Recently, the Medical Board of California reported on the efficacy of its self-styled “death certificate project.” As you’ve likely heard, the Medical Board’s project uses California data regarding deaths to identify physicians associated with opioid prescriptions to deceased patients. The Medical Board’s purpose is to investigate whether physicians violated the law. Since its inception, 23% of the Medical Board’s death … Read More
DEA Won’t Dial for Dollars
Last week, the Medical Board of California warned its licensees of a telephone scam in which people posing as DEA agents telephone California physicians and demand money to address investigations into prescribing practices. If you receive such a call, please immediately report the scam to the DEA using its Extortion Scam Online Reporting form, which can be found here: DEA Scam … Read More
Impaired Earning Capacity (not Just Lost Wages)
Most people are familiar with the idea of lost wages: wages or income lost due to injury, for example. Proving loss of future earnings in a personal injury case is not limited only to the amounts the injured person would have received in the future but for the injury; it also can include damages for “impaired earning capacity.” The former … Read More
Partition: a Litigation Tool to Solve Co-Ownership Problems
Imagine having the good fortune to own a piece of Humboldt County real property, but being stuck with a co-owner (other than a spouse) so difficult that owning the property becomes more of a liability than an asset. Unfortunately, this is a somewhat common occurrence. For example, two people in a romantic relationship but remaining unmarried might purchase a home … Read More
No Temporary State Cannabis License? No Problem for a Provisional After Passage of SB 97
The way California is issuing state cannabis licenses is getting a makeover. Slow processing times for applications have dogged state cannabis regulators from approving the majority of applicants for state cannabis cultivation, retail, distribution, and manufacturing licenses. The time it takes the State to process annual applications can leave applicants out of compliance if temporary licenses expire while applicant’s annual … Read More
Defendant’s Insurer Has Offered the (Inadequate) Policy Limit: Now What?
An injured plaintiff does not get a vote on the amount of a defendant’s insurance policy coverage limits, and also didn’t get a vote on the defendant’s carelessness that rendered the plaintiff injured. So when the defendant’s insurance carrier offers the defendant’s policy limits in a case where the plaintiff’s injuries and damages far exceed those coverage limits, what remedy … Read More
Think Your Facebook/Instagram Post is Private? Think Again
It is common these days for people (especially younger people) to post photos and information about themselves and their activities on Facebook, Instagram or other social network platforms. When people post these photos and messages, they usually are not thinking that such information will be available to the opposing side in litigation should they get injured and be pursuing a … Read More
Can’t Chalk This: Federal Appeals Court Finds Practice of Chalking Car Tires Unconstitutional
Federal courts are often called upon to rule on hotly-contested, politically controversial cases. That may delight those on one side of an issue and deeply disappoint those on the other. But unless you enforce parking ordinances, chances are good that if you have any reaction whatsoever to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Taylor v. City of Saginaw, it … Read More
Got a Provisional License from CDFA: Now What?
Back in September 27, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1459, which allows the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to create a new “provisional” cannabis cultivation license as a bridge between temporary and annual cultivation licenses. A provisional license acts in the same manner as an annual license, except it is not renewable, as required in Business … Read More
Corporate Smokescreens Cannot Stop Janssen Malloy LLP’s Consumer Advocates
For businesses, one of the great safeguards against liability is the idea that a plaintiff injured by the business can only recover a judgment from the corporate entity that actually injured them. This is one of the primary reasons our legal system recognizes corporations- to encourage business innovation and enterprise without fear that the individuals operating the business could be … Read More