A weekly roundup of lateral attorney moves, law firm office openings and partner promotions from around California.
Orange County Judge Lance Jensen came to a legal career late, and appreciates the skill involved.
Litigation
Plaintiffs' attorneys concerned judge's ruling breaks new PAGA ground
By Matthew Blake
In the Iskanian state Supreme Court opinion that created the Private Attorneys General Act exception to the rule that employme...
Susan D. Huguenor works to first calm parties going through divorce
Litigation
Fiat Chrysler hit with putative class action after actor's death
By Joshua Seboldn
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is facing a potential class action following the death of actor Anton Yelchin, who was killed by ...
Litigation
Motion denied to have referee handle reimbursement issues in gas leak case
By Justin Kloczko
A Los Angeles County judge has rejected allowing a referee to decide how reimbursement issues will be handled for families dis...
Firm Profile
Business Litigation Group aims for settlement but is ready for battle
By Banks Albachn
When Marc N. Bernstein took his litigation experience into his own practice, he built in a premise for clients — avoid chamber...
California Supreme Court
Raw materials suppliers face liability in lawsuit, state high court rules
By Saul Sugarman
The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that certain businesses could be on the hook for causing a man's lung condition due to ...
Intellectual Property
Google seeks $3.9 million in costs from Oracle after copyright trial win
By Tim O'connor
Alphabet Inc.-owned Google wants $3.93 million in costs from Oracle Corp. after securing a unanimous jury verdict last month i...
State Bar & Bar Associations
Proposed rule would ban most lawyer-client sex
By Lyle Moran
Lawyers would be prohibited from having sex with their clients unless they had a prior consensual sexual relationship if a pro...
Intellectual Property
Led Zeppelin wins vindication in infringement trial
By Steven Crighton
A jury's ruling Thursday that Led Zeppelin did not infringe on a Spirit track while creating "Stairway to Heaven" is being cel...
State Bar & Bar Associations
Rule change would give bar more power to target discrimination
By Lyle Moran
A proposed change to California's Rules of Professional Conduct would allow the State Bar to investigate and seek discipline o...
Law Practice
Litigation funder releases product to help firms increase profit
By Justin Kloczko
Bentham has released Accelerator, which is designed to show how outside capital affects a law firm's bottom line with regard t...
Twilio Inc., a maker of cloud-based communication applications for voice and text messaging, priced its bellwether initial pub...
The jury ruled unanimously Tuesday that a drone operator didn't violate any laws when he flew his device near a Los Angeles Po...
Government
Bill would impose limits, disclosure requirements on arbitrators
By Phil Johnson
A bill headed to the state Assembly floor seeks to combat what its Democratic sponsor describes as unethical aspects of the bo...
Of 301 defendants charged in health fraud schemes totaling $900 million in false billings nationwide, U.S. Attorney Eileen M. ...
Chief Legal Officer Vistage Worldwide Inc. (San Diego) ...
A Singapore company that develops advertising software for mobile devices has agreed to pay $950,000 to settle a lawsuit filed...
Litigation
Judge orders piecemeal approach to Experian relevancy redaction dispute
By Meghann M. Cuniff
Attorneys on both sides of a class action against Experian over a massive data breach will present to U.S. District Judge Andr...
Whether Led Zeppelin lifted from another song while creating "Stairway to Heaven" is a question 46 years in the making — and a...
A 10-year-old case that changed employment litigation in California by ushering in a mountain of Private Attorneys General Act...
A roundup of recent transactions and the California lawyers involved.
California Courts of Appeal
Attorney drafted trust to benefit himself, appellate court rules
By Kevin Lee
The 2nd District Court of Appeal tore into a Santa Barbara lawyer for drafting a trust and will for an "elderly and mentally i...
A federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action filed by two Californians that accuses the coffee chain Sta...
After 27 years of service, Deputy Federal Public Defender Guy C. Iversen will retire June 30. ...
The former associate general counsel of Allergan PLC, Karah Parschauer, has joined Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. in Novato, a...
A San Diego County Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to enforce a nearly $31 million money judgment in Russ...
Criminal
State Senate committee considers notifying suspects of their gang designation
By L.J. Williamson
A measure that would give individuals added to the CalGANG database the right to be notified of their designation as gang memb...
Labor/Employment
State appellate decision pours cold water on employers' summary judgment motions
By Matthew Blake
The 4th Appellate District decision may curb the success of employers' summary judgment motions and also put the Regents of th...