California’s state Senate will be at least 50% women for the first time in history and, depending on a few undecided races, the state Legislature overall could reach gender parity for the first time.
California posted a 54% pass rate on the July 2024 bar exam — an increase from 52% the previous year and a strong finish to what was by and large an excellent bar exam cycle for most of the country.
Following his proclamation declaring Veterans Day and highlighting major investments in veterans’ mental health, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he has granted five pardons to veterans who served honorably in our nation’s Armed Forces.
For officials in Alameda County, who are grappling with the same vexing street conditions that became political flash points in San Francisco, the stakes are high. Their version of Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act court will roll …
The Justice Gap = the distance between the need for civil legal assistance among low-income Americans and the resources available to meet that need. A national leader in the effort to close this gap, Rachel Rossi recalled a mother she once volunteered to …
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has approved $282,613 to cover staffing positions and overhead costs tied to the county’s implementation of a state-mandated program intended to help individuals suffering from severe mental illness, including …
(Subscription required) The messages aim to lure recipients to click on fake electronic filing notifications purporting to come from the federal judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, but which lead to a malicious website with …
(Subscription required) The Los Angeles County Superior Court is piloting a new workflow initiative to reduce attorney court appearances and expedite unlimited civil personal injury motor vehicle cases.
(Subscription required) The 4th District Court of Appeal, Division 3, reversed Orange County Judge Kimberley A. Knill, who had sanctioned attorney William L. Buus the maximum $1,500, referring him to the State Bar because his client's New York-based …
Div. Seven of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that a party petitioning to set aside a judgment entered in a divorce proceeding, under a Family Code section allowing such relief in the event of “mental incapacity,” must show a mental deficit that …
A First Appellate District panel overturned a judge's finding in favor of the city in 2023 and agreed with the owner that Lot 18 of the parcel is a lawfully separate piece of land under the state's 1974 Subdivision Map Act. The panel ordered the …
(Subscription required) Minor's counsel holds a unique position within the legal system. Unlike attorneys who represent parents or other parties, we are appointed by the court to champion the best interests of the child. This role is pivotal in …
Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has reversed an order to a lawyer/business executive to relinquish a firearm—a command the justices said a family law judge had no authority to issue—but spurned the party’s request to invalidate a …
The Judicial Council’s Court Facilities Advisory Committee (JCC) approved the USDA National Forest Service Office location at 631 Coyote Street in Nevada City as the preferred site for a new courthouse. The design-build phase for a new courthouse — …
The series’ final event, held Oct. 31, featured Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu discussing the role of federal courts — particularly the U.S. Supreme Court — in protecting democracy. With longer life …
A series of planned actions and tools intended to reduce and offset potential impacts to fish species are linked to the new permit. They include tidal marsh and floodplain restoration projects supporting spawning, better fish passage in essential migration …
That technique—often known as a “headless PAGA” case—is a bid to avoid forced arbitration by skipping individual claims in favor of filing a case only on behalf of an employee group. It was bolstered by a state appeals court’s Balderas v. Fresh Start …
We eagerly support the Forest Service site for the new Courthouse and avoid diluting the community’s enthusiasm for that decision by deferring any discussion of a back up selection unless it becomes necessary.
The State Bar’s Annual Diversity Report Card released last month highlights the demographic composition of California’s 2023 attorney population and, for the first time, analyzes changing trends in demographic representation since 2019. The report also …
A tax on thousands of vacant apartment units in San Francisco, approved by the city’s voters two years ago to make more housing available to would-be tenants, has been struck down by a judge. Approved by 54% of the voters in November 2022, the measure was …
