By Teresa Johnson, Diem-Mi Lu and Kit Reynolds ( October 5, 2018, 1:50 PM EDT) -- On Sept. 30, 2018, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a landmark bill, SB 826, requiring boards of directors of California-based public reporting corporations to have a minimum number of female directors. Though similar regulations aimed at improving gender parity on corporate boards have been implemented in European nations, including Norway, France and Germany — and a handful of U.S. states have adopted nonbinding resolutions aimed at the same — this law is the first of its kind to be passed on the state or federal level mandating such female representation. Though many of the law's supporters believe it is a necessary tool to speed the slow pace at which gender parity in the boardroom would otherwise be achieved, it has faced a number of criticisms, and its implementation may well be delayed or even blocked by constitutional challenges....