With New Year's approaching, The Recorder would like to count down our top news headlines of the past year. As the headlines suggest, this past year provided no shortage of human tragedy and no dearth of controversy. Our local legal community mourned the loss of local luminaries, and watched as lawyers (and judges) behaved badly in a variety of ways. Here in descending order are our most-read stories of 2017. Here's wishing you all a happy and healthy 2018.  

10. Ousted Bio-Rad GC Wins Whistleblower Case

In February a San Francisco federal jury awarded former Bio-Rad GC Sanford Wadler $2.9 million in back pay and stock compensation, which was doubled under the applicable statute, plus $5 million for punitive damages. Bio-Rad's appeal is pending at the Ninth Circuit.

9. Ninth Circuit Brings Complaint Against Alex Kozinski After Sexual Harassment Claims

The Ninth Circuit's misconduct order indicated that Chief Judge Thomas was initiating a complaint himself based on a Dec. 8 report from The Washington Post. Kozinski abruptly announced his retirement just days after the complaint was filed and new allegations surfaced.

8. At Ninth Circuit, Big Law Makes Its Stand Against Trump Travel Ban

Even Jones Day, a firm that has seen at least a dozen of its lawyers take key posts in the Trump administration, joined the legal challenge to the Trump Administration's initial “travel ban.” That move spurred acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco, a former Jones Day lawyer, to hold back from signing a Justice Department brief in February.

7. California Law School Deans Want Bar Exam Pass Score Lowered

The deans of 20 California law schools in February asked the state Supreme Court to temporarily lower the bar exam's minimum passing score—or “cut” score— to let the State Bar study whether the number is unjustifiably high.

6. California Supreme Court Won't Lower Bar Exam Passing Score

That request was denied. The state Supreme Court in October announced it will not lower the cut score for the state's bar exam, the second-highest in the nation behind Delaware.

5. Akin Gump Partner's Arrest Highlights Hiring Risks for Firms

Federal prosecutors accused an Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner—and a government lawyer himself until last year—of hawking a copy of a nonpublic whistleblower complaint to a company facing a False Claims Act lawsuit. He pleaded guilty to two charges of obstruction of justice and one count of transporting stolen goods across state lines in December and is set to be sentenced in March 2018.

4. What the Ninth Circuit Is Saying About Trump Travel Ban

It was Judge Michelle Friedland, the most junior judge on the a three-judge panel, who had the first pointed question for the lawyer representing the Trump administration at a February hearing. Friedland wanted to know what evidence the government had to support its finding that the travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations should not be admitted to the United States. “Are you really arguing that we can't even ask about whether there's evidence because this decision is not reviewable?” asked Friedland, who was nominated to the bench in 2013 by Barack Obama.

3. Davis Polk Partner Killed By Train in Silicon Valley

Kirtee Kapoor, head of the India practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell and a partner at the firm in Menlo Park, California, died in July after being struck by a train at a crossing in nearby Atherton.

2. Rachel Krevans, Pioneering Litigator and Lawyer to Apple, Dies at 60

Krevans, the former head of Morrison & Foerster's intellectual property practice who helped lead Apple's ferocious legal battle with Samsung over smartphone technology, died in July of cancer at age 60.

1. Uber's 'Greyball' Program Puts New Focus on Legal Dept.

Uber Technologies Inc. has used software to evade law enforcement and public officials in cities where the company faced opposition from regulators, The New York Times reported in March. Legal ethics professionals said the company may be steering into the wrong lane.