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The Legal Tightrope: Using Secret Recordings in California Litigation

“Everything” is Recorded . .  . . With smartphones in everyone’s pockets, secretly recording conversations has become almost second nature for some. These recordings might seem like the ultimate evidence in legal battles, but beware: they’re usually inadmissible in court and often illegal to obtain. So, what happens when your “smoking gun” is an illegal

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Harris Sliwoski LLP Welcomes Esteemed Litigation Team

We are pleased to announce the addition of an esteemed litigation team to the Oregon office. Matt Goldberg, Nicole Gossett-Roxbury, and Deb Fernando have joined our law firm from Lotus Law Group. They will continue to focus on high-stakes business and real estate litigation. Their clients include business owners and operators, investors, financial institutions, and

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Buying a home in Europe – Renovation and bricolage

This is the third post in Harris Sliwoski’s online series, in which Shannon Brandao will guide you through the practical, legal, and personal considerations of purchasing a home in Europe. See past posts here:  Where can YOU buy a home in Europe? Well, that depends . . . Where to buy a home in Europe:

The image shows the Angel of Independence in Mexico City with rising bar graphs and an upward arrow, featuring a semi-transparent Mexican flag overlay. High-rise buildings are visible in the background.

A Mexico Company Formation Guide

Forming a Company in Mexico Mexico’s economy is booming, driven by a young and tech-savvy population, its strategic location next to the US, favorable trade deals with North America and the EU, and a government eager to attract foreign investment. This surge has attracted a wave of companies from various industries, all eager to tap

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Smart Contracts and DAOs: A Lawyer’s Point of View

I recently returned from the iTech Law Conference in Washington, DC, where I spoke on a panel about smart contracts and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations). I was joined by two impressive international tech lawyers, Julia Pazos (Brazil) and Katarzyna Szczudlik (Poland). These are some of the questions our panel discussed. How Do Lawyers Think About

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Legal Advice or Business Advice?

Legal advice versus business advice People hire lawyers to give them legal advice. Sometimes, people also hire lawyers to give them business advice. This may introduce thorny considerations because lawyers generally should not give business advice (more on that below). However, sometimes they can, and do (more on that too). As a business lawyer who

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U.S. Trademark Functionality and Protectable Aesthetics: Can I Trademark That?

The Trademark Functionality Doctrine The Trademark Functionality Doctrine limits what can be trademarked. It prevents companies from getting exclusive rights to functional features of a product, like its packaging or design. This protects competition and ensures there are a variety of choices for consumers. Patents, on the other hand, grant inventors a temporary monopoly over

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Maximizing California Court Success Through Rule Mastery

The Court Rules are Everything For lawyers, adherence to rules is paramount. Attorneys thrive on structure, order, and, you guessed it, rules. But here’s the thing: being a good attorney isn’t just about knowing the rules; it’s about using them to help our clients succeed. That’s where the real lawyering happens. Great attorneys go beyond

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United States Copyrights and the Fair Use Defense

What is a Copyright? The word copyright is a legal term of art used to identify the type of protection granted to an author, or creator, of certain types of creative works. When you set out to write a book, or a screen play, what you created, what you typed into your computer, or wrote