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Judges and Judiciary


Marcy Styles and Mary Trice knew that their days working as pro tem court reporters with the San Luis Obispo County Superior C...


Litigation


Judge dismisses suit against United, Continental

Dec. 30, 2011
By Jill Redhage

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by private plaintiffs attempting to upend the October 2010 merger of Uni...


Constitutional Law


Next year promises to bring a showdown of forces in the area of First Amendment law. By David Urban of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore


Criminal


Charges filed in L.A. oil spill

Dec. 30, 2011
By Henry Meier

The City of Los Angeles filed criminal charges Thursday against a company accused of being responsible for an oil spill near t...


Law Practice


Legal hiring is looking up

Dec. 30, 2011
By Susan Mcraen

Law firms and corporations are expected to hire more lawyers and legal staff in the first quarter of 2012, with the largest gr...


The Delaware Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a letter accusing then-HP Chairman Mark V. Hurd of sexual harassment should ...


Energy Law


California's pursuit of a clean energy-powered future has drawn praise, but the cost of its ambitions has been a constant com...


State judicial leaders announced Thursday that they are halting negotiations to use money from a private foundation to roll ou...


Entertainment & Sports


Artists now eligible for copyrights

Dec. 30, 2011
By Erica E. Phillips

Copyright clawbacks are about to kick in for several recording artists of the 1970s, but the music industry's devastated label...


Banking


The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday reinstated an immigrant couple's lawsuit that accuses Countrywide Bank of vi...


California Supreme Court


In an effort to clear up confusion about judicial review of parole decisions, the state Supreme Court on Thursday chided lower...


Health Care & Hospital Law


Budget cuts to nursing blocked by court

Dec. 30, 2011
By Gabe Friedmann

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction to block impending budget cuts that would have slashed Medi-Cal reimbursem...


California Supreme Court


The state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against insurance adjusters seeking unpaid overtime, but didn't issue the broad ruli...


Law Practice


Did I make a difference?

Dec. 30, 2011
By Genevieve Knollen

Once in a while you get answers in the unlikeliest of places. By David Ross, Los Angeles alternative public defender


Environmental


Judge blocks state's emissions law

Dec. 30, 2011
By Fiona Smith

In a blow to California's efforts to fight climate change, a Fresno federal judge ruled Thursday that a law cutting greenhouse...


Litigation


Judge declares mistrial in legal malpractice case

Dec. 30, 2011
By Ciaran Mcevoyn

Declaring a mistrial due to juror misconduct, a judge on Wednesday scuttled a potential $3 million jury verdict against the pr...


U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit


Telephone and internet users attacking the federal government's warrantless eavesdropping program that followed the Sept. 11, ...


Government


Decision could kill redevelopment agencies

Dec. 30, 2011
By Ben Adlin

Thursday's state Supreme Court decision means that unless state lawmakers take immediate action, California's roughly 400 muni...


Litigation


TCW and bond manager settle feud

Dec. 30, 2011
By Ciaran Mcevoyn

After two years of bruising litigation, Trust Co. of the West and the bond company’s former chief investment officer have rea...


Labor/Employment


US labor board 'likes' social media

Dec. 30, 2011
By Brian Sumersn

At the National Labor Relations Board, 2011 was the year the federal agency embraced social media.


For weeks this summer, Barbara Cockerham carried her layoff notice around in her purse, a solemn reminder, she says, to "kick ...


Entertainment & Sports


Financier will pay for studio mistake

Dec. 29, 2011
By Erica E. Phillips

A financier of the 2007 film "No Country for Old Men" is on the hook for part of a $15 million blunder the studio made in its ...


Government


Cities face new steps for debt relief

Dec. 29, 2011
By Ben Adlin

With analysts warning of an impending spike in municipal bankruptcies, a new law taking effect this year will try to blunt the...


Entertainment & Sports


Video on demand finds its legs

Dec. 29, 2011
By Erica E. Phillips

This year may have marked the beginning of a slow and steady upswing as Hollywood studios and their deal-making lawyers discov...


Real Estate/Development


Real Estate Deals

Dec. 29, 2011
By Jason W. Armstrong And Sean Win

Best Best & Krieger LLP, a 200-lawyer civil firm, leased 35,000 square feet in a new office tower under construction in Ri...


California Courts of Appeal


Panel upholds ruling against arbitration

Dec. 29, 2011
By Laura Ernden

It's up to California judges - not an arbitrator - to determine whether defendants have waived their right to arbitration, a s...


Intellectual Property


This year's trade secret cases revealed that information could be a company's top asset. By Robyn C. Crowther of Caldwell Lesl...


Law Practice


Law firms mergers rise in 2011

Dec. 29, 2011
By Kevin Lee

Big law firms looking for marriage partners are now waiting until the fourth quarter before announcing their nuptials as a wa...


Judges and Judiciary


In her first week on the job last January, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye accepted the resignation of a colleague and was c...


A federal judge has awarded nearly $18 million in damages to the family of a San Diego woman who was killed with her two daug...