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The 2019 BASF Directory has Arrived!

Have you received your 2019 edition of the BASF Directory? The annual directory, published by the Bar Association of San Francisco for over 45 years, includes the extensive Register of Experts & Consultants and the ADR Directory, including Mediators, Arbitrators, and Special Masters.…

JDC to Host Law & Language Poetry Slam with SF High School Students

In celebration of the American Bar Association’s 2019 Law Day theme—Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society—the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) will host a Law & Language Poetry Slam on May 9, 2019. The idea of a slam emerged…

Welcome to Santa Fe: A Personal Travel Guide

The sky is huge, the clouds heroic. In the summer the heavens open with a torrent of rain and an opera of lightning to rival Wagner. The colors are soft blue, soft pink, and adobe tan. History is everywhere. Welcome…

Virtual Reality at the Bar

Take a moment and think back to the first time you appeared in court. Most of us remember very clearly how stressful and uncertain that experience felt. Where should I sit? Who goes first? What do I say? And even…

The 2018 Pro Bono Road Show

Throughout his term as president of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), Malcolm Heinicke promoted “pro bono for the soul” to encourage people in the Bay Area legal community to find meaningful ways to give back to the larger…

U.S. Supreme Court Permits Enforcement of Transgender Military Ban While Court Challenges Continue

In a 5-4 ruling on Tuesday, January 22, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to temporarily enforce its restrictions on transgender people serving in the military while lower court challenges continue. The ruling lifts two injunctions against the…

The Many Trials of Fatty Arbuckle

There’s a scene about seven minutes into the 1915 silent film short Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World’s Fair in San Francisco where the camera pans right, across, and up the façade of the St. Francis Hotel. If the audience…

Students, Mentors Benefit from Law Academy’s 21-year Partnership

Hundreds cheered when Balboa High School senior Kitty Zeng stepped up to the podium in the Bently Reserve Building’s boisterous banquet hall. Zeng was nervous. She had never given a speech before, let alone in front of a crowd this…

Will Choosing Legal Separation over Divorce Protect Spouse’s Health Insurance Coverage?

While Roseanne Barr has traditionally been the headline maker for her show “Roseanne,” it is now Michael Fishman, who plays youngest son, D.J. Conner, who is in the news. Last year, the show fired Roseanne Barr and renamed the show…

Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship Program Now Accepting Applications

The 2019 Minority Law Student Scholarship Application is now available online. Students can download the application at www.sfbar.org/scholarships. The 2019 application deadline has been extended to May 8, 2019. Thanks to the generosity of the legal community, the Justice…

New Attorney Duties When Going To Mediation

On top of the new and revised Rules of Professional Conduct that went into effect on November 1, 2018, if you go to mediation on or after January 1, 2019, you must comply with Evidence Code section 1129. I mediate…

Court says Fining California’s Poor Defendants is Unconstitutional

In a groundbreaking opinion, the California Second District Court of Appeals recently ruled that imposing court fees on indigent defendants is unconstitutional. The case, People v. Dueñas, is a criminal appeal on behalf of Velia Dueñas, a disabled and homeless…