• Judge tosses manslaughter case: Alameda woman was charged after statute of limitations expired

    East Bay Times
    May 15, 2026

    The misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter case was thrown out on April 23, after a court hearing where the victim’s widow read an impact statement, court records show. The Alameda County District Attorney’s office wanted to charge the 52-year-old Alameda woman with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, but when they filed the case on March 17, the statute of limitations had already expired, Judge Cara Sandberg.

  • California moves to new national bar exam after online testing failures

    Reuters
    May 15, 2026

    The State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees on Thursday ‌unanimously voted to start using the NextGen bar exam in July 2028, when the current version of the national bar exam will no longer be available. The California Supreme Court must still approve the recommendation, which appears likely after ​it ordered the State Bar to return to elements of the national test last year.

  • Highly Deferential Review for Federal Habeas Relief Survives

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    May 15, 2026

    The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reaffirmed that federal courts reviewing state criminal proceedings relating to petitions for habeas corpus must apply a highly deferential standard, rejecting an inmate’s assertion that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled jurisprudence demanding that agency interpretations be given weight, calls the principle into question.

  • California Senate Confirms Laura Enderton-Speed as State Bar Director

    The Recorder
    May 15, 2026

    (Subscription required) Enderton-Speed, a former Judicial Council executive, has held the bar’s top administrative post since November. She received bipartisan support from the Senate Rules Committee at an April 30 hearing, and her appointment drew no debate on the Senate floor Thursday.

    Related: Law360