Labor/Employment
AB 5 author proposes more exemptions from the employee classification law
By Jessica Mach
Since the gig-worker law took effect Jan. 1, opposition has come in the form of lawsuits as well as bills seeking to exempt ce...
Civil Litigation
VW scores win against objectors’ ‘clean diesel’ claims
By Craig Anderson
A San Francisco federal jury handed Volkswagen AG an early victory Tuesday by awarding just $5,727 in compensatory damages to ...
Government, Criminal
Assembly subcommittee takes testimony urging closure of two state prisons
By Malcolm Maclachlan
The informational hearing by the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety dove into the department’s proposed $13.4 billi...
9th Circuit mourns senior judge as model of collegiality
Insurance, Civil Litigation
Attorney in expletive tirade gets opposing counsel’s fee request halved
By Carter Stoddard
A federal judge awarded less than half of requested attorney fees to Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP after opposin...
Civil Litigation
Ex-Berkeley business professor settles with students over alleged scam course
By Malcolm Maclachlan
The program was not affiliated with Berkeley, and students received little to no instruction, according to a lawsuit filed by ...
Intellectual Property, Civil Litigation
Federal Circuit affirms patent win for San Jose-based TiVo
By Craig Anderson
San Jose-based TiVo Corp. scored an incremental win Monday in its patent battle with Comcast Corp. when a federal appellate pa...
State Bar & Bar Associations
Number of participants in bar’s Lawyer Assistance Program grows only slightly
By Henrik Nilsson
“Even with the significantly increased outreach, the number of new intakes in 2019 was only up 16 from 2018,” wrote Donna S. H...
Labor/Employment
Arbitrator rewrote rules with help from Gibson Dunn attorney, emails indicate
By Jessica Mach
The emails showing a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher attorney working with the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and...
Government, Criminal
LA DA tells of threats, as protesters gather at home the day before election.
By Blaise Scemama
During the last debate, when DA Jackie Lacey told a story about her father being shot in his front yard a protester yelled, “G...
Intellectual Property, Entertainment & Sports, Civil Litigation
Soul musician loses class certification bid against Warner Music Group
By Steven Crighton
A federal judge rejected a bid for class certification by 1970s soul musician Leonard Williams on Monday, finding the peculiar...
Consumer Law, Civil Litigation
Apple settles ‘defective device’ class action for up to $500M
By Gina Kim
Apple Inc. has agreed to settle up to $500M to resolve allegations of throttling older iPhone models.
Labor/Employment, Civil Litigation
Red Robin Inc. settles wage class action dispute for $8.5M in the middle of trial
By Gina Kim
Days into a federal trial, Red Robin International agreed to pay $8.5 million to workers who claimed they were cheated out of ...
California Supreme Court
State Supreme Court reverses appellate panel on Proposition 47 identity theft issue
By Meghann Cuniff
In a case out of Ventura County, justices ruled felony identity theft can’t be reduced to misdemeanor shoplifting as lower cou...
Judges and Judiciary
Open judicial races make for interesting campaigns in Southern and Central California
By Justin Kloczko
The candidates include a former child actor who isn’t a prosecutor but is labeled one on TV; a presiding judge being challenge...
Civil Litigation
Plaintiffs lawyers again claim judicial bias in VW emissions cheating trial
By Winston Cho
After raising concerns of bias on the eve of trial, Bryan Altman, representing the car owners, argued the “court has demonstra...
Criminal, Civil Rights, Civil Litigation
Suit claims Contra Costa DA failed to promote female prosecutors
By Jessica Mach
The lawsuit alleges DA Diana Becton, who was appointed interim DA in 2017, perpetuated age and gender discrimination by failin...
Probate, Entertainment & Sports, Civil Litigation
Sued by the plaintiff, judge nevertheless encourages Disney heir to settle $200M trust case
By Steven Crighton
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David J. Cowan named by Bradford Lund, a grandson of Disney suing his sister and a sla...
Medina Orthwein LLP lawyers say their identity helps them articulate their clients' stories.
Judges and Judiciary, Government
San Francisco judges choose sides in open judicial races
By Craig Anderson
It’s been two years since four San Francisco County deputy public defenders challenged incumbent judges on the rationale they ...
Law Practice, Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation
$5.4M in damages awarded in attorney malpractice lawsuit
By Henrik Nilsson
The defendant, attorney Khosro Reghabi with the Southern California Law Group, represented himself in the bench trial before S...
The newly amended settlement is worth upwards of $100M in benefits to Fiesta, Focus owners.
Judges and Judiciary, Entertainment & Sports, Civil Litigation
Disney heir claims LA judge violated his 14th amendment rights
By Steven Crighton
Bradford D. Lund, the plaintiff and a 50-year-old grandson of Walt Disney, alleged Cowan violated his Fourteenth Amendment rig...
Environmental & Energy
US suit against California’s cap-and-trade treaties can proceed, judge says
By Malcolm Maclachlan
A federal judge in Sacramento has allowed the U.S. government to move forward with a lawsuit seeking to block California’s cap...
Ethics/Professional Responsibility, Criminal
Disbarred Bakersfield attorney indicted on client fraud charges
By Henrik Nilsson
A federal grand jury has indicted disbarred attorney Heather Stanley of Bakersfield on charges she defrauded her clients of mo...
Government, Civil Litigation
Huntington Beach, OCBC join Costa Mesa coronavirus lawsuit
By Nicole Tyau
The planned amicus briefs are in response to a lawsuit brought by Costa Mesa a week ago seeking to bar the state and federal g...
Entertainment & Sports
$33M attorney fee award on hold as NCAA appeals injunction
By Steven Crighton
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken agreed to a request by the defendants to defer the payout until the parties respective cros...
Immigration, Government
New DOJ section to investigate illegal citizenship
By Gina Kim
The Department of Justice is ramping up efforts to crack down on terrorists, war criminals and other fraudsters believed to ha...
Labor/Employment, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Prior pay no defense against Equal Pay Act claims, circuit says
By Jessica Mach
The decision reverses a 1982 decision in which the court said employers could use prior pay to justify paying some employees l...
Law Practice
King & Spalding adds Stephen O’Neal to San Francisco office
By Henrik Nilsson
King & Spalding LLP announced Thursday that international construction and arbitration expert Stephen V. O’Neal has joined...