The most important legal concept I learned during law school was the Rule Against Perpetuities – just kidding. It is actually the “reasonabl[e] prudent person” (“RPP”) standard. As many of you know, the RPP standard is used, especially in negligence cases, as the hypothetical objective person against whom conduct is measured. Black’s Law Dictionary provides that it is measuring the conduct by looking...

Perhaps it should not need to be said, but it bears repeating: Do not share with your experts “confidential” information provided to you during the course of a mediation or settlement discussions. Sharing that kind of information risks having your experts excluded later. I started practicing law just after the “new” California Discovery Code came out in 1986. I studied it front to back with the goal of knowing it better than the...

A recently filed complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California raises significant questions regarding the marketing language placed on the packaging of sleep aids and the extent to which manufacturers and distributors could be held liable for marketing their products as non-habit forming. Although the litigation is in its earliest stages and the allegations remain unproven...