Since the reorganization of the state government in that went into effect on July 1, 2013, Governor Brown has made appointments to several bureaus within the new infrastructure: Under the new Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, Joanne Wenzel, 56, of Sacramento, was appointed Chief of the Bureau for Private Read more…
Technological change is extremely rapid, often leaving the law (including legislators and judges) struggling to catch up. This divergence is evident with search and seizure issues, such as with cell phones. Traditionally, the “search incident to arrest” exception to warrantless searches (which are generally unconstitutional) was based on the fear that Read more…
Many licensees with the Department of Insurance are unaware and surprised to find out that that failure to timely disclose all or part of your conviction(s) may be grounds for disciplinary action. Furthermore, these licensees are often shocked when they find out that they are required to timely disclose criminal Read more…
In an excellent and timely piece on the militarization of our nation’s police – “Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control – Salon.com’s and HuffingtonPost.com’s Radley Balko (@radleybalko) highlight’s another alarming trend in the use of the police: But the mission creep Read more…
The most comprehensive overhaul of state government since 1968 became official on July 1. The Governor’s plan, which was implemented and transitioned to over the past year, cut the number of state agencies from 12 to 10 and eliminated and consolidated dozens of departments and entities. As a result, five existing state Read more…
Justin D. Hein, Managing Attorney of the Sacramento Office of Simas & Associates, Ltd., is participating in the Sacramento Executive “Lock-Up” of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) on July 17, 2013. As a participant, Justin has been set with a “bail” of $3,200.00 – an amount he is to try Read more…
The longstanding purpose of license discipline laws is to protect the public from incompetent practitioners. Although the standards differ somewhat from agency to agency, almost every licensing agency has laws that allow it to take disciplinary action against a licensee when their conduct falls below what is expected of the Read more…
On July 1, 2013, the Department of Real Estate (DRE) is no more. No, the State of California is not abolishing the agency. Rather, they are shifting under the Department of Consumer Affairs and becoming the Bureau of Real Estate (BRE). As a result, the BRE is recommending that California real Read more…
On June 4, 2013, under threat from the state legislature, the Medical Board of California (“MBC”) met to embark on a search for new leadership and began to earnestly consider a host of proposals aimed at combating reckless prescribing of physicians. The state legislature intends to abolish the MBC at Read more…
After a multi-million dollar contract for data storage for the State of California was awarded to our client, Kovarus, three bid protests came in from NetAPP, NWN Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard Company. In the end, the Administrative Law Judge agreed with our arguments, and awarded the contract to Kovarus.