Welcome to the Weintraub Resources section. Here, you can find our Blogs, Videos, and Podcasts, in which Weintraub attorneys regularly provide insights and updates on legal developments. You can also find upcoming Weintraub Events, as well as firm and client News.


Jacqueline M. Simonovich for The Daily Journal: California’s New Civility MCLE Requirement Should Focus on Bias-Driven Incivility

In a January 31st article for The Daily Journal, Weintraub attorney Jacqueline M. Simonovich writes about California’s new civility MCLE requirement. While civility training can focus on the “link between civility and bias,” it can also focus on broader forms of incivility. Jacqueline suggests that education on bias-based incivility should be required, not optional.

Is My Electronic Signature Enforceable?

As a transactional lawyer, I’ve always found a special delight when the occasion arises to use one of my favorite sayings: “The pen is mightier than the sword.”  It provides a certain level of self-importance that transactional attorneys enjoy in relatively few circumstances. But in today’s electronic world, where ballpoint pens may soon join VHS tapes and 8-tracks in the trash can, we’ve had to reassess whether that saying still holds water. If no one handwrites agreements, or almost anything for that matter, where does the power go that was otherwise held by the prestigious pen?  Or (perhaps) more importantly, how can parties execute transaction documents without having to resort to printing and physically signing their documents, and can this be done electronically?

A Brave New World: The NCAA’s New NIL Policy and the Need for Federal Legislation

©2022. Published in Landslide, Vol. 14, No. 4, June/July 2022, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.

This article was written by Josh Escovedo and Michelle Yegiyants.

The landscape has changed. After decades of the NCAA reaping the benefit of college players, their labor, and their name, image, and likeness (collectively, NIL), the NCAA has changed its policy and allowed players to market their NIL without sacrificing their amateur status. However, the NCAA only made this change after a scathing U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a related matter, where the Court affirmed a decision from a U.S. district court enjoining the NCAA from limiting universities from providing student-athletes with certain education-related benefits.[1] In Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion, he warned the NCAA that it should strongly reconsider its NIL-related policies before such matters are taken before the Court.[2] The Court issued its decision on June 21, 2021. The NCAA responded by changing its policy effective July 1, 2021.[3] 

Jacqueline Simonovich in Law360: Transforming Law Firms’ Diversity Intent Into Real Progress

In the summer of 2020, we saw a flurry of diversity and inclusion activity at law firms in response to the murder of George Floyd and the general social unrest in this country at that time. Many firms ostensibly renewed their diversity and inclusion initiatives.

While these renewed commitments were well-intentioned, it was hard not to wonder — would all this talk actually translate into action? Or would these actions surpass the performative and translate into real, measurable progress?

Shauna Correia in the Sacramento Business Journal: If Asked For a Religious Exemption From A Vaccine Mandate, Be An Optimist

In a contributed article for the Sacramento Business Journal, Shauna Correia discusses an extremely challenging issue that many businesses and HR professionals are facing – how to evaluate religious exemption requests from vaccine mandates. The October 8, 2021 article explores two important questions that arise:

What sort of religious belief or religious practice qualifies for a religious exemption?

How do employers know whether a proposed accommodation is reasonable or an undue hardship?

Read the full article in the Sacramento Business Journal, here. (paywall may apply)

California Proposition 19 Limits Parent-Child & Grandparent-Grandchild Exclusion

Since 1986, when Proposition 58 passed, certain transfers of real property between parents and their children have been excluded from reassessment for purposes of determining property taxes. Proposition 58 provided an exclusion from reassessment for (1) a principal residence of the transferring parent, and (2) the first $1 million of full cash value of all “other real property” transferred from a parent to a child. Proposition 193, passed in 1996, added a similar reassessment exclusion for transfers between grandparents and their grandchildren (when the grandchildren’s parents are deceased).

PPP Second Draw Loans

In December 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the CAA).

In total, the CAA provides $900 billion in COVID relief, including $284 billion for additional Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for new borrowers and “second draw” loans for existing borrowers.