(Subscription required) After 33 years as a civil litigator, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jeffery D. McFarland encourages attorneys to resolve discovery disputes, pursue settlements, and remember that vigorous advocacy doesn't require personal hostility. 

The Court of Appeal for this district has held that in an action alleging that a process server tortiously posted unlawful detainer notices at the gated residence of a lessor of commercial property, rather than on the leased premises as authorized by a judge, three named defendants were not the targets of a cause of action for trespass because they were not specifically identified as persons who “directed” the conduct.

A California appellate court has ruled that certain felony marijuana cultivation convictions may be reduced to misdemeanors, reversing a San Bernardino County judge’s determination that the offenses were ineligible for reclassification. 

The unprecedented action — for which Bianco obtained warrants from a local GOP-endorsed judge that he’d campaigned for — was quickly rebuked by state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta. Last month, the seizure was ruled unlawful by the California Supreme Court.