State Bar & Bar Associations
State Bar will investigate July online exam problems
By Nicole Tyau
Test takers have reported problems with the October 2020 and July 2021 bar exams, including frozen screens and system crashes.
Immigration, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit panel revives asylum bid for nurse who said cartels threatened her
By Craig Anderson
The immigration appeals board had denied her appeal, comparing her claim to that of taxi drivers from El Salvador who sought a...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Criminal
Judge orders US to let Avenatti search his firm’s data servers
By Gina Kim
Judge orders prosecutors to make Eagan Avenatti LLP servers available to Michael Avenatti to look for potentially missing fina...
International Law, Data Privacy
US companies might handle China data privacy law well
By Henrik Nilsson
Since China’s law is similar to Europe’s, law firms will have a road map. Still, questions remain, such as what the level of c...
Civil Litigation
Match won’t have to provide documents in Apple’s app litigation
By Jessica Mach
Match, which owns various online dating services including OkCupid, PlentyofFish, and Tinder, is not a party in either case. H...
Legal Education, Community News
UC Irvine, Pepperdine law students win prizes in annual writing competition
By Luis Gutierrez
The winners appeared virtually Aug. 5 to read summaries of their papers to members of the California Supreme Court Historical ...
State Bar & Bar Associations, Law Practice
Those leery of paraprofessionals could have legislators’ support
By Henrik Nilsson
Although several steps remain before the proposal currently in the works in the Paraprofessional Program Working Group reaches...
Torts/Personal Injury, California Supreme Court
Contractors liable for own safety, state Supreme Court rules
By Jessica Mach
The high court overturned a decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeal.
Health Care & Hospital Law, Education Law
1st California school district mandates student vaccination
By Craig Anderson
The Culver City Unified School District’s decision to require all eligible students to get vaccinated for COVID-19 raised a fr...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation
Father-son legal team win $120M verdict, defense got terminating sanctions
By Blaise Scemama
Before the jury took less than an hour to unanimously award Equihua $120 million Wednesday, Riverside defense attorney Scott B...
Education Law, California Supreme Court
Orange County schools lose bid to end governor’s state of emergency
By Craig Anderson
Robert H. Tyler, a partner with Tyler & Bursch LLP, argued Newsom violated his duty under the Emergency Services Act. He s...
Civil Litigation
US magistrate says Twitter must face child pornography lawsuit
By Gina Kim
Twitter can’t escape a lawsuit that claims it benefits from publishing child sex abuse material, a U.S. magistrate judge ruled.
Law Practice, Law Office Management
Wilson Sonsini corporate practice nabs Sheppard Mullin partner
By Luis Gutierrez
The move by Robert L. Wernli Jr. from Sheppard Mullin’s office in San Diego, where he was a special counsel, and most recently...
Community courts champion aided veterans, mentally ill, addicts
Appellate Practice
Brief says appellate attorneys fear objecting to delays
By Malcolm Maclachlan
Because appellants’ attorneys aren’t objecting, public interest gives him standing to challenge alleged slow decision-making b...
Government, Civil Litigation
San Francisco DA calls suit against ‘ghost’ gun makers a crime preventer
By Jessica Mach
“This is a creative way for the DA to use his authority to combat an obvious safety problem. It’s one of the first cases of th...
Government, California Courts of Appeal
Panel mulls whether ban on trying minors as adults is retroactive
By Malcolm Maclachlan
The 3rd District Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether SB1391, which went into effect in 2019 barring DAs from trying min...
Data Privacy, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Challenge to NSA’s mass surveillance program is ‘buried in an unmarked grave’
By Craig Anderson
A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled in an unpublished opinion that the plaintiffs lack standing because they canno...
Government, Criminal
DAs, victims’ groups try to block good-conduct changes to release felons
By Kamila Knaudt
Representatives of nonprofits Crime Victims United of California and Citizens Against Homicide joined 44 of the state’s distri...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit judge accuses colleagues of going on a 'bizarre and gratuitous frolic'
By Craig Anderson
9th Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke lashed out at his colleagues even after a panel majority reversed themselves to reject a ha...
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
9th Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke lashed out at his colleagues even after a panel majority reversed themselves to reject a ha...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Criminal
Avenatti begins his defense case trying to discredit one of his earliest accuser
By Gina Kim
As he has throughout the trial, suspended attorney Michael J. Avenatti, who is representing himself, tried to show that the cl...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Ex-Girardi Keese lawyer objects to expansion of contempt hearing scope
By Henrik Nilsson
An attorney representing the ex-Girardi Keese attorney, Keith D. Griffin, argued that allowing a witness to provide testimony...
The order from U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton, issued in Oakland on Monday, will likely prevent the filing of a wave ...
Law Practice, Judges and Judiciary, Covid Court Ops
LA County public defenders protest hearing and trial delays blamed on COVID
By Kamila Knaudt
On Monday, Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo D. Garcia said on Twitter that health and safety must be assured but nev...
Civil Rights, Civil Litigation, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Split panel says judge shouldn’t have OK’d Tinder settlement
By Craig Anderson
Objectors argued the settlement of an age discrimination case against Tinder was a “sweetheart deal.”
Law Practice, Administrative/Regulatory
LA court rule changes let junior attorneys gain more experience
By Jessica Mach
The local rules of court, which go into effect Jan. 1, give judges discretion to allow more than one attorney per party to pre...
Civil Litigation, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
‘Literally’ doesn’t always mean ‘literally,’ 9th Circuit panel says
By Craig Anderson
“We conclude that the challenged statement was an obvious exaggeration, cushioned within an undisputed news story,” 9th Circui...
Government, Constitutional Law, Civil Litigation
Attorneys challenge recall of Newsom as unconstitutional
By Blaise Scemama
While some prominent legal experts espouse arguments similar to those of the plaintiffs questioning the constitutionality of t...
Judge Deborah Saltzman understands law and people, lawyers say.