California

Celebrity Foreclosure Case: Jose Canseco

The national mortgage meltdown is reportedly affecting even major league baseball stars. Jose Canseco, 43, who retired from MLB in 2001, told Inside Edition he has lost his Encino, Calif., home after the TV show reported that it had foreclosure documents showing he owed $2.5 million on it, reports Reuters.…

May 1, 2008 9:48 PM CDT

Courthouse Chaos: Knife-Wielding Man Killed in Calif. Courtroom

There was chaos at a central California courthouse yesterday afternoon, as a man wielding two knives burst into building and ran into a packed courtroom before officers shot him to death there. Robert Eaton, 40, who apparently had a history of mental illness and had reportedly previously rammed his car…

Apr 29, 2008 5:18 PM CDT

MySpace Wins Suit Against Accused Spam King

The MySpace social networking website has won a default judgment against accused spammer Sanford Wallace. CNET News reports that Wallace failed to respond to discovery requests in the suit, filed in Los Angeles federal court last March. MySpace had contended Wallace launched a phishing scam to access MySpace profiles and…

Apr 29, 2008 2:27 PM CDT

Morrison & Foerster Closes Orange County Office

Morrison & Foerster is closing its Orange County office in the wake of a decision by the head of the outpost to leap to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Orange County managing partner Dean Zipser is moving to Manatt along with partner Thomas Umberg, the Recorder reports. The firm plans to…

Apr 29, 2008 12:08 PM CDT

Appeals Court Halves $30M Verdict Against Robert Blake

A California appeals court has cut in half a $30 million verdict against actor Robert Blake awarded to the estate of his murdered wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Blake was acquitted of the murder but found liable for the 2001 death in a civil suit. The appellate court said the award…

Apr 28, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

Boalt Beefs Up Calif. Bar Prep After 2007 Pass Rate Dips to 82 Percent

Rattled by a pass rate on the California bar exam among its graduates in July 2007 that dipped to 82 percent, one of the state’s most prestigious law schools is focusing on better preparing its students to succeed on the ticket-punching test. In particular, graduates’ ability to pass the bar…

Apr 25, 2008 4:44 PM CDT

Landlords Charged in Calif. Rental Rage Case Cut Hole in Tenant’s Floor

Two landlords are facing felony charges after allegedly waging a war of terror in an effort to persuade a San Francisco tenant to move out and harassing two other tenants who sought to pay reduced rent. Software engineer Kip Macy, 33, and real estate agent Nicole Macy, 32, were charged…

Apr 24, 2008 8:02 PM CDT

Testimony: Hacker Says News Corp. Unit Hired Him

A computer hacker testified in a corporate-spying lawsuit Wednesday in California that a unit of News Corp. hired him to develop pirating software to penetrate a rival satellite service’s security system. Christopher Tarnovsky, who says his first $20,000 was paid in cash hidden in electronic devices mailed from Canada, denied…

Apr 24, 2008 11:43 AM CDT

Lawyer Surrenders License After Bar Says He Left Innocent Client in Jail

A California lawyer has surrendered his law license after state bar officials accused him of stealing client funds, and in a more serious breach, of allowing a defendant to sit in jail for months even though the lawyer had evidence that would clear him. William S. Gebbie, a well-known San…

Apr 24, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

O’Connor on Ethical Missteps in Legal Profession

Speaking at Stanford University this week, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor waded into the topic of unscrupulous lawyers. Speaking about the “drastic results” of the 2001 collapse of Enron Corp., O’Connor said, “It makes one wonder what kind of ethical standards the lawyers and the accountants were…

Apr 24, 2008 9:54 AM CDT

Garlic Co. to Pay $60K for Creating Toxic ‘Swamp Gas’

Just in time for Earth Day 2008, a Gilroy, Calif.-based garlic-processing company has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought after the company let chunks of garlic spill into a nearby creek. The garlic spill created a “swamp gas” that killed thousands of fish, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Christopher Ranch,…

Apr 22, 2008 11:29 AM CDT

One Firm’s Paperless Law Office

As Kermit the Frog found out long ago, it’s not that easy being green. And now lawyers are finding that out, too, even though many strongly believe the benefits are well worth the occasional inconvenience. For the past two years, San Diego’s Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel has been…

Apr 21, 2008 6:32 PM CDT

‘Dim-Witted Desperado’ Pleads in Craiglist Hit Man Case

A married Michigan woman who advertised on Craigslist for a hit man to murder her boyfriend’s wife has pleaded guilty to three federal charges in the murder-for-hire scheme. Three Californians who took note of Anne Marie Linscott’s “freelance” employment ad on Craiglist in November 2007 contacted authorities, Reuters reported, and…

Apr 21, 2008 3:42 PM CDT

No Slowdown for Britney’s Lawyers: Latest Spears Legal Bill is $372,500

Last month, Britney Spears was told to ante up $375,000 to pay her ex-husband’s legal fees in a child custody case. Now, a Los Angeles judge says, she’ll have to pay another $372,500 to cover legal fees related to her own conservatorship. “And that doesn’t even include the $10,000 a…

Apr 18, 2008 8:22 PM CDT

Group Wins Jury Instructions Award; Here is the Plain-Language Text!

A California task force has won a first-time award for jury instructions from the National Center for State Courts. The group’s revision, starting in 1998, of the state’s civil and criminal pattern jury instructions has created plain-language jury instructions that are now widely in use throughout California and much easier…

Apr 18, 2008 5:53 PM CDT