The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a District Court judge erred in finding that a clause in an arbitration agreement giving authority to “a court or other body of competent jurisdiction” to sever any unconscionable provisions undermines the otherwise clear intent to delegate the right to determine the question of the contract’s validity to an arbitrator.

Div. Four of the First District Court of Appeal has held that a Code of Civil Procedure section dictating that court-ordered relief is limited to the demands of the pleading may provide a basis for setting aside a default judgment as to the division of assets in divorce proceedings initiated by a petition which listed the property at stake as “[t]o be determined.”

(Subscription required) California’s courts this week sought to scrub the name and image of Cesar Chavez from announcements about the upcoming holiday bearing his name as institutions across the state wrestled with troubling revelations about the late farm labor icon.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday approved amendments to rules governing the Law Office Study and Certified Law Students programs, broadening practical training opportunities for students and clarifying how they may participate in these programs to learn about the practice of law.