California

Judge Bars Some Celebrex Claims

A federal judge has ruled that there is not enough evidence to prove the painkiller Celebrex causes heart attacks or strokes at the most common dosage. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco ruled yesterday that the evidence linking a 200-milligram dose of the painkiller with such health problems…

Nov 20, 2007 11:25 AM CST

18-Year-Old Aces Calif. Bar, Wins 1st Trial

An 18-year-old graduate of the UCLA School of Law is en route to become not only the youngest lawyer in the state but possibly the country. Kathleen Holtz, who learned Friday that she passed the California bar, has already been part of a winning trial team, reports the Wall Street…

Nov 19, 2007 8:50 PM CST

Lindsay Lohan’s ‘Day’ in Jail: 84 Minutes

Coming close to Nicole Richie’s celebrity record for the shortest jail stint in recent memory, Lindsay Lohan has reported for her one-day sentence. Actual time served by the 21-year-old actress: 84 minutes, according to Reuters. As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, Lohan received the one-day sentence in exchange for…

Nov 16, 2007 5:39 PM CST

Home Run King Barry Bonds is Indicted

UPDATED: A federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted baseball superstar Barry Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. This comes at the end of a four-year federal investigation into whether Bonds lied under oath to a grand jury probing steroid use by athletes, the Associated Press…

Nov 15, 2007 11:01 PM CST

Suit: Comcast Web Service Lightning-Slow

Contrary to its advertising claims, a cable television company provides Internet service that not only isn’t lightning swift but intentionally slows to a snail’s pace on certain applications, a lawsuit filed this week in California state court contends. Comcast Corp.’s interference with Internet file-sharing thus contradicts the Philadelphia-based company’s advertising…

Nov 15, 2007 10:33 PM CST

Lawyer Sues for Unpaid Bonuses After Big Wal-Mart Verdict

A lawyer who once worked for a San Francisco law firm that won a $172 million award against Wal-Mart claims in a lawsuit that she was never paid promised bonuses. Carolyn Burton claims in her suit against her former boss, Fred Furth, that she accepted a below-market salary with the…

Nov 15, 2007 12:15 PM CST

Federal Judge Hit for ‘Unseemly Haste’ in Dismissing Case

A federal appeals court said Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Manuel Real acted with “unseemly haste” when he dismissed a case brought by a no-show lawyer with a good excuse. The lawyer, Stanley Raskin, received e-mail notice of a hearing even though there was no evidence he had agreed to…

Nov 15, 2007 11:28 AM CST

O.J. Will Go to Trial in Armed Robbery Case

Unlike O.J. Simpson’s murder trial in the mid-1990s, it presumably won’t be billed as the trial of the century or become famous for related sideshow features such as a troupe of televised look-alike black-robed dancing trial “judges.” But the armed robbery case against the former football hero for an alleged…

Nov 15, 2007 1:15 AM CST

Boy Who Started Calif. Fire Won’t Be Charged

A 10-year-old boy who admitted starting one of California’s devastating fires last month will not be charged. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement there was no evidence the boy intended to start the fire, the Associated Press reports. The blaze was sparked by the boy…

Nov 14, 2007 3:59 PM CST

Judge to Decide Whether Pillsbury Should Give Up $4M-Plus Fee

A bankruptcy case involving alleged conflicts of interest by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has reinforced the need for disclosure. A San Jose, Calif., bankruptcy judge will consider whether the law firm should give up its $4 million-plus fees in the bankruptcy case of client SonicBlue following an investigation by the…

Nov 14, 2007 11:38 AM CST

Pedophile Blogger Banned from Oregon Bus

A self-proclaimed pedophile who has sparked innovative legal efforts to restrict his activities in Southern California has now reportedly had the same effect in the neighboring state of Oregon. Jack McClellan, who says he only looks at girls and doesn’t act on his admittedly illicit interest in them, was recently…

Nov 13, 2007 11:03 PM CST

Federal Oil Spill Charges Possible

Federal prosecutors are investigating an oil spill last week in the San Francisco Bay, a move that could signal charges against crew members of the damaged ship that spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel. The owner of the ship, which hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, is Regal Stone of Hong…

Nov 13, 2007 2:42 PM CST

SEC Won’t Act in Several High-Tech Backdating Probes

Several high-tech companies are reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission won’t be taking any action against them for backdating stock options. The SEC has closed its investigations of Electronic Arts, Linear Technology Corp., Nvidia Corp., PMC-Sierra Inc. and Zoran Corp., the Recorder reports. Marc Fagel, the enforcement chief of…

Nov 13, 2007 12:01 PM CST

Billionaire UC Irvine Donor Had Dean Consulting Rights

Billionaire Donald Bren was promised the right to consult on the selection of a dean for UC Irvine’s new law school in exchange for his $20 million donation. Bren also specified how big the “Donald Bren School of Law” signs should be displayed (they must be at least twice the…

Nov 12, 2007 1:26 PM CST

‘Unprecedented Peek’ at Health Insurer Claims-Handling

Due to the important public policy issues implicated, a former California judge overseeing an arbitration over a health insurer’s cancellation of a policyholder’s coverage has opened up the hearing to reporters and made public documents produced for the case. By doing so, former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam…

Nov 9, 2007 7:04 PM CST