Appellate Practice
Court Allows Autistic Woman, 20, to Be Sterilized
By Anna Marie Stolley
Approving court-ordered sterilization for a 20-year-old autistic woman, a state appeal panel has defied statutory constraints...
Government
State Campaign Reform Agency Changes Hands
By Tom Dresslar
SACRAMENTO - For James M. Hall, the outgoing chairman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission, his predecessor was b...
Criminal
Court Reinstates Man's Conviction for Kidnapping
By David Pike
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled, 7-2, Tuesday that federal prosecutors may charge defendants with using a firearm during...
Government
Christopher Feted in Washington Gathering
By Jill Boekenoogen
WASHINGTON - On a day when the horror in Kosovo - and the corresponding U.S. involvement there - appeared to be escalating by ...
Criminal
Casablanca Sting Operation Nets Pleas
By Martin Bergn
Two of Mexico's largest banks pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to criminal charges Tuesday stemming from what authorities said w...
Environmental
Water Companies Sued for Having More Than H2O in Their Bottles
By Dennis Pfaff
SAN FRANCISCO - Carefully avoiding dubbing bottled water as generally unsafe, two environmental groups Tuesday launched a spl...
Law Practice
Attorney Found Competent in Defense of Client
By John Roemer
SAN FRANCISCO - Maureen Kallins, who is sometimes accused of overzealous lawyering in her criminal defense practice, has been...
Litigation
Illegal Defense Trickery Alleged in Lawsuit
By Denise Levin
A defense attorney is accused of illegally obtaining confidential information from witnesses in a wrongful termination case b...
Bankruptcy
Chapter 12 Extension Becomes Law
By Douglas Fabrick
On March 30, 1999, President Bill Clinton signed H.R. 808 into law, which extends Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code for six m...
Judges and Judiciary
Packing It In
By Denise Levin
The decision to close 12 of the 17 entrances to Los Angeles County's largest courthouse is provoking a mixed reaction in its ...
Personal Injury & Torts
Sears Is Nailed Over a Saws Flawed Design
By Philip Carrizosa
SAN FRANCISCO - A state appeal court has upheld a $3.8 million judgment against Sears Roebuck & Co. and one of its suppli...
Civil Rights
Davis Decision on 187 Looms Large
By Peter Blumberg
SACRAMENTO - The pundits are saying Gov. Gray Davis' decision whether to continue defending Proposition 187 in court is his t...
Judges and Judiciary
Rehnquist Demands an End to Impasse Over Judicial Funding
By Daniel Shaw
WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has jumped into the political fray surrounding the 2000 census and funding fo...
Entertainment & Sports
MGM and Sony Settle Battle for Bond Franchise
By Garry Abrams
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. will continue to be the sole Hollywood home of fictional British spy James Bond under a settlement a...
Labor/Employment
Court Strikes Arbitration Provision as One-Sided
By Tom Orewyler
Further chipping away at the ability of employers to impose arbitration as a condition of employment, an appellate panel has ...
Personal Injury & Torts
Jury Awards $1.2M for Misread Pap Smear Test
By B. Scott Bortnick
SANTA BARBARA - Maria Wellman wanted to live long enough to see her three sons baptized. She also wanted enough time to gain ...
Labor/Employment
Frustration Leads Court Employees to Picket
By Denise Levin
Los Angeles Municipal Court employees at the Inglewood Courthouse plan to picket today to protest stalled contract negotiatio...
Environmental
Water Decision Pleases Users, Conservationists
By Dennis Pfaff
SAN FRANCISCO - Both environmentalists and agricultural water users - groups that historically have agreed on little - have f...
Criminal
Attorney Enters Pleas in Altercations
By Matthew Heller
SAN BERNARDINO - Six months after his controversial arrest by a police SWAT team, a family law attorney has pleaded guilty to...
Technology & Science
Melissa Does Mischief to Some Firms' Systems
By Chris Ford
Two San Francisco-based law firms were hit by the self-replicating "Melissa" computer virus Friday, causing them to cut off t...
Judges and Judiciary
Attorney: Jury Selection Biased
By Patricia Jocobus
SAN FRANCISCO - Criminal defense attorney Oscar Bobrow seethes as a Contra Costa County prosecutor uses up her peremptory cha...
Entertainment & Sports
Lawyers Fined in Sprewell Challenge
By Pamela Mac Lean
SAN FRANCISCO - Making good on his threat, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Monday dismissed former Golden State Warriors ...
Law Practice
Attorneys Transcript Ruse Is No Crime, Lawyer Says
By Michael Harris
While UCLA law school graduate Emanuel Johnson may indeed have doctored his transcripts to land a job at Arnold & Porter,...
State Bar & Bar Associations
Sections Seek Place on State Bar Board
By Don De Benedictis
COSTA MESA - For nearly six months, State Bar President Raymond C. Marshall has tried to heal the rift that developed last ye...
Judges and Judiciary
Pines Opens Door to Broad Inclusiveness on the Bench
By Jean Guccione
In his first public comments as the governor's judicial appointments secretary, Burt Pines offered long-awaited hope to openl...
Education
Court to Decide If Students Must Fund Gay Center, Womens Group
By David Pike
WASHINGTON - Taking on a knotty issue that has divided the lower courts, the Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether ...
Judges and Judiciary
Appeals Panel Bites the Hand That Feeds It
By Anna Marie Stolley
The fur practically flew in the appeal court Monday as the justices addressed a case between the estate of Lillian Disney, wi...
Civil Rights
Inglewood City Attorney Claims Discrimination
By Michael Harris
The former acting city attorney of Inglewood has filed a reverse discrimination claim with the state against Mayor Roosevelt ...
Government
Lockyer: Feds Remain Adamant Against Medical Marijuana Use
By Peter Blumberg
SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Bill Lockyer says it may be a long time before Californians can legally use marijuana for medic...
Law Practice
Shakespeare in Court
By E Freudenthal
Trial attorneys are trained to organize the facts of their argument in a way that compels a jury to agree with them. Actors a...