Judges and Judiciary
After long confirmation battle, Orrick confirmed to federal bench
By Hadley Robinson
William H. Orrick III was confirmed to the federal bench in the Northern District of California after a 56-41 vote on the Sena...
Law Practice
Managing partners survey predicts slow growth in demand and profits
By Joshua Seboldn
A new report indicates that managing partners are less confident about their profits and revenues for the coming year than in ...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
Ex-Mexican soldier seeking asylum gets reprieve
By Chase Scheinbaum
Man allegedly targeted by Los Zetas cartel to get another hearing on his petition for political asylum to the Board of Immigra...
California Courts of Appeal
Appellate court again limits lawyers' ability to avoid fiduciary duty suits
By Emily Green
The 5th District Court of Appeal, in keeping with an emerging trend among California appellate courts, ruled Wednesday that la...
Public Interest
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley selects new executive director
By Joshua Seboldn
The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley named Alison Brunner its executive director Wednesday. ...
Labor/Employment
Judge rules that SF company's arbitration agreement with workers violated state contract law and cannot be enforced
By Laura Hautalan
A San Francisco County Superior Court judge is expected to sign an order denying venture capital fund CMEA Development Company...
Litigation
Federal judge reinstates $203 million judgment against Wells Fargo for overdraft fees
By John Roemer
A federal judge reinstated a $203 million judgment against Wells Fargo Bank N.A. in a consumer class action over claims the ba...
Northern District Judge William Alsup on Wednesday denied a motion to compel arbitration from Bay Area IT distributor Ma Labor...
Law Practice
Top Munger Tolles attorney decamps to Southern Poverty Law Center
By Alexandra Schwappach
David C. Dinielli - who has handled major antitrust, copyright, and pro bono cases with an emphasis on LGBT rights - will sta...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
9th Circuit rejects class action settlement, citing high attorney fees
By Hadley Robinson
Attorneys proposing class action settlements must tie their fee requests directly to the value of coupons that class members r...
Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP represented 2100 Grand LLC, a related entity to visual effects studio Rhy...
Perspective
Court answers lingering questions on medical expenses as damages
By Ben Armisteadn
The decision is a game changer because it speaks to the inadmissibility of the billed amount where the treater has accepted a ...
The time has finally come. It is almost hard to believe after years of imaging every pleading, letter and document received, I...
When a bill to overturn a decision gets bipartisan support, you can bet that something went radically wrong in our justice sys...
Corporate
Survey: M&A activity will continue to rise through 2013
By Alexandra Schwappach
Dealmakers are looking forward to more mergers and acquisitions activity this year, according to the M&A Leaders Survey by...
As rulings increasingly come down in the flood of litigation following the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, some public ...
Venture financing dipped in the first quarter of 2013 from the year-prior period and from the fourth quarter of 2012, both by ...
Litigation
Plaintiffs seek sanctions against HP, K&L Gates, Fish & Richardson in expert battle
By Hadley Robinson
Hewlett-Packard Co. and its attorneys from K&L Gates LLP and Fish & Richardson PC have been accused of secretly coerci...
Labor/Employment
Judge tosses employment case involving noncompete covenant
By Alexandra Schwappach
A judge snuffed out an employment suit that could have enforced noncompete covenants between a California insurance company an...
Entertainment & Sports
Manatt launches consulting, venture arm for digitally minded
By Ryne Hodkowski
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP said it plans to launch Manatt Digital Media on Wednesday, a consulting arm and venture fund...
Labor/Employment
Farming company pushes back on mandatory mediation law
By Laura Hautalan
The suit claims not only that the state should not have required the mediation with the United Farm Workers of America, but al...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
Controversial oyster farm seeks lifeline at 9th Circuit
By Fiona Smith
A federal appeals court Tuesday heard pleas from a popular Northern California oyster farm fighting a government order to clos...
Discipline
Discipline panel sets arguments on Contra Costa judge who got son a deal
By Don Debenedictisn
The Commission on Judicial Performance will hear arguments about whether Judge Bruce Clayton Mills violated ethics rules or ac...
Litigation
Hedge fund seeks to connect Venable and former firm partner to alleged fraud
By Henry Meier
A hedge fund's attempt to connect Venable LLP and a former firm partner to an allegedly fraudulent transaction involving Faceb...
Government
Governor's budget offers no reprieve to courts, eases burden on county jails
By Paul Jones
Governor Jerry Brown's revised 2013-14 budget proposal disappointed judicial branch leadership by not offering any increased f...
The idea that computers can replace humans for certain types of work has threatened many industries for years, but only recent...
Bankruptcy
9th Circuit rules bankruptcy courts can recharacterize transactions
By Ben Armisteadn
The court rejected the long-accepted holding of In re Pacific Express that bankruptcy courts in the 9th Circuit do not ...
Far too many firms only seem to be investing in efficiency - at the expense of being effective. By Patrick J. McKenna a...
The estate of Howrey LLP recently filed four new adversary cases against law firms, seeking to recover profits from unfinished...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
Lawyers for offshore company accused of infringing porn tries to reverse injunction
By John Roemer
The future looked foggy for an offshore cloud storage company accused of copyright infringement as it struggled to reverse a t...