News

California has once again been identified as the No. 1 “Judicial Hellhole” in the nation, according to the latest ranking of the “most unfair” civil litigation courts by the American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF). . . The report cites the latest data available from the Court Statistics Project of the National Center for State Courts, showing that more than a million new lawsuits are being filed annually in California’s state courts alone. Tens of thousands more are filed in federal courts here.

There’s a simple reason reform always is derailed. “CEQA provides a way for anybody who wants anything out of a public agency to get some leverage over the situation – whether that’s unions, environmentalists, businesses, developers and even local governments themselves,” wrote William Fulton, in a California Planning & Development Report article last year. And no one from any interest group wants to give up leverage.

“The justices by a 6-3 vote overturned a state ruling and threw out a class-action lawsuit against DirecTV over its termination fees for customers who canceled its service,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “The high court said the Federal Arbitration Act calls for honoring arbitration agreements that are written into company contracts, regardless of whether there are more consumer-friendly protections set by states such as California.”

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez offered a glimpse Monday of what could be the next chapter in a battle involving workers in the so-called gig economy. Upcoming legislation would allow those workers to collectively bargain for rights like health care – even if they aren’t unionized. . . The forthcoming legislation comes from a political consultant and lawyer with professional ties to organized labor, though this legislation is not pushed by any particular labor group, said Evan McLaughlin, chief of staff to Gonzalez.

The California Chamber of Commerce today released the list of new employment laws scheduled to take effect in 2016 or earlier that will have an impact on businesses in California.

Opponents can always make a fair argument that any proposed project warms the planet (or harms a stickleback or some other fish or species), so every project potentially can drag on through years of legal challenges. The obvious result: fewer housing projects of all sorts will be built, and those that are built will have additional costs. Many developers won’t even bother proposing such projects. People opposed to growth might be happy with that outcome, but those cheering probably already own their piece of the California dream.

Projects designed to advance California’s environmental policy objectives are the most frequent targets of CEQA lawsuits:  transit is the most frequently challenged type of infrastructure project, renewable energy is the most frequently challenged type of industrial/utility project, and housing (especially higher density housing) is the most frequently challenged type of private sector project.

California has the nation’s largest court system, and perhaps its most troubled with severe financial and managerial tangles, and a virtual war between a San Francisco-based administrative superstructure and hundreds of rebellious local judges.

The number of wage and hour cases filed in federal court rose to 8,871 for the year ending Sept. 30, up from 1,935 in 2000. That’s an increase of 358 percent, compared to the the federal judiciary’s overall intake volume, which rose only a total of about 7 percent over the same period.

A preliminary state proposal to drastically reduce a 25-year-old safe harbor standard for lead in consumer products has no scientific basis and is likely to lead to unnecessary warnings, the California Chamber of Commerce and an 82-member coalition is arguing.

Regulating emissions is a job for politicians — and they’re failing. That’s frustrating, and in the absence of effective government action, there’s an added moral obligation on companies to act. Even so, engaging in scientific research and public advocacy shouldn’t be crimes in a free country. Using the criminal law to shame and encumber companies that do so is a dangerous arrogation of power.

Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill last month that provides employers with a limited window to correct technical violations in itemized wage statements before being subject to costly litigation.

The New York attorney general has begun a sweeping investigation of Exxon Mobil to determine whether the company lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how those risks might hurt the oil business.

CEQA is meant to allow opponents to push for project changes that lessen its impact on the environment. But no public announcements were made about environmental wins, compromises with developers or killed projects within the settlements. . . The nonprofits won $17.2 million in settlements from the suits, a number revealed in separate lawsuits filed as part of a dispute between the two groups. Most of the proceeds – roughly $9 million – was to go to the nonprofits and the attorney representing them, according to the lawsuits.

The Bay Area guidelines would expand the traditional scope of the law — assessing an impact a project would have on the environment — to include existing environmental conditions that would affect project workers and residents. Those conditions could include the dangers of wildfires, floods and earthquakes in addition to polluted air.