Government
Amendment Guidelines
By Daniel Shaw
The Citizens for the Constitution, a project of the New York-based Century Foundation, developed the following eight guidelin...
Government
California Senate Approves Child Support Reform
By Peter Blumberg
SACRAMENTO - The Senate overwhelmingly approved a proposal to overhaul California's child support system Thursday, but Republ...
Civil Rights
Judge Rebukes Parole Board on Disability Access
By Patricia Jocobus
SAN FRANCISCO - California's parole board drew stinging criticism from a federal judge Thursday for blocking access and servi...
Workers' Comp.
State Lawyer Ousted from Case
By Martin Bergn
In a case involving allegations of retaliation against judges within the workers' compensation system, a federal judge has di...
Government
Constitutionally Speaking
By Daniel Shaw
WASHINGTON - Concerned by the rising number of proposed constitutional amendments making their way through Congress in recent...
Government
Most Who Go Before Parole Board Find No Way Out
By Peter Blumberg
SACRAMENTO - Convicted in 1976 for his role as the getaway driver in a double murder and robbery stemming from a drug deal go...
Criminal
Lockyer Sues Rapper X-Raided for Violating States Son of Sam Law
By Peter Blumberg
SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed his first "Son of Sam" lawsuit, seeking to garnish any profits that migh...
Antitrust & Trade Reg.
This Bud's Not For You After Court's Ruling
By Anna Marie Stolley
Reining in the aggressive marketing tactics of a major brewery, a California appeal panel has ruled that the brewer's agents ...
Appellate Practice
Court Accepts Race as Ground For Suspicion
By Pamela Mac Lean
SAN FRANCISCO - Expanding the definition of "reasonable suspicion" in investigative traffic stops, a divided federal appeals ...
Criminal
Politically Connected Offender Gets Prison
By Michael Harris
Unlike in his last case, in which he was placed on probation amid allegations Los Angeles County prosecutors had granted him ...
Media
Judges Tout Jury Duty in Public Service Spots
By Anne La Jeunesse
They sat in the green room, mouthing the lines of their scripts, then surrendered to the makeup artist's brushes and sponges....
Judges and Judiciary
Justices Ruling Has Attorneys Reading Between the (K)lines
By Philip Carrizosa
SAN FRANCISCO - Has the state high court sent a message to the Commission on Judicial Performance about its judicial miscondu...
Government
Barriers, Not Access, Could Result From Law
By Cheryl Romo
A bill that seeks to reform state confidentiality laws to allow limited public access to the juvenile court records of dead c...
Civil Rights
Homeless Can Raise Necessity Defense
By Philip Carrizosa
SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a bid by Orange County prosecutors to wipe out a lower cou...
Government
Disabled Win Upgrade of Emergency Call Boxes
By Denise Levin
Los Angeles County will spend about $11.5 million to upgrade the freeway emergency call box system under terms of a settlemen...
Criminal
Retired Judge Goes on Offensive
By Michael Harris
The Los Angeles County grand jury that indicted a retired judge for allegedly covering up a prisoner's escape was not told by...
Judges and Judiciary
Ex-Judge Pleads With Panel for Second Chance
By Jean Guccione
SAN FRANCISCO - A now-retired Ventura County judge struggling with alcoholism told a disciplinary panel Wednesday he has been...
Government
Garcetti Seeks Additional $7M to Increase Staff
By Lauren Blau
In his annual request to augment his budget, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti asked county supervisors Wedne...
Health Care & Hospital Law
Suits Over Reuse of Needles Appear to Be Resolved
By Denise Levin
It was just weeks before final exams at Loyola Law School two years ago when a group of students became stressed out over ano...
State Bar & Bar Associations
Supreme Court Orders Bar to Pay Special Masters $107K Tab
By Don De Benedictis
The State Bar must pay $107,141 to its special master, Elwood Lui, for his first five months on the job, the Supreme Court or...
Public Interest
Leader of Legal Aid Foundation Welcomes Planned LSC Audit
By Daniel Shaw
WASHINGTON - The U.S. General Accounting Office, responding to a request from powerful congressional opponents of the Legal S...
Family
Prosecutors Hire Isenberg to Hold On to Child Support Role
By Peter Blumberg
SACRAMENTO - "Unusual times call for unusual measures," in the words of California District Attorneys Association executive d...
Criminal
Encino Lawyer Stripped of His Profits From Body Language
By Anna Marie Stolley
In a battle to get his share of the profits from two exotic-dancer companies in which he invested, G. Bryan Brannan, an Encin...
Large Firms
Failing Bar Led Associate Down Trail of Deception
By Leslie Gordon
SAN FRANCISCO - The undoing of former Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati associate Steven Y. Lee can be traced primarily to...
Judges and Judiciary
Report Minimizes Charges Against Brown
By Jean Guccione
A Los Angeles judge did not act improperly when she displayed a fake marijuana plant in her courtroom, smoked cigarettes in c...
Judges and Judiciary
Cooper Tapped for Federal Bench
By Martin Bergn
Florence-Marie Cooper, a onetime legal secretary who became a widely respected Los Angeles Superior Court judge, has been nomi...
Government
Garcetti Rejects Idea of Special Prosecutor in Police Misconduct
By Michael Harris
Publicly commenting on the proposal for the first time, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti Tuesday flatly reje...
Judges and Judiciary
Stealth Belts Expected to Keep Defendants in Place
By Lauren Blau
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department won authorization Tuesday to use, in courtrooms throughout the county, a new seat-restra...
Large Firms
Jeffer Mangels Switched Sides, Client Says
By Denise Levin
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro allegedly breached its duties of confidentiality and loyalty to a corporate client when i...
Civil Rights
L.A. Judge Refuses to Postpone Riverside Trial
By Jason Armstrong & Sean Windle
A Los Angeles U.S. district judge denied a motion Tuesday to delay the case of Derek Hayward in light of a barrage of media a...