From the 2000-01 term through the 2015-16 term, the court routinely issued between 15 percent and 30 percent of its decisions during the period from October to January. Earlier decisions were often straightforward cases. Beginning around 2016, the number of early-term decisions began to fall. 

(Subscription required) In a 6-1 decision, the California Supreme Court clarified on Monday that courts must “closely scrutinize the terms of difficult-to-read contracts for unfairness or one-sidedness,” but the “illegibility”—font size, placement, prominence, etc.—of agreements do not themselves indicate that it is unconscionable.

(Subscription required) Judge Cindy Pánuco, a former civil rights lawyer and Public Counsel leader, brings experience and a focus on dignity to Los Angeles' personal injury hub, where discovery management and everyday disputes meet questions of access to justice. 

When the rule of law is under attack, judges are among its natural defenders. But the very nature of their positions prevents them from doing or even saying much outside of their courtrooms. They have to avoid any appearance of bias or partisanship.