(Subscription required) After nearly two decades handling toxic torts and corporate litigation at a major firm, Yang now presides over the custody disputes and fractured families of Pasadena's family court -- work she says suits her personality far better. 

(Subscription required) Courts across California have been asking for years for guidance on how to implement the Racial Justice Act. On Monday, they got it -- a lot of it. Four rulings clarify how courts should handle racial bias challenges, while drawing sharp dissents over harmless error and coded language. 

In a 107-page opinion, Associate Justice Leondra Kruger wrote on behalf of the panel's majority that the jury was presented with evidence that the defendant "committed multiple acts of abuse and mistreatment spanning weeks — if not months — before the fatal blows that ultimately killed both children."

The state’s highest court found that Samreth Sam Pan’s attorney “made the strategic choice to concede Pan’s guilt of second-degree murder in an effort to avoid the death penalty,” despite “Pan’s express wish to maintain his innocence.”The panel noted that the defense attorney “deprived Pan of his right to choose the fundamental objective of his defense,” finding that his conviction must be reversed and that the case has to be sent back to a courtroom in Los Angeles County.