(Subscription required) Judge Cindy Pánuco, a former civil rights lawyer and Public Counsel leader, brings experience and a focus on dignity to Los Angeles' personal injury hub, where discovery management and everyday disputes meet questions of access to justice. 

When the rule of law is under attack, judges are among its natural defenders. But the very nature of their positions prevents them from doing or even saying much outside of their courtrooms. They have to avoid any appearance of bias or partisanship.

A company that offers its clients remote access to a fleet of rental cars by making an online reservation and waiving a membership card over a reader attached to the automobile is not liable for injuries caused by the drunken operation of one of its vehicles, the Third District Court of Appeal held Friday, finding that the firm had no duty to inquire as to whether a potential driver appeared intoxicated or to install a breathalyzer or similar device to ensure sober driving.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Friday that California’s regulatory scheme restricting the possession of switchblade knives survives a facial Second Amendment challenge brought by a group of individuals, retailers, and a weapons-rights advocacy group, saying that, because the plaintiffs cannot establish that the regulations are unconstitutional in every application, the laws survive constitutional scrutiny.