Microsoft (legally) avoided $6.5B in taxes over 3 years

David Gamage and Eric Talley quoted in The Seattle Times, September 21, 2012

While it’s right to a certain extent to say that U.S. companies aren’t paying their fair share of taxes, Talley said, it’s also true that multinational corporations have substantial leeway in where they locate. “If policymakers decide to close up the loophole, a potential danger is that companies may start to move their physical operations overseas,” he said.

David Gamage, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, said it’s impossible for him to know whether Microsoft or HP have done anything wrong without seeing privileged documents that he doesn’t have access to. “But my guess, based on what’s been publicly available, is that Microsoft is, at the very minimum, being extremely aggressive in its interpretation of U.S. tax laws,” he said.

Lawyers go west as climate litigation warms up

Daniel Farber quoted in Environmental and Energy Publishing, September 20, 2012

“These cases are always hard to predict in the Supreme Court,” said Daniel Farber, an environmental law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. The fuel standard case is certainly “a possible case for Supreme Court review,” he added.

East-west culture clash? Boston, San Francisco see happiness differently

Victoria Plaut quoted in The Huffington Post, September 19, 2012

“Our ideas about who we are and how we should feel are shaped in quite dramatic ways by our local environment,” said study researcher Victoria Plaut, a social and cultural psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley Law School. Broadly speaking, Plaut told LiveScience, the stereotypes are true: “If you examine the local world, you’ll find that the East is more old and established, and the West is more new and free.”

Could man linked with anti-Islam film be in trouble with the law?

Jesse Choper quoted in The Christian Science Monitor, September 19, 2012

The Justice Department will want to be deliberate, though, says Jesse Choper…. “They need to make sure they have a strong case and are not just doing it under political pressure,” he says. “They don’t want to bring him in and then have him released on some technicality.”

Can Los Angeles ban medical marijuana shops? Voters set to decide.

Robert MacCoun quoted in The Christian Science Monitor, September 18, 2012

The law states that marijuana “has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and “there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision,” says Robert MacCoun….”Clearly marijuana is accepted as a medical treatment by many physicians, but that’s what the law says, so unless marijuana is rescheduled, state and federal officials will be at odds over this policy.”

Mr. Romney, have you seen the 47 percent?

Jennifer Granholm writes for The Huffington Post, September 18, 2012

A leader makes hundreds of decisions each day. And while Mitt Romney may never consciously consider the 47 percent during a specific decision, his attitude towards them—who he sees when he sees America—those things are present in each and every decision that a leader makes. That is what character is all about.

Google’s digital library plan hits another snag

Pamela Samuelson interviewed by National Public Radio, September 18, 2012

UC Berkeley law professor Pam Samuelson says Google is confident enough to keep scanning. “But the sense that I have, from talking to people, is that maybe they have slowed down a little bit.”

Prop. 35 gets tough on human traffickers

Barry Krisberg quoted in San Francisco Chronicle, September 17, 2012

Barry Krisberg, a criminal justice expert at UC Berkeley’s law school, said the increased penalties for traffickers could drive the problem further underground, when what is needed is more aid for victims. “This just escalates penalties,” he said. “We’ve tried that for years, and it doesn’t do any good.” Still, he said, “It may well pass because it sounds good. Everybody’s against sex trafficking.”

Oakland police force handcuffed

Franklin Zimring quoted in San Francisco Chronicle, September 13, 2012

“Sometimes the problem can be that there are too many cooks stirring the soup – and that can be an argument in favor of a federal monitor,” said Frank Zimring, a professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Law. “Chaotic interactions can make it impossible to steer a ship,” he added.

Dietmar Machold, jet-setting violin dealer, accused in a case of fakes and fraud

Carla Shapreau cited in The Washington Post, September 13, 2012

For Carla Shapreau, a co-author of the standard work on violin fraud and a professor of cultural property law at the University of California at Berkeley, the case is a textbook-quality introduction to the practice of due diligence.