(Subscription required) An attorney used AI tools to cross-check his brief. The result: 21 fabricated citations, a $10,000 sanction, and California's warning that AI exploits lawyers' cognitive biases when they're most vulnerable.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that its 2018 decision proclaiming that a California statute requiring financial institutions to make minimum interest payments on mortgage escrow accounts applies to national banks remains good law after the U.S. Supreme Court last year clarified the standard that applies in banking preemption cases.

The court’s unanimous decision upholds a 2024 decision that found that the Riverside Unified School District’s 2016 bond measure listed the construction of new schools as a possible use for the money.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law three bills relating to the legal system in California, one requiring the Committee of Bar Examiners to provide a report weighing the benefits of adopting a uniform bar exam designed for nationwide use rather than administering one tailored for California.