As part of the Justice & Diversity Center’s ongoing commitment to providing San Francisco’s youth with positive educational opportunities, this year the Day In Court program was expanded by bringing students to criminal courts at the Hall of Justice. In…
Meet Nemo: San Francisco Unified Family Court’s Facility Dog
Family Law Corner: Schwarzenegger and Shriver: Failure to Terminate
… Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver were all over the news in 2011 when they started their divorce amid revelations that Schwarzenegger fathered a child with their housekeeper. All eyes were on them as they faced dividing their $400 million…
Legal Ethics Corner: The Weinstein Scandal and Rule 3-110
Amid the growing allegations of the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal, it recently came to light that Weinstein’s former attorney, David Boies, had agreed to contract with a private investigator firm, Black Cube, on Weinstein’s behalf. Black Cube performed work…
Estate Planning Corner: Subtrusts, Tax Planning and More
When is a Win not a Win? Leland Babbitt’s estate was divided into two subtrusts upon his death–one for his wife Mary Lynne and the other for his daughter from a prior marriage, Carol. Mary Lynne was entitled to the…
Artificial Intelligence and its Impact on the Legal Industry
One of the hottest technology trends is artificial intelligence (AI), where machines are programmed to crunch large sets of data and learn to adapt and react to the data. All industries have been impacted in some way by the rise…
Lawyers Should be on Twitter and Here’s Why
The original version of this article was published at www.susankostal.com on November 15, 2017. I’ve been immersed in social media lately (beyond my typical compulsion), and thinking a lot about how best to teach both concepts and practical…
Mobilizing for Justice in Our Community
From the Winter 2017 issue of San Francisco Attorney magazine. Click to view fullscreen. community response, Trump administration, Merri Baldwin, Yolanda Jackson, Gloria Chun, Julie Traun, Kelly Dermody, How to be a good Ally, Carole Conn, DACA, Criminal Justice Task…
Risk Management Tip: Understanding Duties to Third Parties, Part 2
An attorney’s primary duty to a client is tempered by the overriding duty in all settings to be truthful. In the transactional setting there is no protection for attorneys from claims by non-clients when an attorney engages in affirmatively deceitful…
Justice & Diversity Center Supervising Attorney Receives 2018 Brosnahan Fellowship Award
The Brosnahan Fellowship award selection committee has named its recipient for 2018: Stephanie Bilinski, Family Law Supervising Attorney at the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC). The fellowship funds a monetary gift to an outstanding JDC employee each year. Bilinski well…
Setting Injustice Right: Tenant’s Wrongful Eviction Generates Half Million Dollars in Damages
In March 2016, SF-Marin Lawyer Referral and Information Services (LRIS) Supervisor, Antonio Hernandez, fielded an incoming call. The caller was a 64-year old artist and maintenance person to a collection of apartments in exchange for rent. He lived on the…
Legal Writing Tip: Heed the Bench’s Preferences
Ross Guberman, the acclaimed legal writing consultant and author of Point Made: How to Write Like the Nation’s Top Advocates and Point Taken: How to Write Like the World’s Greatest Judges, surveyed thousands of judges—ranging from those serving at…