(Subscription required) If a potential juror works in a restaurant the judge might ask: "What type of restaurant is it?" "What's your best dish?" or "Do you have a secret you can tell us?" That way, Carter said, "They relax, they get to talk, and the attorneys get a chance to actually know the person."

(Subscription required) “From his many decades of experience as a judge presiding over complex matters, it was his belief that understanding how and why a judge thinks was helpful to both litigants and counsel,” stated Paul S. Meyer, who represented former judge Derek Hunt.

The local news media have largely ignored a critical California Supreme Court decision last week that could have a significant impact on any effort by the tech billionaires to replace district elections of San Francisco supervisors with an at-large system.

The Supreme Court is back in the courtroom Wednesday for its September calendar after the customary July-August oral argument hiatus. The three arguments will be live streamed, and opinions in the cases should file by December 4.