California

Judge: Spector Lawyers Violated Rules

The judge in the ongoing Phil Spector murder trial has rebuked the music producer’s attorneys for a violation of discovery rules “so deliberate and so egregious” that it requires a remedy. Hence, Judge Larry Paul Fidler said Thursday, he is going to instruct the jury to take it into consideration…

Aug 17, 2007 7:36 PM CDT

ID Theft Ring Focused on Forbes 400

An alleged identity theft gang has been charged with attempting to steal more than $12 million from super-wealthy individuals, at least some of whom reportedly were on the Forbes 400 list. Run by a 24-year-old Russian immigrant, according to prosecutors and a New York County grand jury indictment, the ring…

Aug 17, 2007 6:33 PM CDT

Mistake Explanation Privileged, Qualcomm Lawyers Say

Lawyers for Qualcomm aren’t saying why they made discovery errors in litigation over cell phone patent rights. Transcripts from a July 26 hearing in San Diego show that Qualcomm is asserting attorney-client privilege in the case, the Recorder reports. A federal magistrate has ordered lawyers from two law firms to…

Aug 17, 2007 10:34 AM CDT

Shocking Case: Legal Team Tasers Client

Proceedings have been delayed in a California misdemeanor case in which the defense is claiming that police brutalized their client with a stun gun during his arrest at a shopping mall last year. That’s because the defense team is now being criminally investigated for allegedly violating human experimentation laws by…

Aug 16, 2007 9:01 PM CDT

Online Journalists Sue H-P

Internet-based reporters caught up in the Hewlett-Packard pretexting scandal have filed suit against the computer maker claiming invasion of privacy. One Associated Press reporter and three CNet.com reporters, all of whose phone records were scrutinized by HP investigators, filed suit in state court in San Francisco on Wednesday, reports the…

Aug 16, 2007 4:53 PM CDT

Paris Hilton & Mel Gibson Protection Act?

A bill being considered in the California legislature attempts to regulate checkbook journalism and private investigators who pay for confidential information. The legislation, AB 920, would make it a misdemeanor for law enforcement personnel and court employees to profit by releasing confidential information or permitting photographs of a person in…

Aug 16, 2007 4:08 PM CDT

$81.5 M in Fees Approved

Plaintiffs attorneys were awarded about $81.5 million in attorney fees yesterday following settlement of a case that alleged price fixing of DRAM computer chips. The money will be split among some 40 firms that worked on the case, In Re Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) Litigation, the Recorder reports. The…

Aug 16, 2007 11:54 AM CDT

Judge Summons Qualcomm Lawyers

A federal magistrate has ordered former lawyers for Qualcomm Inc. to appear in court later this month to face possible misconduct sanctions stemming from their roles in a cell phone patent case. The LA Times reports that U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major has ordered more than a dozen lawyers from…

Aug 15, 2007 4:09 PM CDT

Did Pedophile Violate Unusual Order?

A self-proclaimed pedophile who was the subject of an unusual injunction earlier this month was arrested twice yesterday. Initially, Jack McClellan, 45, was arrested yesterday afternoon on suspicion of violating a temporary restraining order imposed Aug. 3 that prohibits him from coming within 10 yards of any child in California,…

Aug 14, 2007 5:15 PM CDT

OJ Simpson Book to be Published

A book by O.J. Simpson that reportedly contains a hypothetical account of how he might have murdered his former wife, Nicole, if he had actually done so, will soon be in bookstores nationwide after all. Withdrawn from publication last year, following a firestorm of criticism, it has been accepted anew…

Aug 13, 2007 8:18 PM CDT

Foreclosure: One California Home’s Story

A single foreclosed home in Southern California is part of a much bigger story. It’s emblematic of what went wrong in the U.S. subprime mortgage industry, leading to turmoil in world financial markets and a downward spiral of decreasing real estate values that isn’t expected to end anytime soon. As…

Aug 13, 2007 4:20 PM CDT

Marine Lawyer Cleared in Haditha Case

All charges have been dropped against a U.S. Marine lawyer who was accused of dereliction of duty for not conducting a more aggressive investigation of the deaths of 24 civilians at Haditha, Iraq in 2005. Capt. Randy Stone, who served as battalion lawyer, will not be charged, based on a…

Aug 9, 2007 6:58 PM CDT

San Diego Sues Willkie Farr

San Diego’s city attorney has filed a malpractice suit against Willkie Farr & Gallagher. It claims that the high-powered New York City-based law firm overbilled and exceeded the scope of its agreed representation to help a consultant and municipal audit committee prepare a report on the city’s financial failures. After…

Aug 9, 2007 5:16 PM CDT

Anna Nicole Breast Surgery Video Banned

A Southern California judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing a Texas plastic surgeon from selling, distributing or disseminating a 1994 videotape of breast augmentation surgery he performed on Anna Nicole Smith. The former stripper and Playboy playmate of the Year, perhaps best-known for her marriage to a Houston…

Aug 9, 2007 4:24 PM CDT

Paris Hilton Sets Celebrity Precedent

It isn’t the kind of precedent that attorneys learn about in law school. But the media circus surrounding Paris Hilton’s brief stint in the slammer earlier this summer shows that the legal rules for celebrity attorneys are different than those that take priority in less-scrutinized practice areas. “The Hilton mess…

Aug 8, 2007 11:28 PM CDT