Blog - Page 156 of 174 - The Bar Association of San Francisco

Legal Writing Tip: Boost the Drama; Keep Sentences Short

To boost drama or emotion in briefs, client letters and other writing, pepper your narrative with short sentences. Easy to read, short sentences focus readers’ attention, helping them retain information. Part style, part literary technique, short sentences control your reader’s…

Hire a Law Academy Intern; Change a Life

The Justice & Diversity Center’s Law Academy program encourages and increases career opportunities for underserved and ethnically diverse students in Balboa High School in San Francisco. Creative and inspiring curriculum is built into several core classes where junior and senior…

Setting Effective Goals to Improve Your Legal Practice

Now that 2014 is well under way, imagine how your practice can improve by effective goal setting strategies. Often, when we set goals for ourselves, our expectations or old behaviors sabotage our results. What if goals are created in a way…

Attorneys Honored at Gideon v. Wainwright Anniversary Reception

2013 marked the 50th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright and on December 10, hundreds gathered to recognize the work of criminal defense lawyers in San Francisco – those on BASF’s indigent defense conflicts panel and those in the Public Defender’s…

Longtime JDC Volunteer Jeffry Bernstein Dedicates Pro Bono Work to Low-Income Taxpayers

The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) is pleased to recognize Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass Partner Jeffry Bernstein as our volunteer of the month for his work with JDC’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC). Bernstein has volunteered with JDC since…

Sausage Factory

Two things that should not be viewed are the making of law and sausage, or so the saying goes. My trip to the Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) proved one-half of that old saw wrong. As a new member…

Child Support Arrears May Add Up to Felony Time? You Betcha, Levi!

The Palin family is never far from the headlines and now it is Bristol Palin’s turn. In November, it was reported that her baby daddy, Levi Johnston, had filed for joint custody of the couple’s child, Tripp. Palin responded by…

BASF’s First Working Mother President, Stephanie Skaff, Announces “It Starts With a Day Initiative” and Legal Help for Veterans

Farella Braun + Martel Partner Stephanie P. Skaff was installed in December as BASF’s 101st president at the Annual Membership Luncheon. It was there that she announced her “It Starts With a Day” 2014 volunteer initiative. The goal of…

Federal Judge Invalidates Oklahoma Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

On January 14, 2014, a federal judge in Tulsa ruled that a voter-approved 2004 constitutional ban on recognition of same-sex marriage in Oklahoma “must give way to individual constitutional rights.” In a 68 page ruling , U.S. District Judge Terrence…

Obama Administration Recognizes Utah Same-Sex Marriages Under Federal Law

The Obama Administration announced Friday that the federal government will recognize approximately 1,360 same-sex marriages performed in Utah since December 2013, despite the state’s refusal to acknowledge these marriages. On January 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed U.S. District…

Social Security Cannot Be Attached to Reimburse Insurer

This article was first published on the California Bankruptcy Blog at http://calbk.blogspot.com/2014/01/insurer-cannot-attach-social-security.html In Bilyeu v. Morgan Stanley, 683 F.3d 1083 (9th Cir. 2012), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rules that an insurer cannot impose a lien upon…

Google Apps for Business: Security, Confidentiality and Ethics

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