CA LPC Juris cheat sheet

California duty of confidentiality (Rule 1.6) is broader than the ABA Model Rule: it covers all information acquired in the professional relationship, not just information the client directs to be kept secret.

A lawyer may reveal confidential information to prevent a criminal act reasonably likely to result in death or substantial bodily harm, but California requires the lawyer to make a reasonable effort to persuade the client to refrain first.

California Rule 1.15 requires written or electronic informed consent confirmed in writing for most conflicts; informed written consent from each affected client is required for successive-opponent conflicts.

Sexual relations with a current client are prohibited under California Rule 1.8.1 absent a preexisting consensual relationship; the rule does not apply to the lawyer's spouse or registered domestic partner.

Attorney-client privilege survives the client's death and the termination of representation; only the holder (client or successor) may waive it.

Fee agreements in non-contingent matters need not be written unless the fees will exceed $1,000; contingency fee agreements must be written and signed by the client.

A lawyer who discovers a conflict must promptly inform the client and obtain informed written consent, or withdraw; imputation under Rule 1.10 can be cured by screening in limited situations.

Discipline is imposed by the State Bar Court, with the California Supreme Court issuing final orders; sanctions include disbarment, suspension, probation, and public or private reproval.

California demurrer (Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10) tests the legal sufficiency of a pleading; a demurrer to an answer is limited to failure to state a defense or uncertainty.

A plaintiff generally has 30 days after service of a demurrer to amend as of right; an amended complaint must be filed within the time allowed by the court or the demurrer is sustained without leave to amend.

Motion to strike under CCP § 435 attacks irrelevant, false, or improper matter in a pleading; it must be filed with the answer or before the answer is due.

Summary judgment under CCP § 437c is granted when no triable issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; the moving party bears the initial burden.

Service of process on a corporation may be made on the agent designated for service, the president, chief executive officer, or other specified officers under CCP § 416.10.

The California discovery act allows 35 interrogatories (including subparts) without a declaration for additional discovery; a deposition subpoena may seek business records.

A CCP § 998 offer to compromise shifts costs and expert fees if the offeree rejects it and fails to obtain a more favorable judgment.

Venue in California is proper where the defendant resides, where the contract was to be performed, or where the injury occurred, depending on the claim type.

California Civil Code § 1624 statute of frauds requires a writing for contracts that cannot be performed within one year, sale of goods over $500 (UCC), suretyship, land sale, and marriage-related promises.

Consideration requires a bargained-for exchange; a preexisting legal duty is not consideration, and past consideration is generally insufficient.

Expectation damages place the nonbreaching party in the position performance would have produced; reliance and restitution are alternative measures.

Compensatory tort damages restore the plaintiff to the position before the tort; punitive damages require oppression, fraud, or malice by clear and convincing evidence.

Comparative fault in California is pure: a plaintiff's recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's percentage of fault, and the plaintiff may recover even if 99% at fault.

Joint and several liability in California is limited by Proposition 51; a defendant is liable only for its proportionate share of noneconomic damages.

Trespass requires intentional entry onto land; nuisance requires a substantial, unreasonable interference with use and enjoyment.

The economic loss rule bars recovery in tort for purely economic losses absent personal injury or property damage, except in special relationships.

California murder requires malice aforethought; first-degree murder includes premeditation, felony murder, and lying-in-wait; second-degree is all other murder.

Voluntary manslaughter requires a killing upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion, or imperfect self-defense; the provocation must be sufficient to arouse a reasonable person.

A warrantless search is presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment; exceptions include consent, search incident to arrest, exigency, automobile, and plain view.

Miranda warnings are required before custodial interrogation; a suspect may invoke the right to remain silent or to counsel, and invocation must be unambiguous.

The exclusionary rule bars evidence obtained through an illegal search or seizure; the good-faith exception applies where officers reasonably rely on a warrant later found invalid.

California's Three Strikes law increases sentences for prior serious or violent felonies; a second strike doubles the term, and a third strike imposes 25-to-life.

A defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to counsel at all critical stages, including arraignment, trial, and sentencing, but not at a probable cause hearing.

The corpus delicti rule requires independent evidence that a crime occurred before a defendant's extrajudicial admission may be used.

Relevant evidence is evidence that has any tendency to make a fact of consequence more or less probable; irrelevant evidence is inadmissible.

Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered for its truth; nonhearsay uses include impeachment, effect on the listener, and verbal acts.

California's hearsay exceptions include spontaneous statements, dying declarations, statements against interest, and prior consistent or inconsistent statements under specified conditions.

Propensity evidence of prior bad acts is generally inadmissible, but may be admitted for motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake.

The best evidence rule requires the original writing to prove its contents unless an exception applies; it does not apply to collateral matters.

A witness may be impeached by prior inconsistent statements, bias, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, and reputation for truthfulness.

California's rape shield law limits evidence of a complainant's prior sexual conduct, subject to specified exceptions and an in camera hearing.

Expert testimony is admissible if the witness is qualified and the testimony will assist the trier of fact; California follows the Kelly-Frye standard for new scientific techniques.

A general partnership is formed by the association of two or more persons to carry on a business for profit; each partner is jointly and severally liable for partnership obligations.

A limited liability company shields members from personal liability; an LLC with more than one member may elect to be taxed as a partnership or corporation.

A corporation's board of directors manages the business; shareholders generally are not liable for corporate debts absent alter ego or personal guarantee.

A limited partnership requires at least one general partner and one limited partner; the limited partner's liability is limited to the capital contribution.

California real property deeds must be in writing and signed by the grantor, and the grantee's name must be stated; recording provides constructive notice.

A deed of trust secures a loan with real property; California is a nonjudicial foreclosure state, allowing trustee's sale after notice of default and notice of sale.

Adverse possession in California requires payment of taxes for five years, open and notorious use, actual possession, and exclusive use for the statutory period.

Community property in California is divided equally on divorce; separate property includes property owned before marriage and gifts or inheritances received during marriage.

Legal positivism, associated with Austin and Hart, holds that law is a matter of social fact; natural law theory holds that law must conform to moral principles.

Legal realism (Holmes, Llewellyn) views law as what courts actually do, emphasizing the role of judges' policy choices in deciding cases.

The rule of law requires that laws be prospective, public, general, and applied equally, and that courts be independent of the political branches.

Professional ethics distinguishes the duty of zealous advocacy from the duty of candor to the tribunal; candor prevails when the two conflict.

The ABA Model Rules and California Rules of Professional Conduct differ in several areas, including confidentiality and conflicts, and California lawyers are governed by the California Rules.

A lawyer's fiduciary duties include loyalty, confidentiality, and competence; breach of fiduciary duty may give rise to civil liability in addition to discipline.

Jurisprudential theories of punishment include retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation; California sentencing incorporates all four in varying degrees.

The adversary system rests on the premise that truth emerges from partisan presentation before a neutral decisionmaker, subject to ethical constraints.