California

Slain Attorney Didn’t Back Down from Opposing Party’s Alleged Threats

Updated: When Xia Zhao graduated from the University’s of California’s Hastings College of the Law in the midst of the dot-crash, she was disappointed that she didn’t get a big-firm job offer. But that didn’t stop the Chinese immigrant, who had already surmounted many other obstacles, from founding her own…

Jul 7, 2008 9:55 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Suit Claiming Government Wiretapped Lawyers’ Conversations

A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the government illegally wiretapped conversations between lawyers and a client, a now-defunct charity suspected of terrorism. The lawsuit relied on a classified call log the government turned over by mistake to the client, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. U.S.…

Jul 3, 2008 1:49 PM CDT

Reprising ‘Green Acres’: Lawyer Gives Up Big-City Life for Goat Farm

A California lawyer who moved from the San Francisco area to run a goat cheese farm in the Adirondacks no longer takes heat and water for granted. Sheila Flanagan still works 40 to 60 hours a week for her Oakland law firm from her new home, but she also farms…

Jul 3, 2008 12:49 PM CDT

New Beverly Hills Cop Drama: High-Speed Chase in Cell Phone Case

It all began over efforts by Beverly Hills, Calif., police to enforce a new state law that took effect yesterday, banning drivers from talking on handheld cell phones. But by the time the unidentified suspect was arrested this afternoon, the incident also involved a high-speed police pursuit after an allegedly…

Jul 2, 2008 10:38 PM CDT

Representing ‘Those People,’ Young PD Seeks Justice

As a young assistant public defender, Tamara Rice Lave initially thought she could be something of a social worker, helping clients turn their lives around. Now she sees her job as more of a chess game, investigating a case and trying it in a manner that creates reasonable doubt. Many…

Jul 2, 2008 5:17 PM CDT

Perry Mason Moment in LA Trial: Surprise Video Exonerates Defendant

A drug possession trial in Los Angeles ended abruptly after dramatic courtroom developments. When a surprise videotape of the defendant’s arrest was played in court Friday by the defense, it contradicted the testimony of two arresting police officers, who are now the focus of a new investigation. On Monday, after…

Jul 1, 2008 4:45 PM CDT

Eight Akin Gump Lawyers Move to Hunton & Williams

Eight labor lawyers from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld are moving to Hunton & Williams to staff offices in California and Texas. Among those making the move is Laura Franze, a co-chair of Akin Gump’s labor and employment group who will hold the same position at Hunton, the Recorder…

Jul 1, 2008 11:59 AM CDT

Chemerinsky Has a Dream for UC Irvine

When Erwin Chemerinsky officially takes the helm tomorrow as dean of the new law school still being created at the University of California at Irvine, he knows he wants to catapult it into the nation’s top 20, even as it is still awaiting its first students next year. But that…

Jun 30, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

Calif. Panel: Death Penalty System is ‘Dysfunctional,’ ‘Close to Collapse’

Unless the state of California spends significantly more money or changes sentencing laws, its 670-inmate death row—the biggest in the country—will continue to grow and be plagued with lengthy delays, a state commission says. The time from sentencing to execution in California ranges from 20 to 25 years, compared to…

Jun 30, 2008 5:44 PM CDT

What Should a Judge Do When Child Custody and Immigration Rules Clash?

If Carlos Alvarado is deported to Mexico, he loses the ability to see his 10-year-old son on a regular basis. Plus, in all likelihood, he won’t be able to pay his court-ordered $276 monthly child support to the boy’s mother, a legal permanent resident from Belize. But immigration courts generally…

Jun 30, 2008 5:06 PM CDT

Calif. Judge Removed from Bench Because of Expense Issue

A former prosecutor serving as an Orange County, Calif., judge must be removed from office, the state Commission on Judicial Performance has decided in a 7-3 ruling made public yesterday. The panel said in its opinion that Superior Court Judge Kelly MacEachern “engaged in willful misconduct” by seeking government reimbursement…

Jun 27, 2008 2:57 PM CDT

5 Days, 16 Cities, 389 Arrests for Child Prostitution

The FBI has announced 389 arrests for child prostitution made over a five-day period in 16 cities in 10 states and the District of Columbia, in the latest round in a five-year enforcement effort it terms Operation Cross Country. “Investigations uncovered schemes ranging from prostituting children at truck stops to…

Jun 26, 2008 4:07 PM CDT

Calif. Justice Disputes Religious Hate Mail, Says God Is Tolerant

California Supreme Court Justice Joyce Kennard takes issue with hate mail she has received criticizing her vote to legalize same-sex marriages in the state. The letter-writers insisted the ruling was contrary to biblical teachings, Kennard told the Recorder (sub. req.). But Kennard doesn’t agree. She believes God is a being…

Jun 26, 2008 1:17 PM CDT

AGs in 2 States Sue Countrywide, Allege Deceptive & Unfair Practices

Updated: The attorneys general of California and Illinois filed lawsuits today against Countrywide Financial Corp., claiming that the mortgage lender engaged in deceptive and unfair practices. Meanwhile, in third announcement today the governor of Washington state, Christine Gregoire, says it plans to fine the mortgage lender for allegedly discriminating against…

Jun 25, 2008 8:32 PM CDT

500-Officer Team Arrests 46 in L.A. Gang Sweep, Dozens More Indicted

A predawn sweep today in northeast Los Angeles by more than 500 federal, state and local law enforcement officers, including 10 SWAT teams, netted 28 suspected members of a notorious street gang, the Avenues They are being charged, along with 18 others arrested in the sweep today, with a variety…

Jun 25, 2008 7:21 PM CDT