GUEST COLUMNS
Thursday, January 29, 2026
As parents let teens ride solo in autonomous vehicles, the real legal question isn't rule-breaking--it's whether companies can avoid responsibility when they knowingly allow foreseeable risks.
Lululemon is now tackling dupe culture on two fronts--challenging lookalikes in court while using a new trademark strategy to curb how competitors talk about them online.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
As AI hype accelerates, a wave of "AI washing" securities lawsuits--alleging companies overstated or misrepresented their AI capabilities--highlights the need for careful, fact-based disclosures, forward-looking safe-harbor language and proactive risk management to mitigate litigation exposure.
Canadian securities regulators have introduced sweeping reforms to strengthen capital markets amid U.S. trade tensions, expanding capital-raising limits, streamlining IPO requirements and broadening investor participation--creating conditions for continued growth in 2026.
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Proposed federal evidence rule would require AI-Generated evidence to meet same standard as expert witnesses.
The California Supreme Court recognizes the public's right under the California Public Records Act to enforce proper public agency behavior.
Monday, January 26, 2026
In 2025, California courts and the Department of Insurance clarified that
"direct physical loss or damage" from fires and smoke--including invisible or
microscopic damage--can qualify for coverage under insurance policies, building
on the precedent set in Another Planet Entertainment v. Vigilant Insurance.
The fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis violated the
Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable seizures, yet federal doctrines like
qualified immunity and the fading Bivens remedy leave victims without
real redress.
Friday, January 23, 2026
More than a year after the Eaton and Palisades fires, many families still cannot rebuild because insurers quietly shortchange total-loss claims by delaying, minimizing or withholding benefits they owe.
California has finally delivered broad tax relief for wildfire settlements--but new legal definitions and shifting requirements mean many victims must still tread carefully to secure their exclusions.
Thursday, January 22, 2026
McConaughey is trademarking 'Alright, alright, alright'--and himself--to fight AI deepfakes before they fight him.
The Trump administration's most consequential norm-breaking act may be its sidelining of senior JAG officers and targeting of Senator Mark Kelly for restating the bedrock rule that service members must obey only lawful orders.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Long before today's trade wars, tariff disputes helped shape the legal definition of art--forcing courts to draw lines between culture and commerce.
The start of a new year offers a timely reminder: maintaining perspective is essential for attorneys and firm leaders working to build meaningful, sustainable practices amid ongoing professional demands.
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
While FEHA already provides for fee recovery, an offer to compromise remains a powerful, underutilized tool that can bolster plaintiffs' leverage, efficiency and positioning throughout litigation.
For Iranians, U.S. foreign policy isn't just unpredictable--it's dangerous, as shifting statements and unclear signals from Washington can raise hopes, trigger crackdowns and leave people vulnerable.
Friday, January 16, 2026
SB 37 redefines "truthful and not misleading" for an era when AI, vendors and influencers often blur the line between real legal advice and digital impersonation.
Five 2025 appellate rulings that trusts and estates practitioners need to know, from reformation petitions and elder abuse liability to demurrer deadlines and will revocation requirements.
Thursday, January 15, 2026
A series of antitrust defeats has left the NCAA unable to enforce its own eligibility rules, fueling a bidding war for top athletes that threatens to destroy non-revenue sports programs. Federal legislation may be the only way to preserve college athletics.
As multimillion-dollar payouts for police violence, infrastructure failures and civil rights violations surge, California's public liability funds are straining under risks their original designs never envisioned.
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
California's highest court will decide in Bring Back the Kern v. City of Bakersfield whether a statutory duty to protect fish under Fish & Game Code ยงย 5937 must be tied to the Constitution's "reasonable use" requirement before a violation can be found.
In Paglia & Associates Construction
v. Hamilton, a homeowner's critical Yelp reviews and blog posts about her
contractor led to a libel lawsuit. The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled the
litigation privilege doesn't extend to public social media complaints--only to
communications made within official proceedings.
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
After years of attempts, California has amended the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act to let judges lower the evidentiary bar in cases involving spoliation.
Federal contractors are supposed to give hiring preferences to veterans, but the Department of Labor lets them off the hook.
Monday, January 12, 2026
The Trump administration is already deploying GenAI to second-guess physicians' determinations of medical necessity for seniors' treatments, shifting Medicare toward cost-driven care over clinician judgment.
California's 2026 carryout bag law closes the thick plastic loophole but still relies on outdated material categories instead of lifecycle performance metrics to guide sustainable packaging policy.
Friday, January 9, 2026
Britain's control of Iran's oil industry in the 20th century was technically successful but politically catastrophic. The lessons from that failure offer crucial insights for anyone considering U.S. engagement in Venezuela's oil sector today.
The IRS's new Trump Accounts could reshape early-life investing, offering families a flexible, long-term savings tool that blends retirement-style benefits with child-focused incentives.
Thursday, January 8, 2026
California's bail system crisis isn't the result of recent reforms--it stems from courts refusing to follow constitutional requirements that have existed since 1849.
Netflix's $72 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery tests the limits of antitrust enforcement in the streaming era--and reveals how media giants are adapting to regulatory scrutiny.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
At the intersection of Saticoy Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Canoga Park, a newly rebuilt crosswalk tells a troubling story about how well-intentioned compliance initiatives can quietly make streets less safe.
By declining review in Kennedy
Commission, the California Supreme Court let stand a ruling that sharpens a
pivotal question: how far, and how fast, can the state compel charter city
housing compliance?
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Monday, January 5, 2026
Alford and Pena expose a
split over emergency takings: One court says the Fifth Amendment always
requires compensation, the other leans on history, leaving the Supreme Court to
resolve the clash.
As states wage an escalating redistricting arms race, the only way to stop politicians from handpicking their voters is a national ban on partisan gerrymandering that puts independent mapmakers -- not self-interested lawmakers--in charge.
Friday, January 2, 2026
Witnesses tell your client's story but mishandling them can write them out of your case entirely. From who you can contact to what documents you can accept, here's what California lawyers need to know about witness communication ethics.
Enlarging the House by 150 members and the Senate by 21 could make Congress more representative, reduce district distortion and restore closer connections between lawmakers and constituents.
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Constructive receipt determines when income is considered taxable, focusing on whether you have an unrestricted right to payment, even if you don't actually receive it.
Understanding the neutral's perspective can help practitioners achieve better outcomes.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Combat veterans carry invisible battlefields of trauma; while the justice system once punished their symptoms, veteran treatment courts now prioritize healing, restore dignity, reduce recidivism and offer paths to redemption.
To counterbalance a federal judiciary dominated by former executive branch lawyers who defer to presidential power, the Senate should require that for every judge nominated with senior executive experience, another must have substantive legislative branch experience.
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U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston
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NEWS
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General News
Thursday, January 29, 2026 |
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| Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify Feb. 9 as the first jury trial over alleged addictive social media design moves forward, with a Los Angeles judge urging efficiency while resolving scheduling, evidentiary and jury logistics. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 29, 2026 |
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| The effects of lowering rates beyond a level that is appropriate for the economy are complicated, and not entirely positive. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 29, 2026 |
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| Corporate legal leaders from Robinhood, Coherent, Peloton, and Edward Jones said U.S. regulatory uncertainty is slowing blockchain and digital asset innovation, particularly in areas such as tokenization, payments, and market infrastructure, while Europe moves ahead. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 |
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| Google and Epic urged a federal judge to modify an Android app store injunction, but the FTC and Microsoft warned proposed changes could undermine competition and preserve Google's market power. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 |
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| A Democratic lawmaker is pushing a proposal to speed up $10 billion in funding for climate programs more than a year after voters approved Proposition 4, the state's biggest investment yet to combat climate change. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 |
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| A California Court of Appeal revived claims by more than 100 renters, holding tenants may sue landlords for background-check disclosure violations under state law even without proving they suffered actual harm. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 |
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| Corporate bankruptcies have hit their highest level in 15 years, and while attorneys do not see the large-scale filings that occurred during the Great Recession, they are expecting another increase in 2026. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 |
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| Ian Rambarran assumes operational leadership of the San Diego-based law firm as founder John Klinedinst focuses on strategy and growth. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 |
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| California faces a half-dozen existential issues that threaten the state's future economic and social wellbeing, and they have persistently defied attempts to resolve them over the last 25 years. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 |
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| A Los Angeles judge questioned whether Pasadena's anticipatory breach claims against UCLA fit the Rose Bowl agreement's narrow arbitration clause, taking under submission whether the dispute belongs in court or arbitration. | |
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General News
Monday, January 26, 2026 |
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| Google urged Judge Richard Seeborg to decertify a privacy class after a $425 million verdict, arguing the lead plaintiff's testimony undermines the claim that users uniformly found the data collection highly offensive, the applicable legal standard. | |
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General News
Monday, January 26, 2026 |
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| Former Optrics lead counsel Herbert Terreri settled malpractice claims for at least $1.75 million, denying wrongdoing, as pending good-faith settlements leaving Cloud9 Discovery as the sole remaining defendant. | |
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General News
Monday, January 26, 2026 |
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| A surge of anti-government protests swept Iran this month, leading to civilian casualties and prompting President Donald Trump to hint that he was considering military intervention. Somehow, it was also a betting opportunity. | |
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General News
Friday, January 23, 2026 |
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| Major technology companies are using a creative legal method to add AI company founders and talented engineers without buying the startups. | |
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General News
Friday, January 23, 2026 |
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| San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju hired outside counsel as contempt proceedings continue over his office's refusal to accept new cases, prompting Judge Harry Dorfman to delay hearings and stress court objectivity. | |
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General News
Friday, January 23, 2026 |
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| Google this month began rolling out a suite of new tools relying on generative AI, the technology driving chatbots, to help users manage their bloated inboxes and speed up the process of writing email. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 22, 2026 |
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| Millions of borrowers who are in default on their student loans got a reprieve Friday: The government said it would delay aggressive efforts to collect on the debt, including seizing funds from paychecks and income tax refunds. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 22, 2026 |
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| A San Francisco developer and its former law firm are locked in a complex legal battle involving lawsuits in two counties, sanctions motions, and claims of malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair competition. Visiting Judge Harold Kahn recently denied motions to quash and for sanctions, keeping the San Francisco case alive. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 22, 2026 |
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| Jacob Payne was confined for over a decade as a sexually violent predator, but federal court says he cannot relitigate arguments already addressed in state court, despite a jury ultimately releasing him. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 |
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| Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal includes no money for a fund formed last year to boost the state's local newsrooms, casting doubt on whether a heralded effort to help California journalists will amount to anything and how serious Newsom is about supporting the struggling industry. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 |
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| A Los Angeles County jury began a damages-only trial Thursday as cannabis businesses allege the 2017 Thomas Fire and subsequent debris flows destroyed their greenhouses and forced them to shut down. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 |
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| Judge Eumi K. Lee criticized both sides for missing multiple deadlines, including Tesla's months-late answer to an amended complaint, and set a January deadline for the parties to explain why sanctions shouldn't apply. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 |
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| While delivering his final State of the State address and proposing his final state budget last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom clearly sought to neutralize an issue that has haunted his political career for more than two decades and could torpedo his hopes of becoming president: homelessness. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 |
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| In the first case of its kind to reach the Supreme Court, justices directed the 3rd District Court of Appeal to reconsider sanctions over a brief containing fabricated citations in a criminal case. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 |
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| When the broader housing market feels unpredictable, homeowners may look to refresh their current home instead of relocating. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 |
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| A geochemist testifying for Prologis in a lawsuit over a 2021 "rotten egg" odor in Carson told jurors the smell came from disturbed channel sediments--not a warehouse fire. Plaintiffs challenged his conclusions and compensation during cross-examination. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 |
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| The petition seeks to compel Wolfire Games to comply with an arbitrator-issued subpoena, testing statutory changes that expanded arbitrators' authority to obtain third-party discovery. | |
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General News
Friday, January 16, 2026 |
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| Plaintiffs claim significant economic losses, while Edison contests the extent and recoverability of the damages. | |
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General News
Friday, January 16, 2026 |
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| China is rolling out fleets of autonomous delivery trucks, experimenting with flying cars and installing parking lot robots that can swap out your EV's dying battery in just minutes. | |
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General News
Friday, January 16, 2026 |
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| CoStar Group alleges Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP created an impermissible conflict by representing competitor CREXi while simultaneously representing CoStar in another case. CoStar's motion seeks to disqualify the firm from the Central District litigation. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 15, 2026 |
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| A San Francisco hospital already facing two wrongful death lawsuits is now being sued for whistleblower retaliation after a former employee says he was fired for raising patient safety concerns. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 15, 2026 |
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| Plaintiffs' attorneys are seeking court approval of a $100 million settlement resolving securities claims that PG&E misled investors about its wildfire safety practices, following a sharp stock decline tied to major California fires. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 15, 2026 |
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| Most Americans say they have a financial resolution for 2026, according to a survey from the investment firm Vanguard, even though about three-quarters conceded that they fell short of their saving and spending goals last year. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 |
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| Two years ago, Internal Revenue Service officials announced an ambitious plan to fix a gaping hole in federal tax law enforcement. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 |
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| A federal judge consolidated 13 Salesforce data breach class actions in Northern California, streamlining claims over alleged negligent data security after a Kentucky court denied multidistrict litigation. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 |
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| Proposal by Sen. Tom Umberg seeks to codify ethical rules for attorneys' use of generative artificial intelligence | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 |
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| A San Francisco federal judge raised concerns about widespread fraudulent claims in a YouTube biometric data settlement, questioning whether legitimate class members were excluded after administrators rejected hundreds of thousands of submissions. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 |
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| Complaint says a vacant building became public nuisance and contributed to a break-in. | |
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General News
Monday, January 12, 2026 |
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| Sonoma County urged a federal judge to sanction plaintiffs' counsel, alleging an unnecessarily lengthy first amended complaint violated Rule 11, delayed proceedings, and advanced frivolous claims over senior evictions tied to code enforcement. | |
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General News
Monday, January 12, 2026 |
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| It's been one year since the fires. California has raised wages for incarcerated firefighters and made the Growlersburg Fire Camp program permanent. | |
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General News
Monday, January 12, 2026 |
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| Before his arraignment, Nick Reiner's private defense counsel withdrew, and he is now represented by a public defender in the double-murder case. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 29, 2026 |
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| The lawsuit accuses U.S. Border Patrol agents of making unconstitutional stops and arrests in the Central Valley. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 |
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| New judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin signaled Anthropic's $1.5 million author settlement may proceed, weighing a special master, opt-out deadline issues, and next steps after Judge Alsup's retirement without significant additional delays. | |
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General News
Monday, January 26, 2026 |
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| The 4th District Court of Appeal panel decision will have significant fiscal and structural implications as counties confront a rising volume of postconviction claims. | |
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General News
Friday, January 23, 2026 |
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| Uber asked a magistrate judge to sanction a plaintiffs' lawyer for allegedly misusing confidential MDL discovery, prompting skepticism, sharp questioning, and warnings that sanctions remain possible after related injury lawsuits. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 22, 2026 |
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| U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied OpenAI's motion for summary judgment in Elon Musk's lawsuit, clearing the way for a trial in late April over allegations he was misled about the company's nonprofit status. | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 |
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| The state told a divided 9th Circuit panel that its Age-Appropriate Design Code Act is a business regulation aimed at protecting children, not a content-based restriction triggering heightened First Amendment scrutiny. | |
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General News
Friday, January 16, 2026 |
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| The hearing follows months of dispute over overburdened attorneys in the San Francisco Public Defender's Office and the declaration of "unavailable" days. | |
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General News
Thursday, January 15, 2026 |
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| AB 1554 would pave the way for sweeping changes to how wildfire losses are paid, based on a state report due this spring. | |
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General News
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 |
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| Judicial branch sees funding boost as critics warn governor's projections are overly optimistic | |
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General News
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 |
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| Larry Page and Sergey Brin are cutting some ties with the state where they made their fortunes. | |
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General News
Monday, January 12, 2026 |
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| AB 1544 follows incidents in which journalists were barred from immigration court proceedings, raising questions about state authority over federal courts. | |