Client Alerts

2019

Municipal and Special District Law

• SB 978 Requires Law Enforcement Agencies to Publish Standards, Policies and Practices OnlineDecember 12, 2019SB 978, which takes effect on January 1, 2020, requires law enforcement agencies to make available online in a “conspicuous” manner all internal documents that would be considered “current standards, policies, practices, operating procedures, and education and training materials” and that would otherwise be available to the public if requested through the California Public ... read more
• Conflict of Interest Law Update: FPPC Fines School Director $12K and Sends Case to DA’s OfficeAugust 6, 2019The California Fair Political Practices Commission’s recent decision in an enforcement action involving a former director of a charter school provides valuable insight to all public agencies, municipalities and special districts on the importance of understanding State conflicts of interest laws, having a conflict of interest policy, the impact of filing Form 700, factors the FPPC considers ... read more
• California Supreme Court Upholds Local Ordinance Regulating Wireless Telecommunication Facilities’ AestheticsApril 8, 2019On April 4, 2019, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision upholding the First District Court of Appeal’s ruling that telecommunications facilities must comply with a municipal ordinance that enforces aesthetic guidelines. The case, T-Mobile West LLC v. City and County of San Francisco, was brought by T-Mobile, Crown Castle, and ExteNet Systems against the City and ... read more

Housing

• Housing Law Update: A Summary of California’s New Housing LawsOctober 23, 2019In an effort to address California’s housing crisis, Governor Newsom signed more than 20 bills into law during the 2019 legislative session. Each new law is designed to tackle a different component of the housing challenge and they reflect different approaches to solving the problem. Together, the new laws create new, complex and sometimes vague and conflicting requirements for businesses, ... read more
• CA’s Density Bonus Law: A Checklist for Developers, Cities and CountiesSeptember 12, 2019For Developers: California’s Density Bonus law provides housing developers with tools to encourage the development of affordable and senior housing, including up to a 35% increase in project densities depending on the amount of affordable housing provided. However, the Density Bonus Law is about more than the density bonus itself. It is a larger package of potential ... read more
• California’s Density Bonus Law: 2019 UpdateJanuary 16, 2019California’s Density Bonus Law provides housing developers with powerful tools to encourage the development of much needed affordable and senior housing, including the right to build up to 35% more homes, and other favorable local development requirements. In 2018, the California Legislature approved four bills that expanded the density bonus to a wider range of housing projects and ... read more

Labor and Employment

• SB 778 Extends Employers’ Deadline for Providing New Harassment Prevention TrainingOctober 1, 2019Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed Senate Bill 778 into law, extending by one year the deadline for employers to implement new harassment prevention training requirements. The urgent legislation addresses concerns relating to read more
• AB 5: Clarity for Some Employers, Uncertainty for OthersSeptember 24, 2019On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) into law, which codifies the California Supreme Court’s unanimous 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles.  AB 5 will take effect on January 1, 2020. The landmark legislation ... read more
• Pension Law Update: CA Supreme Court Avoids Addressing the “California Rule” in Much-Anticipated Cal Fire DecisionMarch 5, 2019In its March 4 ruling in Cal Fire Local 2881 v. California Public Employees' Retirement System, the California Supreme Court held that the Legislature’s elimination of the opportunity for employees to purchase additional retirement service (ARS) credit ... read more

Land Use

• Appellate Court Clarifies Parameters of Describing a “Project” Under CEQAAugust 28, 2019The California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) requires that an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”), or other environmental review document, must describe and analyze the impacts of a project – and the project itself must be consistently described, throughout the process of local agency consideration, in terms that are “accurate,” “stable” and “finite.” Local agencies ... read more
• California Supreme Court Clarifies What Constitutes a “Project” Under CEQAAugust 20, 2019In a decision released on August 19, Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, Inc. v. City of San Diego, the California Supreme Court addressed the definition of a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) and clarified the appropriate scope of review for when an activity constitutes a “project.” As a practical matter, the decision will likely result in ... read more

First Amendment

• President Trump’s Blocking of Followers on Twitter Found Unconstitutional by Second CircuitJuly 15, 2019In the highly anticipated case involving President Trump’s Twitter account, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the President’s blocking of followers on his @realDonaldTrump account was unconstitutional viewpoint based discrimination. In its unanimous July 9, 2019 opinion in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Donald J. Trump, the Second Circuit affirmed the ... read more
• Social Media & Government: What Are the New Rules of Engagement?May 2, 2019Government entities and elected officials are becoming more accessible and connected to constituents through the ubiquitous use of social media, email, text messaging and other communication technologies. The 21st century question is what may government entities and elected officials do and not do to block or otherwise regulate the public’s participation in their social media accounts? Part of ... read more

Land Use and Environmental Law

• U.S. Supreme Court Changes 30 Years of Takings LawJune 25, 2019On June 21, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the 34-year old precedent of Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City (1985) 473 U.S. 172 (“Williamson County”) in holding that a plaintiff seeking just compensation for an alleged taking under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not need to first have the ... read more
• California Supreme Court Establishes CEQA Rules for EIR’s Discussion of Health EffectsJanuary 9, 2019In an important CEQA case, the California Supreme Court ruled that courts reviewing claims that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) inadequately discusses environmental impacts must determine whether the EIR “includes sufficient detail” to support informed decisionmaking and public participation. The court also held an EIR must make “a reasonable effort to substantively connect a ... read more

Environmental Law

• EPA’s New PFAS Action Plan: Urgent Next Steps for the Regulated CommunityFebruary 25, 2019In response to increasing concerns regarding contamination from potential exposure to per- and polyfluroalkyl substances (PFAS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has now released its PFAS Action Plan. The Plan affects thousands of PFAS substances that have been manufactured since the 1940s, used most prominently in products such as fire-fighting foams, non-stick cookware, food packaging, ... read more