Blog

16 Feb $3.7 Million Settlement of Section 1983 First Amendment Retaliation Claim For Downey Firefighters

Posted at 20:23h in Litigation by Brown White & Osborn LLP

Today Brown White & Osborn LLP announced a $3,700,000 settlement in a Section 1983 lawsuit it brought on behalf of the Downey Firemen’s Association and 14 firefighters against the City of Downey and its former Fire Chief Lonald Croom. The City retaliated against the 14...

26 Jan Even in Kardashian World, Robbery And Burglary Are Different

Posted at 16:41h in Criminal Defense by Susan Israel

It is (well, was) my secret shame that I follow the Kardashians—I’m not religious about it, but they’re a nice diversion from the gravitas of my criminal defense practice. But even the sanctuary of Kardashian gossip is no longer safe; they have recently been victims...

12 Jan Reflections From The Past Year of Criminal Defense Practice: Lesson Two

Posted at 16:45h in Criminal Defense by Caleb Mason

Last week I offered my first lesson gleaned from defending clients in 2016: investigate faster and more thoroughly than the government. It's time for Lesson Two: File better written work product than the government. You can win or lose a case based on the quality of...

05 Jan Reflections From The Past Year of Criminal Defense Practice: Lesson One

Posted at 17:14h in Criminal Defense by Caleb Mason

To start off 2017, I thought I’d offer a few reflections from some cases I’ve completed over the past year, on what it takes to be successful as a criminal defense lawyer. Over the next few days, I’ll post on a few of those lessons. ...

05 Jan Whither the Future of Non-Judicial Fora?

Posted at 17:06h in Litigation, Securities Litigation & Regulation by Ron Wood

Two late-year 2016 federal administrative and judicial pronouncements combine to raise concerns about the future of non-judicial dispute resolution fora. On November 28, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), a unit of the Department of Health and Human Services, adopted rules which, among...

14 Dec When is an investor responsible for his or her own investment decisions?

Posted at 15:51h in Securities Litigation & Regulation by Ron Wood

A recent FINRA administrative action against Merrill Lynch sanctioned the firm when “several hundred” customers of its Puerto Rico office invested in Puerto Rican government bonds and Puerto Rican closed-end funds, some using borrowed money and some buying on margin. When the value of the...

14 Dec BWO Partner Ken White Speaks At Cato Institute’s “The State of American Criminal Justice” Conference

Posted at 15:41h in Criminal Defense by Brown White & Osborn LLP

Last week Brown White & Osborn LLP partner Ken White spoke at the Cato Institute's "The State of American Criminal Justice" conference. His panel discussion, "Inside the Courtroom," can be seen here....

09 Dec When the Brakes of Heavy Regulation Work on Only One Side of the Car

Posted at 21:30h in Securities Litigation & Regulation by Ron Wood

How is this as a “reward” for cooperation: you’re a financial institution who learns that some of your customers have violated the terms of their loan agreement with an affiliate and used borrowed funds to invest in the stock market, some even having invested on...

19 Oct Fox v. Nexflix And Employee Poaching Under California Law

Posted at 15:45h in Litigation by Laura Payne

21st Century Fox recently made news when it filed suit against Netflix for poaching two of Fox’s top executives. Fox claims in its suit filed on September 16, 2016, that its executives were still under contract and Netflix’s poaching constituted tortious interference with those contracts....

17 Oct Self-Driving Cars And Your Private Data

Posted at 14:47h in Criminal Defense, Litigation by Scott Menger

Self-driving cars are the swiftly-approaching future of transportation. From Uber’s rollout of self-driving ride share vehicles in Pittsburgh, to the State of California’s recent issue of a license to Chinese tech giant Baidu to test its automated vehicles in the state, companies and state governments...