The Law of Rebuilding LA

Substantial suits set to shape class action, employment and consumer law jurisprudence await appellate rulings on threshold jurisdictional questions: Brian Kabateck (Kabateck Brown Kellner) and Chris Baker (Baker Curtis & Schwartz) discuss the NLRA-based argument against individual arbitration pending before the 9th Circuit and SCOTUS, and Jim Sturdevant (Sturdevant Law Firm) contends the California Supreme Court can decide when steep loan interest rates become illegal

Original airdate: August 31, 2017

A unanimous California Supreme Court deems discovery of fellow employee contact information in PAGA claims permissible, as lead counsel Glenn Danas explains (Capstone Law APC); and Bryan Wenter (Miller Starr Regalia) discusses how SCOTUS passed up a perfect opportunity this term to clarify Takings law, and instead rendered it even more complex

Original airdate: July 14, 2017

Does a state provision meant to protect residents from new taxes apply when voters themselves initiate the tax? The Cal. Supreme Court debates, and Adam Hofmann (Hanson Bridgett) explains. And, Cory Andrews (Washington Legal Foundation) discusses SCOTUS' latest enunciation of a strictly-construed general personal jurisdiction doctrine.

Original airdate: June 2, 2017

Legal educators and commentators Frank Wu (UC Hastings) and Stephen Diamond (Santa Clara) revisit Whittier Law School's closure, offering differing takes on its causes, its debated inevitability, and what it augurs for the evolution of legal education.

Original airdate: June 16, 2017

Kedar Bhatia (Greenberg Traurig), curator of SCOTUSBlog’s annual statistical analysis of U.S. Supreme Court terms, visits to review the quantitative term that was; and, Paul Bland (Public Justice) discusses a recent rule reversal that relaxes federal restrictions on mandatory arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts.

Original airdate: August 18, 2017

The California Supreme Court upholds much of Prop 66 but undercuts its central provision requiring death penalty appeals to culminate within five years, as Professor Elisabeth Semel (UC Berkeley Law) explains. Brian Turner (Nat'l Trust for Historic Preservation) and Elly Benson (Sierra Club) visit to review two circuit court environmental cases.

Original airdate: August 25, 2017

Will SCOTUS modernize Fourth Amendment doctrine in 'Carpenter v. U.S.,' involving warrantless searches of modern tech-generated information? Amici Andrew Crocker (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and Jim Harper (Competitive Enterprise Institute) preview. Plus, Jean-Paul Jassy (Jassy Vick Carolan) explains why First Amendment challenges may await the LA City Council-backed proposal to require city contractors disclose ties to President Trump’s border wall.

Original airdate: August 11, 2017

Paul Levy (Public Citizen) says the 1DCA should have placed a higher burden on defamation plaintiffs seeking identities of anonymous online reviewers in 'ZL Technologies v. Doe'; David Kopel unpacks a D.C. Circuit gun ruling striking down 'good cause' requirements for public carry permits not unlike those approved of recently by the 9th Circuit.

Original airdate: July 28, 2017

Guests discuss two lesser-known pieces of federal law gaining prominence in recent suits against the current administration; Professor Zachary Clopton (Cornell Law) addresses the threshold inquiry of whether Emoluments Clause questions are justiciable, and Sophia Lakin and Theresa Lee (ACLU) discuss their Federal Advisory Committee Act claims just filed against President Trump's Committee on Election Integrity.

Original airdate: July 21, 2017

How a split Cal. Supreme Court leaves uncertainty about Prop 36 resentencing discretion, and a unanimous Texas high court queries the 'constellation of benefits' guaranteed same-sex marriages by 'Obergefell;' plus, commentary on a liberal-justice-driven pro-business SCOTUS term, and what dicta nuances foretell for next term's immigration battles

Original airdate: July 7, 2017