Mergers & Acquisitions
Movie Gallery Outhustles Blockbuster for Video Stores
By Geneva Whitmarsh
Never count out second acts in Hollywood. In a surprise $1.2 billion cash-and-debt deal announced Jan. 10, Movie Gallery Inc. ...
Five law firms have something to celebrate in the New Year as each has made Fortune magazine's 2005 list of "100 Best Companie...
Administrative/Regulatory
New Year Sprouts 117 New Laws of Interest to California Lawyers
By Stefanie Knapp
Legislative Summary - Last year, the Legislature and Governor enacted 117 bills that affect the courts or are of general inter...
When Lord, Bissell & Brook offered a job to Los Angeles bankruptcy litigator Joshua Wayser, it seemed like a "match made i...
Education
University Shouldn't Try to Stifle Criticism by Threatening Suit
By Columnist
Forum Column - By Tony Biasotti - Like most big, powerful institutions, the University of California, Santa Barbara, has its d...
Forum Column - By Roderick E. Walston - Who owns water, and why does it matter? Let me answer the second question first. A fed...
Focus Column - Criminal Law - By Alex Ricciardulli - What happens when the government destroys potentially exculpatory evidenc...
SAN DIEGO - A doctor will have his day in court to argue that an Escondido hospital retaliated for his complaint that officia...
Judges and Judiciary
Sense of Service Brought Commissioner to the Bench
By Donna Domino
SAN FRANCISCO - For San Mateo Commissioner Susan Greenberg, going onto the bench was a natural next step. A longtime member o...
SAN DIEGO - Mayor Dick Murphy's election should stand because thousands of ballots for a write-in candidate were correctly re...
EXTRA Feature - Phalanxes of attorneys get paid big bucks to negotiate high-priced contracts for athletes in ever-shifting mar...
Litigation
Lawsuit Claims Norco Lab Knowingly Released Toxins
By Jason Armstrong & Sean Windle
RIVERSIDE - A chemical testing laboratory in Norco has been hit with a lawsuit by 100 residents who claim the facility knowing...
Focus Column - Construction Law - By Daniel J. Curtin Jr. and Bryan W. Wenter - In the recent case of Uniwill L.P. v. City ...
Forum Column - By Jeffrey A. Lowe - A society can suffer no greater indictment than the charge that it allows children to suff...
Labor/Employment
Workers' Compensation Settlement Form Won't Release Job-Bias Claims
By Columnist
Employment Column - By Richard S. Rosenberg, John J. Manier and Adrian J. Guidotti - The state Supreme Court has closed a back...
Focus Column - Intellectual Property - By Alan I. Cyrlin - From banner ads to fair use, courts in 2004 tackled several hot tra...
Constitutional Law
Women's Rights Advocates Must Scrutinize Bush Nominees
By Columnist
Forum Column - By Margaret Crosby and David Robertson - On Saturday, Californians who support women's reproductive rights will...
SAN FRANCISCO - Richard Coleman Dinkelspiel, whose wide-ranging legal interests were deeply rooted in an old San Francisco fir...
LOS ANGELES - A state appellate court Thursday reinstated a proposed class action against SBC Communications Inc. for alleged...
SAN FRANCISCO - The trustee overseeing the bankrupt Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison is suing more than 200 partners of the de...
INDUSTRIAL CHINO - P&O Nedlloyd signed a 10-year, $23 million lease for a 549,195-square-foot industrial building in the C...
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn has created a legal defense fund that paid out $18,500 to law firm Manatt, Phelps &...
SACRAMENTO - A state appeal panel Thursday upheld a trial judge's landmark ruling that the city of San Francisco could act as...
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco judge on Thursday effectively wiped out a lawsuit against Oakland civil rights lawyer John Bu...
SAN DIEGO - A judge has set a date in the fall for Sempra Energy to stand trial in a $24 billion class action that accuses the...
LOS ANGELES - Bolstering the efforts of American heirs to reclaim artwork looted by the Nazis, a Santa Barbara Superior Court ...
Criminal
Jurist Will Say If Leak Merits Pulling DA's Office From Case
By Jason Armstrong & Sean Windle
SAN BERNARDINO - Three months ago, San Bernardino County's district attorney fired one of his prosecutors for allegedly leakin...
LOS ANGELES - With the rising popularity of programs like "CSI," jurors expect to see the same intricate forensic science that...
Corporate
Firms Fight Over Fees Awarded in Microsoft Antitrust Case
By Tyler Cunningham
SAN FRANCISCO - The plaintiffs firms that forced Microsoft to settle a huge antitrust case are now fighting among themselves ...
SAN FRANCISCO - A veteran San Jose public defender fired for dishonesty has gotten himself in new trouble, allegedly for helpi...