There is no legal impediment to a bench officer in a family law court ordering that a copyright be sold to enable the owner, bereft of other assets, to pay off alimony and child support debts, Div. One of the Court of Appeal for this district has declared in a case of first impression which involved paintings by the late entertainer Michael Jackson.

Div. Five of the First District Court of Appeal has reversed a summary judgment in favor a Zen Buddhist church in a wage-and-hour dispute, rejecting the judge’s notion that the action is barred under the “ministerial exception” to employer-liability laws and repudiating the contrary view of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

(Subscription required) The number of complaints filed against California attorneys over the last fiscal year spiked to a record high, according to numbers compiled and recently released by the state bar. The reason for the surge in grievances remains unclear, with one state bar official suggesting artificial intelligence—as used by some complaint-filers, not misused by the targeted attorneys—may be a source.

(Subscription required) The Commission on Judicial Performance vacated Monday's scheduled hearing for retired justice William J. Murray Jr., a move that often signals a pending resolution.