Real Estate & Construction

The Claremont Canyon Conservancy v. Regents of the University of California (2023) 92 Cal.App.5th 474.

The Regents certified an EIR for a project aimed at reducing wildfire risk at UC Berkeley’s Hill Campus, located in the East Bay Hills.  Environmental organizations filed suit, contending, relevant here, that the EIR included an inadequate project description.  The groups generally contended that the

(United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles (2023) 93 Cal.App.5th 1074)

CEQA’s infill exemption (Guidelines section 15332) is a very useful tool in the toolbox for streamlining CEQA review.  This Guideline applies in cities and can be applied to sites up to five acres in size if substantially surrounded by urban development.  (Note to the California Legislature:

(Anderson v. County of Santa Barbara (2023) 94 Cal.App.5th 554.)

It is not unusual in the non-urban parts of California for a property owner to install landscaping within a county right-of-way without ever securing an encroachment permit.  In Santa Barbara County, like many jurisdictions, installing these improvements without County approval can be treated as a misdemeanor.  Such work can also

July 2023Hey Friends, On February 3, 2023, I completed my 1000th F45 fitness class. F45 is team functional training. The workouts are 45 minutes and alternate daily between cardio and resistance training. And yes, the workouts are hard. I took my first F45 class on September 24, 2018. Although I had a trainer at the time and thought I was

Time blocking is a time management strategy where you schedule tasks on your calendar so your work can’t be interrupted or scheduled over. It is a way for you to reclaim your day and get a better idea of how you’re using your time. Benjamin Franklin was an early adopter of time blocking. There are different methods for blocking your

“A roadmap for finding purpose, meaning, and success as we age.”All professionals will face an inevitable decline in performance because of aging. Studies show that when smart ambitious people who chase power and achievement early in their careers experience this decline, they become unhappy. In Strength to Strength, Arthur Brooks uses the examples of a well-known person he encounters

California Business & Professions Code section 16600 invalidates agreements not to compete. However, in Techno Lite, Inc. v. EmCod, LLC, 44 Cal.App.5th 462 (2020), the Court ruled that section 16600 does not apply to an employee’s promise not to compete against his current, as opposed to former, employer. Scott Drucker and Arik Nirenberg were salesmen for Techno Lite. They formed

Today, most of our client advocacy as attorneys is accomplished through writing. Persuasive writing is therefore essential. Persuasive writing is the art of informing and persuading the court why your client should win.Develop a case theory early. Your theory should present a simple and compelling answer to the question: “why should your client win?” In more complicated cases, you may

A construction project can be delayed for a multitude of reasons. Where the cause of the delay is not force majeure, or other excusable delay by a contractor, and where the contractor has some fault, what level of actions must a contractor take to satisfy the terms “best efforts” or “reasonable efforts” or “commercially reasonable efforts” often used in the ‘efforts