This past year the California Legislature passed SB 395, which is designed to protect youth aged 15 or less from the pressure of custodial questioning by law enforcement and, in reality, from themselves. Under existing law, the same Miranda rights and standards for waiving those rights apply whether the person in custody is a 14- or 40-year-old. Effective January 1, 2018, this … Read More
Discrepancies in State Cannabis Regulations and Local Regulations.
Humboldt County’s Commercial Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance (CMMLUO) has been in existence for almost two years. The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Emergency Regulations concerning cannabis cultivation have been out for almost a month. Already, the two are at odds. The issue stems from how the County defines “mixed light” cultivation versus the State’s definition of the same … Read More
Abalone Fishery Closed for 2018
The California Fish and Game Commission unanimously voted earlier this week to close the sport abalone fishery statewide for the entirety of 2018. The decision follows several years of increased restrictions on the fishery including reduced season length, bag limits, and other measures aimed at lowering the number of abalone harvested. Despite these measures, scientific surveys show declining abalone populations … Read More
New Protections for Child Sex Abuse Victims
Sex abuse and harassment are much in the news of late. Recently, California’s Governor signed into law a bill to help sexually abused children who decide to hold perpetrators accountable. In the past, child victims who sued for justice were subjected to overly long psychological examinations by defense teams. As a result of Senator Beall’s SB 755 legislation, the new … Read More
Litigation as an Investigative Tool in Special Circumstances
Generally when people think about civil litigation – lawsuits – they think about suing some known or at least identifiable individual or entity. The paradigmatic example would be a motor vehicle accident in which John Smith runs a red light, hitting your vehicle, causing you property damage and injuring you. Perhaps, in that scenario, your attorney might file suit against … Read More
Timber Trespass
Last week I wrote about trespassing neighbors, whose activities, structures, commercial activity, or personal property encroach onto your property. This week I am covering what happens when a neighbor – either negligently or intentionally – crosses onto another landowner’s property and cuts down a tree or trees. California, like many other states, see this as a particularly offensive civil wrong, … Read More
The Trespassing Neighbor: An All-Too-Common Issue Among Rural Landowners
As a real property attorney, I receive numerous calls from owners of property in Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte, and Trinity Counties about neighbors who are trespassing or encroaching on their property, wondering what they can or should do about it, especially if cannabis is involved. The first thing a landowner should know is that “self help,” such as tearing down a … Read More
Holy MACRA-oni; It’s Here
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) reformed the way physicians and clinicians will be paid for medical services under Medicare Part B. Prior Medicare reporting systems have been replaced with MACRA. Humboldt County physicians and practices should contact the Health Services Advisory Group and the California Health Information Partnership & Services Organization (CalHIPSO) for no-cost technical assistance to … Read More
Janssen Malloy LLP Recovers $500,000 Policy Limits in SF Ladder Case
Janssen Malloy LLP recently obtained a $500,000 policy limits recovery for a client injured after falling from a ladder with rotten rungs in San Francisco. Our client was visiting family in San Francisco over the holidays when she went up a fixed wooden ladder that ascended to the roof to look at the view. Unbeknownst to our client, the top … Read More
LGBT Protections in Long-Term Care Facilities
Last week, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 219 (view here(link is external)) into law – a bill aimed at protecting LGBT seniors from discrimination in long-term care facilities. The bill adds specific protections for LGBT residents of skilled nursing facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly, and intermediate care facilities and enacts a Bill of Rights for LGBT Long-Term Care … Read More