust is about what’s going to happen after they die: who is going to inherit what. But that’s secondary to a trust’s primary purpose, which is to make end-of-life plans legally defining how you and…

Elizabeth Tippin Speaks to San Francisco Legal Professionals Association

Thanks to BASF Mediation Services panelist Elizabeth Tippin, who recently presented an informative talk on mediation and arbitration to the San Francisco Legal Professionals Association at their monthly “Lunch and Learn” meeting. The meeting was held at the law office…

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