Criminal
After months behind bars, rabbi who refused to testify is freed by Los Angeles judge
By Ben Adlin
An orthodox rabbi who refused to testify before a federal grand jury was freed from jail late Monday after a Los Angeles judge...
Judges and Judiciary
AOC to study courts' effectiveness since unification
By Hannah Mitchelln
A state committee created by the governor and the chief justice to evaluate trial courts' funding asked judicial branch staff ...
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP advised genome sequencing company 23andMe in its $50 million Series D financing, furthe...
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is moving its Palo Alto office to bigger, better space less than two miles away in Stanford Research ...
Criminal
Architect faces manslaughter charge for firefighter's death in blaze at his home
By Henry Meier
It's an interesting case for prosecutors as they try to prove the defendant was willfully negligent in installing non-code co...
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Jesus G. Bernal to serve as a U.S. District Court judge in the Central District, filling ...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
9th Circuit asks for help to decide if property owners must have defibrillators around
By John Roemer
A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday voted 2-1 to duck the question of whether commercial property owners have...
State Bar & Bar Associations
Christopher C. Kearney takes over as Bar Association of San Francisco's 100th president
By Saul Sugarman
Top members of the Bar Association of San Francisco on Tuesday welcomed their newest president, Christopher C. Kearney, a part...
Litigation
Manatt, McKool Smith settle NFL players' malpractice suit for $3.5 million
By Hadley Robinson
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP and McKool Smith have agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a malpractice lawsuit against the...
The Arizona Supreme Court has given law students in that state a leg up over students elsewhere in the U.S. by allowing them ...
Government
San Bernardino shutters three courthouses amid deepening budget woes
By Katie Lucia
Courthouses in Barstow, Needles and Big Bear will close in March, the latest blow to a county court system grappling with slas...
Entertainment & Sports
Studios behind 'Hobbit' trilogy stop a knockoff, but impact may be limited
By Jean Yung
The studios behind the highly anticipated "Hobbit" trilogy have succeeded in preventing a direct-to-DVD knockoff from being re...
Judge Bernard Skomal is known as a 'roll-up-your-sleeves' kind of jurist, especially in settlements.
Labor/Employment
NLRB provides clarification of an acceptable social media policy
By Ben Armisteadn
Can an employer still have a social media policy that does not violate the National Labor Relations Act? According to the Nati...
Prior budget cuts have slowed things down considerably, but those changes are nothing compared to the changes that will soon b...
Perspective
Why did Twinkies' shelf-life suddenly expire (or did it)?
By Ben Armisteadn
Was Hostess' collapse the result of entitled unions, inept management, or was it simply the result of an adverse economic cli...
Intellectual Property
In potential problem for Apple, patent office invalidates 'Steve Jobs' patent
By Rachel Swan
In a setback for Apple Inc., the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a preliminary decision invalidating a patent co-i...
Labor/Employment
Plaintiffs can file for class certification in gender discrimination suit against Wal-Mart
By Laura Hautalan
Wal-Mart's effort to block a gender discrimination lawsuit hit an obstacle Monday when U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Br...
California Supreme Court
In rare mix-up, lawyer misses oral argument before state Supreme Court
By Emily Green
It is, perhaps, a lawyer's worst nightmare: missing oral arguments because you overslept, or mixed up the dates. Or, in the ca...
Labor/Employment
Lucasfilm pregnancy discrimination verdict reversed
By Laura Hautalan
The 1st District Court of Appeal reversed a jury verdict Monday against Lucasfilm Ltd. in a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit, ...
Labor/Employment
Plaintiff responds to Kleiner Perkins appeal in discrimination suit
By Laura Hautalan
Ellen Pao responded Monday to an appeal of her employment lawsuit against investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers...
Judges and Judiciary
New Los Angeles federal courthouse one step closer to reality
By Henry Meier
The private half of a proposed public-private partnership to build a new federal courthouse in Los Angeles was unveiled Monday...
Attorneys at the Los Angeles and Costa Mesa offices of Latham & Watkins LLP scored a defense win Monday, when a Nebraska f...
Environmental
Pharmaceutical companies challenge Alameda County's prescription drug disposal law
By Hadley Robinson
Pharmaceutical companies are pushing back against an Alameda County ordinance that requires them to take back leftover and unw...
Law Practice
Discipline defenders grumble about State Bar's continuing-education crackdown
By Don Debenedictisn
Defense lawyers say the State Bar demands harsh discipline for false MCLE compliance reports. But an audit turned up a problem...
Litigation
9th Circuit hears arguments on Mattel's appeal in legal war over Bratz
By Ben Adlin
A marathon intellectual property war between rival toymakers was back in court Monday as parties faced off in the latest twist...
Judge Wendy Kohn urges settlement, telling parties it gives them benefits trial can't.
Judge Robert J. Moss takes the unusual step of preparing his own jury instructions in cases.
A roundup of recent mergers and acquisitions and financing activity and the lawyers involved.
Environmental
Court appears to favor state effort at fighting climate change
By Fiona Smith
A San Francisco judge appeared inclined to keep the state's pioneering carbon trading program on track Friday despite an effor...