A Monday Miscellany

San Diego Securities Law Conference

Apparently, the Business/Corporate Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association does not suffer from triskaidekaphobia, friggatriskaidekaphobia, or even paraskevidekatriaphobia because it has scheduled a very exciting program on Friday, May 13, 2011.  This Program will feature speakers with a wide range of backgrounds, including Commissioner Byron Georgiou of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.  I'll be speaking with Jim Moloney on the Dodd-Frank Act.

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall" - Good Fences Don't Necessarily Make Good Neighbors

Much of legal analysis is about classification.  We all know what a fence is and we all know what a tree is.  What we don't know, until now, is whether a a row of trees could be a fence.  The California Court of Appeal has now answered that question in Vanderpol v. Starr holding that a row of trees may constitute a fence for purposes of California's "spite fence" statute, Civil Code Section 841.4, which provides in relevant part:

Any fence or other structure in the nature of a fence unnecessarily exceeding 10 feet in height maliciously erected or maintained for the purpose of annoying the owner or occupant of adjoining property is a private nuisance.

Perhaps the parties should read Robert Frost's poem, "Mending Wall".

What if Moses had Google and Facebook?

Passover starts this evening.  This fun video illustrates what might have happened if Google and Facebook had been available to Moses.