Practice Area Corner Archives

Potential Conflicts to Keep in Mind When Insurers Agree to Defend Your Client

One of the main reasons policyholders purchase liability insurance is to ensure that they have an insurer-funded defense in the event of a potentially covered lawsuit. But when an insurer pays for a policyholder’s defense, it can raise certain conflicts…

Hasselhoff Underwater, Asks Court for Life Preserver

David Hasselhoff’s superstar days of driving a fancy Trans Am and frolicking on the beach have passed, and he is asking his ex-wife of sixteen years, Pamela Bach – also a former television regular – to get a job or…

Tips for Solo and Small Firms: How to Treat Your Vendors

Vendors, like trial consultants, private investigators and court reporters, are critical to your law practice. As the owner of a solo and small law firm, you’re likely the person interacting directly with vendors. Having the right vendors will help with…

BASF Welcomes Robert Jacobs to its Bay Area Mediation Services Panel

Robert B. Jacobs helps parties settle disputes by focusing early on key issues. Parties who mediate with him find he is both fair and persuasive. During the course of his 30 years of litigation experience, Jacobs has represented both plaintiffs…

Wanted: Nominees for Paralegal Awards and New Executive Committee Members

ANNUAL AWARDS How would you like to show some appreciation for your hard-working legal support staff? Now is your chance! The Paralegal Section of The Bar Association of San Francisco is accepting nominations of your dedicated non-attorney legal professionals for…

Hand Rule on Email Security

All California lawyers owe a duty of competence and confidentiality to their clients. California Rules of Professional Conduct (“CRPC”), Rules 3-110 and 3-100. As the Legal Ethics Corner of the BASF Bulletin previously noted, “competence in the digital milieu is…

Having it Your Way: Parental Alienation

Paul Anka, the ’50s pop star who rose to fame with such hits as “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and “Lonely Boy,” and who penned one of Frank Sinatra’s biggest hits, “My Way,” definitely had it his way in…

Joint Accounts and Parental Abuse

Joint Account Money May Not Be Yours Maria Higgins added her stepson, W. Clive Higgins, as the joint account holder on her checking and savings accounts. Later, Clive transferred some of Maria’s other accounts into accounts he owned with his…

Working Remotely is Possible for the Small Firm Owner

I’m on a last-minute flight back to San Francisco from Mexico due to an unexpected and fast-approaching hurricane. I’ve got a very important mediation in a couple of days, and just can’t risk being “stranded on a beach in Mexico”…

Risk Management Tip: Ethical Walls Can Protect Against Disqualifying Conflicts

Conflicts of interest might disqualify an entire law firm from representing clients who are adverse to each other in unrelated matters. Proposed amendments to the California Rules of Professional Conduct would allow the use of an ethical wall in certain…

Attorney/Arbitrator/Mediator Robert Jacobs Joins BASF Mediation Services

BASF welcomes Attorney/Arbitrator/Mediator Robert Jacobs to its Bay Area Mediation Services panel. Jacobs helps parties settle disputes by focusing early on key issues. Parties who mediate with him find he is both fair and persuasive. During the course of his 30 years of litigation…

Family Law Corner: Divorce is No Laughing Matter For Comedian Ron White

In late June, singer-songwriter Margo Rey filed for divorce in Los Angeles from comedian Ron White (known as “Tater Salad”), claiming that although they were married in California in 2013, they were common-law married in Texas in 2008. White became…

Blog Category

Practice Area Corner