California Employment News: California Wage Compliance – Avoiding Legal Pitfalls
California Employment News: CA Local Minimum Wage Updates
(Podcast) California Employment News: CA Local Minimum Wage Updates
Adaptive Reuse: From Desks to Doorways
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 514: Listen and Learn -- Discovery (Civ Pro)
A Counterintuitive Approach to Winning Without Litigation: One-on-One with Haley Morrison
(Podcast) California Employment News: Creating the Report for a Workplace Investigation – Part 4 (Featured)
California Employment News: Creating the Report for a Workplace Investigation – Part 4 (Featured)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 511: Listen and Learn -- Landlord/Tenant Law (Part 1)
From Permits to Penalties: A Deep Dive Into Coastal Development Law
California Employment News: Synthesizing Evidence in a Workplace Investigation – Part 3 (Featured)
Doc Fees Decoded: The Price of Paperwork in Auto Sales — Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast
(Podcast) California Employment News: Gathering Information in a Workplace Investigation – Part 2 (Featured)
California Employment News: Gathering Information in a Workplace Investigation – Part 2 (Featured)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 314: Listen and Learn -- False Imprisonment and Shopkeeper’s Privilege (Torts)
(Podcast) California Employment News: Starting a Workplace Investigation – Part 1 (Featured)
California Employment News: Starting a Workplace Investigation – Part 1 (Featured)
Feeling the Heat: Strategies to Keep Cool Under California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act — The Consumer Finance Podcast
The JustPod: Prosecutor-Initiated Resentencing: A Discussion with Hillary Blout
On June 30, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) and Senate Bill 131 (SB 131), both of which took effect immediately....more
AB 1893 (Wicks) significantly modified the so-called “Builder’s Remedy” under the Housing Accountability Act (Gov. Code § 65589.5) (HAA) effective January 1, 2025. As explained in our prior legal alert, the Builder’s Remedy...more
Senate Bill (SB) 937 (Wiener) went into effect on January 1, 2025. SB 937 eases the financial burden on residential developers by prohibiting local agencies from imposing fees on specified residential development projects...more
In a partially published opinion filed October 31, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 1) held, in light of AB 1307 and the Supreme Court’s decision in Make UC a Good Neighbor v. Regents of University of...more
Despite strenuous opposition from both the state’s real estate and business communities, near the end of the 2024 Legislative cycle, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 98 (“AB 98”) – a bill that,...more
On June 27, 2024, the California First District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of a writ petition challenging the City of Lafayette’s determination that a 12-unit residential condominium building qualified for the Class...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - S.F.’s Stonestown to become west side’s largest residential development in 50 years (SF Chronicle): The plan to convert the Stonestown...more
As expected, on June 28, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determined that San Francisco has not made adequate progress toward its State-mandated housing production goal. The City’s Housing...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - Ultra Wealthy Are Putting Money Behind Bets on San Francisco’s Comeback (Bloomberg): Big investments in City businesses and real...more
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the 2024 Area Median Income (AMI) and Rent Limits for counties statewide. These numbers are impactful on a number of levels, but are extremely important...more
On March 6, 2024, the First Appellate District held that a city council resolution approving an agreement between the City of Livermore and an affordable housing developer was legislative in nature and thus subject to a...more
The Los Angeles Superior Court issued a highly anticipated ruling on March 4, 2024, addressing a Builder’s Remedy project denial by the City of La Cañada Flintridge. The decision confirms (i) that a local jurisdiction cannot...more
Voters in San Francisco and California will again confront a formidable ballot during the election on March 5, 2024, with an array of qualified City measures and one state proposition to consider....more
San Francisco - Can Free Rent Jump-Start a Downtown San Francisco Revival? Pop-Up Retailers Say Maybe (SF Standard): Nearly halfway into the three-month program, called Vacant to Vibrant, stakeholders say it has breathed...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - San Francisco Office Market Shows Signs of Life (Wall Street Journal): Sales slowly materialize as some sellers accept lower prices,...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - These three new blocks of housing are among S.F.’s best. They’re for the formerly homeless (S.F. Chronicle): Exploring three recently...more
During the summer of 2023, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released its updated Statewide Determination Summary for Senate Bill (SB) 35. In its report, HCD determined only 7% of California...more
In a decision partially published on November 30, 2022, Save Lafayette v. City of Lafayette, the First Appellate District Court of Appeal upheld the City of Lafayette’s approval of the Terraces of Lafayette (the “Project”), a...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - Housing Wonks on a Mission to Shorten S.F.’s Permitting Process (Fixing Our City Podcast): Assemblymember Matt Haney and YIMBY...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - S.F. housing production slows to crawl as state goals loom (San Francisco Chronicle): The Planning Department’s annual housing...more
Los Angeles City Planning and Department of Building and Safety - COVID-19 Emergency Public Order on Tolling and Time Limits Rescinded - On March 21, 2020, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a COVID-19 emergency public order to...more
In an Executive Directive dated February 7, 2023, Mayor London Breed declared that “San Francisco needs to fundamentally change how we approve and build housing.” The Directive, titled “Housing For All,” comes on the heels of...more
On January 31, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously and finally approved an updated Housing Element, on the schedule we referenced in our prior post. The City had obtained a compliance letter from the California...more
With the turn of the year comes ill-fated resolutions, needed but annoying rain, and a slew of new legislative enactments coming into effect. While commercial real estate is not typically a hotbed for legislative activity,...more
California is in the midst of the 6th Regional Housing Needs Allocation cycle known as RHNA, a state-mandated process that requires all cities and counties to timely update the housing elements of their general plans to plan...more