(Subscription required) When Judge Christopher B. Harmon stepped away from high-profile civil trials -- including the nation's first wrongful death case involving Tesla's Autopilot -- for the quieter yet emotionally charged probate calendar, it was by choice, he said. After six years on the civil bench, he said he missed the direct interaction with litigants that had defined his earlier work.

(Subscription required) In legal terms, mercy might be closest to equity because both seek to find a remedy beyond the structures of what the justice system would otherwise provide.

Div. Four of the First District Court of Appeal has held that a statute adopted in 2022 extending the meal and rest break protections previously applicable only to private sector healthcare workers or to employees working for state or municipal medical facilities does not apply to charter cities.

The First District Court of Appeal has ordered reinstalment of an action by a activist group against the City of Berkeley alleging violations of the Ralph M. Brown Act, holding that the complaint stated a cause of action by alleging that a provision of the Open Meetings Law was for use in emergencies not complied with by moving a City Council session to another room where the prescribed remedy for disruptions is clearing the chambers.