(Subscription required) A year into the Central District's direct assignment program, 43% of civil litigants keep cases with magistrate judges, significantly easing caseloads and accelerating resolutions, which attorneys say offers efficiency with no downside.

Misconduct on the part of a company that accused L’Oreal of misappropriating its trade secret on a hair-coloring system, including fabrication and destruction of evidence, was so severe as to warrant the terminating sanction imposed by the District Court, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday.

(Subscription required) Disability advocates claim racial disparities and soaring per-participant costs while supporters say the system fills gaps in mental health care.

There is no legal impediment to a bench officer in a family law court ordering that a copyright be sold to enable the owner, bereft of other assets, to pay off alimony and child support debts, Div. One of the Court of Appeal for this district has declared in a case of first impression which involved paintings by the late entertainer Michael Jackson.