Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge rightly granted anti-SLAPP motions filed by a journalist and an airline-insiders trade publication in a lawsuit filed by a small, regional carrier accusing them of libel over a story discussing a regulatory investigation into how the company logs flight hours for new pilots, rejecting the view that the purportedly esoteric topic and the intended audience are too limited to trigger the “public interest.”

(Subscription required) The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sharply limited the scope of immunity available to bankruptcy trustees, ruling in an en banc decision that a Chapter 7 trustee accused of failing to preserve estate assets could face personal liability.

Juror Appreciation Week this year is May 11-15. It’s one way California courts recognize citizens for making the justice system work. Learn about initiatives to improve the juror experience in California.

(Subscription required) By any measure, civil discovery is supposed to be the engine of truth in American litigation. In practice, however, over many years it has become something else entirely: bloated, combative, expensive and often untethered from the merits of the case. Now, a coalition led by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lawrence P. Riff is attempting something far more ambitious than another round of calls for civility. They are trying to change the culture itself.