Read an interview with a Los Angeles lawyer-mediator who
answered a desperate plea for help from a woman at the maximum-security Valley
State Prison in Chowchilla. The result was the Prison of Peace initiative that
teaches inmates how to diffuse conflicts. The Q&A is part of the Bar Journal's Just Pursuits series.
UC Irvine professor Erwin Chemerinsky offers a roundup of
the high court’s major decisions of the past year, which affect each of us,
often in the most important and intimate aspects of our lives.
The future of legal education in California could include a
wider array of choices and better quality courses, along with an increase in
the number of hours required.
Luis J. Rodriguez won’t be sworn in until October, but he is
already hitting the ground running on one of the key issues he will be focused
on as State Bar president – preventing immigration fraud by attorneys. Concerned that federal immigration reform efforts will lead to an increase in fraud, Rodriguez and other bar officials are working on state legislation aimed at getting ahead of any potential problem.
With the deadline approaching for California attorneys to
register as legal specialists, the California Bar Journal speaks to Los
Angeles-based bankruptcy attorney J. Scott Bovitz about the benefits of
specialization.
General Counsel Starr Babcock, who has served as the State
Bar of California’s top legal adviser for the past three years, announced that
he will retire in January after a 40-year career dominated by public service to
the judicial branch.
Attorney Daniel Dean of San Francisco has been elected to serve a three-year term on the State Bar Board of Trustees.