The Fifth District Court of Appeal has rejected the contention of a student that a school district was not immune from liability in connection with injuries he received when a teacher blocked him when he was attempting to shoot a basket, holding that the defense of primary assumption of the risk applies even though the incident took place during school hours and in the course of a class, rather than in an extracurricular game.

(Subscription required) The California Supreme Court named Judge W. Kearse McGill presiding judge of the State Bar Court and reconstituted its Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics, naming Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner as chair. McGill, who sits on the State Bar Court's Appellate Review Department, will succeed Presiding Judge Richard Honn, who is retiring at the end of October after nearly 25 years on the State Bar Court.

(Subscription required) California lawyers who use non-attorneys to recruit clients could face $25,000 in civil penalties as well as summary disbarment under a measure signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. AB 2039 offers protections to whistleblowers who report attorney misconduct to law enforcement or the state bar and places new restrictions on lawyers who lend money to clients.

The State Bar of California rejected the resignation of a former San Luis Obispo real estate lawyer who faces several disciplinary charges, including engaging in an alleged “scheme to defraud.” His voluntary resignation would’ve dismissed the disciplinary charges against him, but the State Bar declined his resignation, according to a California Supreme Court ruling signed Sept. 9.