(Subscription required) The Commission on Judicial Appointments approved three of Gov. Gavin Newsom's choices for appellate court vacancies in Fresno, Riverside and Los Angeles, filling almost half of the vacancies on the mid-level courts that existed at the end of October.

(Subscription required) Federal CJA attorneys will finally receive delayed payments, but defenders warn staffing won't rebound quickly. A memo dispute erupted after prosecutors filed an ex parte brief during the funding crisis.

(Subscription required) A federal judge in Los Angeles issued a preliminary injunction requiring immigration officials to give detainees reliable, private access to legal counsel and prohibiting interference.

Div. Three if the Fourth District Court of Appeal has decreed that a judge must determine, on remand, the amount of sanctions to be paid based on the appellant having impermissibly cited unpublished cases in its briefs on appeal and committing other violations of the rules of court and is also to decide whether the sums are to be paid by the party, its lawyer, or both.