California

Jones Day Lays Off Staffers in Dallas and LA as ‘Last-Resort Alternative’

Jones Day has laid off an unspecified number of support staffers in its Los Angeles and Dallas offices. Washington, D.C., partner Joe Sims tells the ABA Journal that about two-thirds of those laid off are secretarial workers, and the rest are other legal support staffers. Sims wouldn’t give out specific…

Jun 16, 2010 5:08 PM CDT

Drug-Sniffing Dog Focuses on Courthouse Lawyer

A drug-sniffing dog checking inmates waiting for court appearances in a lockup at the Los Angeles courthouse focused instead on a visiting lawyer, resulting in his arrest on a charge of narcotics possession, according to sheriff’s police. Deputies searched lawyer Michael Inman after the dog alerted and found heroin and…

Jun 16, 2010 2:57 PM CDT

Glitch in California Court Computer System Exposed Confidential Data

Multiple technology problems delayed action on a computer glitch that exposed confidential case information in California’s Sacramento County, according to the court’s presiding judge. A probate lawyer first noticed the problem on courthouse computer kiosks May 24, but they weren’t closed down until June 4, according to the Recorder’s Legal…

Jun 16, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

4 Law Schools Named in Suit By Blind Advocacy Group Over LSAC’s Online Law School Applications

Four law schools have been added as defendants in a California lawsuit filed last year by a blind advocacy group against the Law School Admissions Council. The amended complaint filed last week contends that the University of California Hastings College of the Law, Chapman University School of Law, Thomas Jefferson…

Jun 15, 2010 12:51 PM CDT

Accused in Michael Jackson’s Death, Doc Can Still Practice Medicine

Almost a year after the death of Michael Jackson, the personal physician charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly administering a lethal dose of a powerful anesthetic is still practicing medicine in California, Nevada and Texas. And a California judge said today that it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to prevent…

Jun 15, 2010 12:33 AM CDT

Girl, 16, on Solo Sail Round the World Is Found Alive After Being Feared Lost at Sea

Upated: A 16-year-old girl from California on a solo round-the-world sailing trip who had sent a distress signal to her family and was feared to be lost at sea in the frigid Southern Indian was Ocean was found unharmed late Thursday night. At around 4 a.m., California time Thursday, Abby…

Jun 10, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

Judge Raises Lindsay Lohan’s Bond Because of Bracelet Report

A Los Angeles judge raised Lindsay Lohan’s bond to $200,000 on Tuesday after an alcohol monitoring bracelet detected a small amount of liquor. Lohan’s lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, told CNN that her client posted the new bond. “Having just received the report, I am not in a position to speak…

Jun 9, 2010 1:24 PM CDT

New UCLA Law Dean Will Be First Latina at Helm of a Top 20 Law School

Rachel Moran will be making history when she becomes the new dean of the law school at the University of California at Los Angeles. A law professor at the University of California at Berkeley since 1983, Moran will be the first Latina to head a top 20 law school, according…

Jun 9, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Judicial Candidate Defends Robocalls on Jurisdictional Grounds

A California judicial candidate says she’s not breaking state law by authorizing robocalls on behalf of her campaign. Victoria Kolakowski, who is seeking election to the Alameda County Superior Court, told KCBS that the calls are placed outside California and are outside the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Commission,…

Jun 8, 2010 2:08 PM CDT

Judge Considering Fraud Claims in Banana Workers’ Suit Says She Was Threatened

A Los Angeles judge considering fraud allegations in a lawsuit by Nicaraguan banana workers says she has been threatened, and so have witnesses in the case. Judge Victoria Chaney told of the threats on Monday after a closed-door meeting with lawyers, according to the Los Angeles Times and the Associated…

Jun 8, 2010 11:42 AM CDT

Mom Resolves Cold Parental Kidnap Case by Surfing Facebook

A California mom successfully used Facebook to search for the two children she hadn’t seen in nearly 15 years, after their father allegedly took them and told her she would never see them again. After finding her now-17-year-old daughter’s profile on the social networking website, Prince Segala made contact but…

Jun 7, 2010 11:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Can Sue Critic Over Craigslist War of Words, Says Appeal Court

Reversing a lower court ruling that a screenwriter’s critical comments on Craigslist about a California lawyer were protected by the First Amendment, a state appeals court last week reinstated attorney Richard Gibson’s suit. The comments allegedly posted by screenwriter Justin Swingle in conjunction with advertisements for Gibson’s law practice on…

Jun 7, 2010 11:09 PM CDT

Travel Agent’s Input Led to New Houston Office for Blank Rome

Blank Rome uses one agency to make arrangements for lawyers traveling on business. So when the firm was deciding where to focus its latest expansion efforts, it sought input from the Lawyers Travel Service, co-chairman Alan Hoffman tells the Law & Finance blog of the Philadelphia Business Journal. The travel…

Jun 7, 2010 4:08 PM CDT

Chinese Law Firm Opens Silicon Valley Office With 2 Perkins Coie Partners

A leading Chinese law firm has opened a Silicon Valley office staffed by the former managing partners of the Perkins Coie law offices in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition to James Zhu and Zhaohui “Zoe” Wang, the Beijing-based Jun He Law Offices has also hired former Jones Day counsel Steven…

Jun 3, 2010 1:55 PM CDT

Perkins Coie Opens New San Diego Office With 4 IP Lawyers, Plans 50 Lawyers There in 3 Years

Perkins Coie has opened a new office in San Diego with four lawyers, in the first step of a planned expansion of both its California presence and its intellectual property practice. The firm hopes to have 20 lawyers in San Diego by the end of the year and 50 attorneys…

Jun 2, 2010 7:35 PM CDT