DAVID E. MASTAGNI Partner Mastagni Holstedt, APC In a unanimous ruling on May 15, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court revived a civil rights lawsuit against Houston-area traffic officer Roberto Felix Jr., who fatally shot 24-year-old Ashtian Barnes during a 2016 traffic stop. The Court overturned the Fifth Circuit’s dismissal of […]
JOHN HAGAN Certified Law Clerk KC Law Group California enacted the Silenced No More Act (SB 331), effective January 1, 2022. This landmark law restricts the use of confidentiality and nondisparagement agreements in harassment, discrimination and retaliation claims. Before SB 331, California employers used confidentiality agreements, also known as nondisclosure […]
HARRY S. STERN Managing Principal Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC Few criminal cases have swept up so many people and taken so many twists and turns as Santa Clara County’s years-old concealed weapon permit bribery saga. The district attorney eventually indicted scores of people, including prominent attorneys, […]
SEAN CURRIN Senior Associate Mastagni Holstedt, APC Many law enforcement employees decided to join public service to make a difference in their communities. Public safety employees want to improve their communities and be supported by their administration in doing so. Sadly, support from administration is not always a foregone conclusion. […]
HARRY S. STERN Principal Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC Your PORAC Legal Defense Fund stands ready to support you in ways that you may not have even known you might need. Oakland Police Officer Marcell Patterson’s extraordinary situation is a shocking case in point. Marcell was an […]