California

Barnes & Thornburg to Open LA Office with 6 Lawyers from Akin Gump, Including Office MP

In the latest chapter of its expansion saga, the largest law firm in Indianapolis has opened an office in Los Angeles. The new Barnes & Thornburg outpost will initially be staffed by five lawyers from the Los Angeles office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. However, a sixth, who…

Feb 25, 2011 5:59 PM CST

Friends and Family Mourn Former Local Bar President and Divorce Client, Killed During Court Recess

A former county bar president was remembered at a Fresno, Calif., memorial service earlier this week after she and her divorce client were shot and killed at a restaurant during a court recess. The coroner’s office confirmed that lawyer Judith Leslie Soley and her client, Sandra Williamson, both 65, died…

Feb 24, 2011 2:12 PM CST

New IP Boutique’s Sassy Website Urges Potential Clients to ‘Reject Convention,’ Disses BigLaw

Saying that they can do a better job for clients as a small intellectual property boutique than the BigLaw firms from whence they came, seven lawyers from DLA Piper and Mayer Brown, including at least two who were partners at their former firms, have hung out their own shingle in…

Feb 23, 2011 8:46 PM CST

Judge Tells Lindsay Lohan She Will Go to Jail If She Takes Offered Plea in Necklace-Theft Case

A lawyer for actress Lindsay Lohan reportedly had been trying to negotiate a plea deal in a necklace-theft case that would not involve any jail time. However, a California judge told Lohan in court today that any sentence he gives her if she pleads guilty or no contest would involve…

Feb 23, 2011 6:04 PM CST

Lawyer Held in Contempt for Advising Clients to Reclaim Foreclosed Home

A California judge has held a lawyer in contempt for advising his clients to reclaim their foreclosed property. The controversial lawyer, Michael T. Pines, will have to pay $2,000 in fines and more than $34,000 in legal fees incurred by the investment company that bought the home, according to the…

Feb 18, 2011 2:25 PM CST

Diabetic Sues Restaurant for All-You-Can-Eat Restrictions

A diabetic has sued a California sushi restaurant for disability discrimination after its owner told him he had to eat his rice if he wanted the all-you-can-eat offer. Plaintiff David Martin is seeking at least $4,000 for “humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish” suffered as a result of the alleged bias…

Feb 18, 2011 1:20 PM CST

Feds Raid Health Care Facilities, Arrest Over 100 Professionals in 9 Cities in Record Medicare Bust

Federal authorities have arrested 111 doctors, nurses and other professionals in nine cities in what is being billed as the biggest Medicare fraud bust ever. It allegedly involved fraudulent billing of the government for health care services that weren’t provided, according to ABC News and the Associated Press. The raids…

Feb 17, 2011 6:49 PM CST

How Gal Pal’s Lawyer Got Mel Gibson Offer to $16M (Refused), Up From 1 Year Rent and Dodge Charger

When Oksana Grigorieva moved in with Mel Gibson, a 2009 cohabitation agreement provided that she would get one year’s free housing in a home he owned and a Dodge Charger if the couple split. But after she had the actor’s child, and especially after she taped him in an embarassing…

Feb 17, 2011 12:04 AM CST

Video Game Bar Association Launches, Invites 100 Lawyers to Play

The Video Game Bar Association, the first organization of its kind, has launched, bringing together lawyers specializing in the video game and interactive media industries. “There is no organization that allows us to get to know each other and share ideas. The Copyright Society is too broad. We want something…

Feb 17, 2011 12:00 AM CST

Jones Day Snags 7-Partner Howrey Construction Team; 2 Others Go to Ober Kaler

Adding to an ever-lengthening list of departing lawyers, a seven-partner construction team has exited Howrey’s office in San Francisco this week for Jones Day. Howrey declined to comment, reports the Daily Journal (sub. req.). But partner Robert Mittelstaedt, who heads the San Francisco office of Jones Day, confirmed the move…

Feb 16, 2011 3:30 AM CST

Beverly Hills Lawyer Gets 4 Months for Taking Heroin Into Courthouse

A 48-year-old Beverly Hills criminal defense attorney has pleaded no contest to a single count of taking drugs into jail, as part of a plea bargain over his alleged attempt to smuggle black tar heroin into the downtown Los Angeles courthouse. Under the agreement, Michael Inman will get four months…

Feb 15, 2011 12:59 AM CST

Hogan Lovells Woos and Wins 5-Partner Howrey Team Headed by IP Litigation Rainmaker

The San Francisco office of Howrey has just lost another leading rainmaker. Intellectual property litigator K.T. “Sunny” Cherian moved to Hogan Lovells on Saturday along with a four-partner team from Howrey and a reputed $10 million book of business, the Recorder reports. As the Recorder notes, Cherian’s move may not…

Feb 15, 2011 12:01 AM CST

10th Circuit Judge to Become New Dean of Pepperdine Law School

A federal appeals judge who took senior status earlier this year will begin a new job on June 1. Deanell Tacha of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will become the dean of Pepperdine University’s law school, report LJWorld.com and the Los Angeles Times blog L.A. Now. She…

Feb 11, 2011 1:16 PM CST

Now That 5 Shelter Beds are Available, San Diego Can Ticket Those Who Snooze on City Streets

The homeless can still sleep soundly in San Diego at night. But now it will have to be in a shelter bed or a jail cell, unless they can find an alternative snooze spot out of sight from police. Under a settlement of litigation brought by advocates for the homeless,…

Feb 11, 2011 12:51 AM CST

Shoppers Don’t Have to Give their ZIP Codes to Retailers, Rules California Supreme Court

Often in the forefront as far as recognizing consumer rights is concerned, California law gives consumers the right to withhold their ZIP code from retailers, the California Supreme Court decided today. Under the state’s constitutional right of privacy and the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971, which protects consumers’ “personal…

Feb 10, 2011 11:14 PM CST