Jason Dearen

September 12, 2002 | Law.com

A law penalizing people for illegally practicing law in California was given more teeth Wednesday through a bill signed by Gov. Gray Davis. The current law states that a person who isn't a member of the State Bar but "who practices law or holds himself or herself out as practicing or entitled to practice law" is guilty of a misdemeanor. The maximum penalty of six months in jail has been raised to one year, or a $1,000 fine, or both.

By Jason Dearen

2 minute read

August 19, 2002 | Law.com

Tammy Chung Ryu has been tapped for the Los Angeles County Superior Court bench, becoming the first Korean-American woman judge in California history. Since 1988, Ryu, 41, whose appointment was announced Friday by Gov. Gray Davis, has served as supervising attorney in the health, education and welfare section of the state attorney general's office.

By Jason Dearen

2 minute read

January 10, 2003 | Law.com

San Francisco's Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass has made William Hutton a partner. Hutton, 65, has been of counsel in the firm's nonprofit organizations and charitable planning group for the past eight years. He is also a professor at Hastings College of the Law.

By Jason Dearen

1 minute read

October 04, 2002 | The Recorder

A memorial service for W. Eric Collins, a former state deputy attorney general, will be held Oct. 16 at Xavier Hall, University of San Francisco. Collins died June 26 at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek from complications of a stroke. He was 82. He served in both the civil and criminal divisions of the attorney general's office for 20 years.

By Jason Dearen

2 minute read

June 24, 2003 | Law.com

The Santa Clara County District Attorney will not seek the death penalty against men convicted of a 1998 gang-related killing in San Jose. In May, Van Hang Heang and Pov Touch were found guilty of killing 64-year-old Dong Dinh while his son was testifying against members of the Los Angeles-based Asian Boyz gang.

By Jason Dearen

2 minute read

April 21, 2003 | Law.com

Longtime Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Deputy Chief Counsel Patrick O'Hern has died. O'Hern also had worked as chief counsel and western regional director at the Department of Energy. "He had an amazing ability to lead a ragtag group of three-year lawyers who were going up against big oil and the large firms representing them," said friend Ralph Swanson III.

By Jason Dearen

2 minute read

August 06, 2002 | Law.com

The Commission on Judicial Performance ordered San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Michael Platt removed from the bench Monday for fixing traffic tickets and trying to influence cases before other judges. Platt was found to have committed misconduct on four counts of ticket fixing, and three counts of attempting to influence other judges. In its decision, the judicial watchdog agency said Platt went out of his way to fix tickets for friends.

By Jason Dearen

3 minute read

October 08, 2002 | The Recorder

Last year, John Mola, director of the San Francisco office of the Practising Law Institute�s Minimum Continuing Legal Education program, was preparing for his group�s largest continuing legal education event of the year -- a New York seminar that was expected to be a cash cow. Due to the attacks on Sept. 11, the event was canceled. Like a ripple effect, three other seminars suddenly weren't happening either. With law firms spending less in a recession, the CLE industry is also struggling to make ends meet.

By Jason Dearen

6 minute read

August 15, 2002 | Law.com

Diane Lipton, an attorney who won nationwide rights for children with disabilities, died Aug. 8 after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 57. Lipton, who lived in Richmond, was a senior attorney and director of the advocacy program for children with disabilities at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc.

By Jason Dearen

2 minute read

September 12, 2002 | Law.com

By Jason Dearen

2 minute read