(Subscription required) Orange County Superior Court Judge Justin Glenn-Leistikow never intended to become a lawyer. After the dot-com crash derailed his programming career, he found his way to the public defender's office, where nearly two decades of trial work shaped the judicial philosophy he now brings to the criminal bench.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a judgment in favor of a company against its former vice president/general counsel requiring that the defendant repay the entire amount he received for his services over a 14-month period, the damages being based on his post-termination conduct including representation of a vendor of his ex-employer in connection with a dispute over an agreement he had negotiated.

A mother’s gifts totaling more than $1.8 million over a 10-year period did not constitute “income” to be taken into account in assessing child support to be paid to be paid to the daughter by her ex-husband because the payments were not steady and certain ones, the Court of Appeal for this district has held, adding that an order that “huge” sums be returned to the former spouse was improper because woman doesn’t have the money.

(Subscription required) As litigation analytics and artificial intelligence become increasingly embedded in legal practice, some California attorneys say that while the technology improves efficiency and helps inform decisions, it does not replace the experience and judgment needed to advise clients and navigate cases.