Spring 2018 • Volume 24, Issue 2 the PRACTITIONER FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE: Five Things You Need to Know About Today’s Rapidly Changing Immigration Laws Princesherry Hechanova, p 7 MCLE Article: Judgment Liens: The First and Last Step Joseph Chora, p 22 The Magazine of the Solo & Small Firm Section of the California Lawyersthe AssociationPRACTITIONER • 1 Executive Committee of the Solo and Small Firm Law Section 2017–2018 Officers James Ham, South Pasadena Liaisons Robert M. Klein, Los Angeles Chair Continuing Education of the Bar Steven L. Krongold, Irvine Ritzel S. Ngo, Pasadena (CEB) Liaison Bennett Root, Pasadena Norma J. Piatt, Oakland Chair Elect Angelica O. Sciencio, San Diego Renee N. Galente, Vista J. Christopher Toews, San Luis Obispo Administration Treasurer Section Coordinator Jeremy M. Evans, Los Angeles Advisors John Buelter Immediate Past Chair Cynthia Elkins, Woodland Hills California Lawyers Association Megan E. Zavieh, Alpharetta, GA Nancy B. Goldstein, Westlake Village (415) 795.7205 Steven M. Mayer, Encino [email protected] Editor in Chief Marilyn Ann Monahan, Marina Del Rey Administrative Assistant Omar S. Anorga, Pasadena Philip A. Shapiro, San Diego Michael Barreiro Susan B. Share, Encino California Lawyers Association Members Eleanor Kay Southers, Santa Cruz (415) 795-7204 Trina Chatterjee, Oakland [email protected] Sabrina L. Green, San Diego 2 • the PRACTITIONER Table of Contents Letter From the Chair A Federal Court Upholds the Legality 4 By Ritzel Starleigh Ngo 18 of California Workers’ Compensation Anti-Fraud Legislation With Additional Procedural Due Process Warranties Letter From the Editor By David R. Ruiz 5 By Omar Sebastian Anorga Who Owns the Client? Cannabis Country 20 By Steven L. Krongold 6 By Louis J. Shapiro Esq. MCLE Article: Judgment Liens: Five Things You Need to Know About 22 The First and Last Step 7 Today’s Rapidly Changing By Joseph Chora Immigration Laws By Princesherry Hechanova Coach’s Corner: Get Off the Hamster 26 Wheel Now, Before it is Too Late! Proposed New Ethics Rules, and Their By Eleanor Southers 10 Impact on Solo Practitioners By Neil J Wertlieb Editorial Committee EDITOR OMAR SEBASTIAN ANORGA ASSISTANT EDITORS MEGAN ZAVIEH, HENRY DAVID, JEREMY EVANS, ELEANOR SOUTHERS, RENEE GALENTE, STEVEN KRONGOLD, AND BENNETT ROOT the PRACTITIONER • 3 Ritzel Starleigh Ngo is the Chair for the Solo & Small Letter From the Firm Section of the California Lawyers Association, and Chair she practices family law in Pasadena. Ms. Ngo is experienced in contentious By Ritzel Starleigh Ngo dissolutions; parentage matters; child custody and visitation, spousal and child support; property division; temporary and permanent restraining orders; including domestic violence, elder abuse, and civil harassment. She can be reached at [email protected]. Dear Section Members: • Appointments subcommittee: focus on appointing new members to the section’s ur section has identified several subcommittees executive committee. Subcommittee Chair: Owhich I want you to be aware of, so that you Susan Share: [email protected] can join and participate and share your ideas. Thank you to our members who have reached out to me and • Attorney of the Year Award: focus on identifiying other members of our executive committee with multiple attorney candidates for the attorney of ideas to provide our section with feedback in how we the year award, which is recognized and can support your needs as a small law firm and/or a celebrated that the Sections Convention solo practice. annually in September. Subcommittee Chair: Robert Klein, e-mail: [email protected] The subcommittees of the Solo and Small Firm section, which includes a brief description and e-mail • Programs subcommittee: focus on identifying contact person are as follows: educational MCLE programs (live, webinars, webcasts, Section Convention). Education • Membership, Marketing and Social Media: Chair: Sabrina Green: [email protected]. focus on improving member benefits, and marketing our section and practice, and social We look forward to your participation. media efforts for our section. Steven Mayer, email: [email protected] Please keep a look out for our live program e-blasts and upcoming e-newsletters for details which will • Publications committee: focus on the include executive committee member visits to your PRACTITIONER magazine, reviewing and local bar association, webinars, and committee publishing substantive and procedural articles. updates. Subcommittee Chair: Omar Anorga, e-mail: [email protected] All the best for your practice, • Outreach committee: focus on serving the Ritzel Starleigh Ngo needs of the underserved attorney/legal population in our section, which includes lesser- populated areas. Subcommittee Chair: Nancy Goldstein, email: [email protected] 4 • the PRACTITIONER Mr. Anorga represents businesses and individuals Letter From the with various legal problems, and he strives to always resolve these problems in a Editor smart, and cost-effective manner. Mr. Anorga has vast By Omar Sebastian Anorga experience with litigating legal disputes in both state and federal court. Lastly, The Anorga Law Firm, Inc., has a large stable of Spanish-speaking business owners, and Mr. Anorga is able to communicate with them in their native language. his issue of the PRACTITIONER is professor Neil J. Wertlieb who examines several Tpredominately focused in on providing you with proposed new amendments to the Rules of articles examining certain new laws or updates and Professional Conduct, and how those amendments revisions to existing laws, each being enacted and/or can change current standards, and add new implemented earlier this year. In addition to keeping obligations for licensed practitioners. Thereafter you abreast of changes in the law, and how it could author David R. Ruiz discusses how a Federal Court affect your practice, we are also providing you with upheld the legality of the California anti-fraud an informative MCLE article on how judgment liens provisions and added some notice and hearing can be a powerful tool in your collection efforts, and requirements to guarantee due process for medical a best practices article on how you can better manage providers. Finishing up the update articles, author your time in an effort to balance life/work activities. Steven L. Krongold examines the issue of what property interest—and, therefore, profits—a We start off with author Louis J. Shapiro, who dissolved law firm might have in cases that are in provides us an article on how the lawful recreational progress but not completed at the time of dissolution. use of cannabis is having an effect on DUI prosecution. Next, author Princesherry Hechanova As you can see, this issue of the PRACTITIONER is writes on important changes having an impact on jam-packed with great content—we hope you enjoy immigration policies. We move onto attorney and it and find it useful! the PRACTITIONER FOR SOLO & SMALL FIRMS Editor the PRACTITIONER for Solo & Small Firms is designed to provide accurate Omar Anorga, [email protected] information to professional advocates. However, we make this subject matter available Disclaimer to our members with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering The statements and opinions expressed in the PRACTITIONER for Solo & Small legal or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, Firms are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the services of a competent professional should be sought. the California Lawyers Association, the Solo and Small Firm Section, or any Copyright © 2018 government entity. California Lawyers Association, 180 Howard Street, Suite 410, San Francisco, CA 94105 the PRACTITIONER • 5 Lou Shapiro, a former LA County Public Defender, is a Cannabis Country criminal defense attorney out of Century City and a certified By Louis J. Shapiro Esq. criminal law specialist by the State Bar of California. He is also a TV/Radio Legal Analyst, NBC Trial & Error Legal Consultant and advises on the board member of the California Innocence Project. ven though it’s only been a few months since Carboxy THCA is the amount of non- Ecannabis became lawful to use recreationally, we psychoactive THC in the system. THCA does are already seeing its immediate impact to the DUI not affect the mind or mental processes. It also indicates sector. a long-term time frame of THC usage. This property attaches to fat cells and remains in the system days- Cannabis DUIs are becoming an increasing months after absorption. A frequent user will have a conundrum for everyone involved. Starting with law higher amount of THCA in their system. In this enforcement, police are making cannabis DUI arrests instance, the number is quite low according to most when they smell its odor and the driver admits to any experts and does not fit the profile of a habitual user. recent usage. Because no current scientifically validated roadside testing exists for cannabis impairment—as for 11-Hydroxy THC indicates a short-term time frame of alcohol impairment—police are resorting to simply THC absorption. The higher the number the more arresting the driver, and passing the issue onto the recent the absorption. In some cases, this particular prosecutors. THC will not appear in results due to absorption occurring several (i.e., between four and six) hours Once the prosecutor is assigned the case, he or she is before the test. This appears to be the case in these test provided with a qualitative toxicology report by the results. The fact that this is not present indicates that local crime lab. This report only reveals whether the driver did not have a recent usage prior to driving cannabis was detected in the blood stream. It does not and is very good for the defense. provide numerical information. It is up to the defense attorney to make a discovery request for the quantitative The performance on the standardized field sobriety analysis of the sample.