Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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San Francisco must rehire Christian employees who didn't get vaccinated: appeals court
A federal appeals court is ordering San Francisco to re-hire two former city workers who left due to COVID vaccination requirements. The San Francisco first reported the development. Selina Keene and Melody Fountila retired when The City required all 25,000 city workers to get vaccinated by the end of November 2021. They are both Christians who objected to taking the vaccines, claiming the shots were developed from aborted fetuses.
KTVU
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Defendant who inquired about appeal did not ‘instruct’ lawyer
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial by the District Court of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by a California prisoner, convicted of second-degree murder, who contends he received inadequate assistance of counsel because his trial lawyer failed to file a notice of appeal from an order denying a motion to strike a gun enhancement.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Jewish students harassed during Gaza protest see discrimination claims advanced
A New York federal judge on Wednesday advanced Jewish students’ civil rights claims against the Cooper Union private college in New York City, noting he was “dismayed” with the school’s deliberate indifference toward intimidation and harassment of Jewish students in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and ensuing war in Gaza.
Courthouse News Service
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L.A. Superior Court expands electronic filing in civil cases
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County will expand its phased implementation of electronic service on Feb. 10 to include appeals documents in limited and unlimited civil cases. Known as eService, the court will use the program to transmit, deliver and serve required appeals documents. The expansion builds on the court’s phased implementation of eService, which began in December with juvenile dependency appeals and later expanded to include family law, probate and mental health appeals.
Beverly Press & Park Labrea News
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Google asks Ninth Circuit to reverse app store antitrust verdict
Google asked a federal appeals court Monday to throw out a federal judge’s ruling stemming from the 2023 antitrust trial where a jury found that Google’s Play Store and billing services on Android platforms constituted an illegal monopoly. The tech giant argues that it competes with Apple - and that the trial judge stopped it from hammering that point home.
Courthouse News Service
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En banc Ninth Circuit sides with Mormon church in dispute over tithes
An en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon church, in a fraud lawsuit brought by a prominent former member over the use of tithing money to develop a shopping mall in Salt Lake City. The panel of 11 judges on Friday reversed the 2023 ruling by a customary three-judge appellate panel that, in a split decision, reinstated James Huntsman's fraud claims.
Courthouse News Service
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Father and fiancée charged with abuse, torture in 4-year-old son’s death
A Palmdale man and his fiancée have been charged in the death of the man’s 4-year-old son, who died in December after allegedly enduring months of abuse and torture. On Friday, Andrew Havrella, 36, and his fiancée, Lacie Fetters, 25, were formally charged with the boy’s murder, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
KTLA
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Man charged with murder in stabbing of 28-year-old community organizer in downtown LA
A man has been charged with murder in the stabbing death of a 28-year-old community organizer in downtown Los Angeles, prosecutors announced Wednesday. James Joshua Lopez, 24, is accused of killing Amanda Torres after she intervened to try to protect her brother, who was allegedly attacked by a group of men at a party, according to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office.
ABC7
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L.A. city attorney alleges mega real estate firm Blueground engaged in price gouging
Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has sued the apartment behemoth Blueground US Inc., alleging the provider of furnished rentals engaged in multiple instances of price gouging in the wake of the region’s fires. Under a state of emergency, landlords and their representatives are generally barred from raising rent more than 10% above what they charged or advertised before the fires broke out Jan. 7. The restrictions expire March 8 unless extended.
Los Angeles Times
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Chilean national charged with residential burglary, vandalism in Newport Beach
A Chilean national was charged Tuesday with breaking into a Newport Beach home. Cristopher Andres Ramirezsilva, 30, of Santiago, Chile, was charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of vandalism, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. He also faces a sentencing enhancement for acting in concert with two or more people to take or destroy any property.
City News Service
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DA Hochman announces charges in statewide human trafficking operation 'Reclaim and Rebuild'
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department today to announce more than 500 arrests made statewide during a weeklong human trafficking operation comprised of more than 100 law enforcement agencies.
Los Angeles County District Attorney News Release
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5 arrested in law enforcement operation targeting fraudulent withdrawal of benefits designated for low-income families
A multi-agency law enforcement operation has resulted in the arrest of five illegal aliens who allegedly used information from “skimmed” electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to “clone” counterfeit cards and steal funds that had been disbursed to low-income individuals by the State of California, the Justice Department announced today.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Los Angeles man charged in $13,000 EBT fraud scheme
A 27-year-old man has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars in California public assistance benefits using fraudulent Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards at a Lancaster ATM, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced Thursday morning. The suspect, Ioannis Alecsopoulos, was apprehended on Feb. 1 during an undercover operation. Authorities allege that Alecsopoulos withdrew over $4,000 and attempted to withdraw more than $13,000 using nine different EBT cards.
NBC4
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New AG Pam Bondi uses her first day in office to ban federal funds from heading to 'Sanctuary Cities’
Hours after she was sworn in, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Justice Department to pause all federal funding for sanctuary cities, according to a report. Among several directives issued Wednesday, Bondi charged the DOJ with identifying and evaluating funding agreements with nongovernmental organizations that provide support to undocumented immigrants, Fox News Digital first reported.
The Independent
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DOJ sues Illinois, Chicago over ‘sanctuary city’ laws
President Trump’s Justice Department sued the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago and local officials Thursday over laws creating a sanctuary city. Accusing the officials of impeding federal immigration enforcement efforts, the Justice Department asked a judge to declare the state and local measures unconstitutional because of the federal government’s supremacy.
The Hill
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FCC investigating Audacy AM for airing ICE agents’ locations
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has launched an investigation into Audacy San Francisco’s KCBS-AM after the station broadcast the locations of undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during deportation operations in the San Jose area. The controversy stems from the January 26 edition of KCBS Radio Weekend News, where host Bret Burkhart was reporting on ICE activity in the area.
Radio Ink
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Pacoima mom's suspected killer had been deported 10 times, ICE says
The family of 35-year-old Karen Ruiz, who authorities say was killed by her ex-boyfriend in front of her 3-year-old daughter in Pacoima, is heartbroken and outraged by the woman's death. They say that the tragedy that occurred on Jan. 6 could have been prevented if Herbert Nixon Flores, who allegedly committed the slaying, had not been released after being arrested for domestic abuse.
NBC4
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City tax on vacant lots doesn’t violate state constitution
The Court of Appeal for this district declared yesterday that the City of Long Beach, in imposing an annual $780 fee on owners of vacant lots to defray costs of monitoring those parcels in an effort to abate blight and criminal activity, is not violating a voter-enacted state constitutional provision. Acting Presiding Justice Judith Ashmann-Gerst of Div. Two authored the unpublished opinion, which affirms a summary judgment in favor of the city granted by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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State Bar recommends disbarment of lawyer involved in DWP billing scandal cases
A State Bar Court judge has recommended the disbarment of Tarzana-based attorney Michael J. Libman for his role in the controversial class-action lawsuit relating to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power billing scandal and his attempt to hack into personal accounts belonging to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Mark Robinson ends defamation lawsuit against CNN over ‘black NAZI’ article
Former North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson voluntarily dismissed his defamation lawsuit against CNN on Friday after suing the network last year for reporting on comments he was accused of leaving on pornography forums. In September, CNN reported that in the 2000s, Robinson had posted online comments calling himself a “black NAZI” and supporting the reintroduction of slavery.
Courthouse News Service
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Firefighters kept from Palisades, Eaton front lines due to unserviced LAFD vehicles
Firefighters who reported to assist during the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires were kept from helping on the front lines due to dozens of unserviced vehicles, an official told KTLA. KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos was granted a rare look Thursday inside the largest of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s maintenance yards in Lincoln Heights where she saw “dozens and dozens” of unserviced emergency vehicles.
KTLA
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Fraudsters exploit loopholes in FEMA aid amid California wildfires
Fraudsters are taking advantage of California’s wildfire chaos, entering false claims via vulnerable avenues within FEMA’s aid system. By obtaining addresses from burn zone maps, they target affected areas, registering them before real victims can seek assistance. This deceitful activity results in some residents encountering “Duplicate Application” errors when genuinely seeking aid, highlighting the inadequacies in FEMA’s security measures.
Republican News
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Palisades Fire impacts LAPD services elsewhere in the city (Video)
In an effort to keep enough officers to deal with the aftermath of Los Angeles County’s brush fires, the Los Angeles Police Department reduced services to many routine calls. Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.
NBC4
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UCLA: L.A. wildfires caused as much as $164 billion in total property and capital losses
A new report from the UCLA Anderson Forecast suggests that the two largest wildfires that recently ravaged L.A. County - the Palisades and Eaton fires - may have caused total property and capital losses ranging between $95 and $164 billion, with insured losses estimated at $75 billion. The report, authored by economists Zhiyun Li and William Yu, predicts a 0.48% loss in county-level GDP for 2025, amounting to approximately $4.6 billion.
UCLA Newsroom
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Commission approves SoCal Edison rate increase to cover cost of 2017 fire sparked by its equipment
Your electricity rates could be going up to help Southern California Edison cover more than $1.6 billion in payments the utility has made to victims of the devastating 2017 Thomas Fire. Investigators found the utility's equipment sparked the fire, which burned thousands of homes in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The blaze also brought about disastrous debris flows in Montecito, which killed 23 people.
ABC7
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Lawsuit over alleged L.A. County deputy gang settled on eve of trail
An expansive lawsuit filed by eight Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies who said they were attacked by members of an alleged deputy gang known as the Banditos has reached a settlement, according to court records. The case stemmed from an off-duty brawl in 2018 outside Kennedy Hall, an event space in East L.A.
Los Angeles Times
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MacArthur Park vendors are shut down to quell violence. What's next?
On Alvarado Street, where the vending corridor across from MacArthur Park has long been a defining feature of the neighborhood, something is missing. The vendors. For years, they've been setting up tables on neighborhood sidewalks each day and stacking them with clothing, electronics, medication, toiletries, laundry detergent and other goods.
Los Angeles Times
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LAPD sergeant arrested in fatal hit-and-run crash in Tustin
A Los Angeles police sergeant was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a teenager early Saturday morning in Tustin. According to Tustin police, the crash happened at 3:57 a.m. near Nisson Road and Del Amo Avenue. When police arrived, they found 19-year-old Imanol Salvador Gonzalez down on the road. He later died at the scene, where authorities found debris from a vehicle.
NBC4
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LA County prosecutors allege retaliation after support of Menendez resentencing
Two Los Angeles County deputy district attorneys alleged Monday in legal filings they were removed from their roles and assigned to new positions by District Attorney Nathan Hochman's administration in retaliation for their support of resentencing Erik and Lyle Menendez to lesser terms in prison.
NBC4
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L.A. County hit with record number of lawsuits amid flood of child sex abuse claims
Los Angeles County was hit with a record number of lawsuits last year, with spending on outside attorneys ballooning to defend against a deluge of child sex abuse claims. The number of new lawsuits against the county rose to 2,675 in the last fiscal year - about 400 more than the prior year, according to a tally of the county’s legal spending released this week. It’s the highest figure since the county began publicly tracking the data in 2008.
Los Angeles Times
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California, not Texas, may be the last frontier for America’s death penalty
Last year, California imposed more death sentences than any state other than Florida, Texas, and Alabama. While the numbers of sentences were not large by historical standards, that’s truly unusual company for the Golden State. Indeed, when Americans think about the death penalty, they almost invariably think first of Texas, not California. For decades, the Lone Star State was the death penalty capital of the United States.
Verdict
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Top Justice Department official accuses FBI leadership of ‘insubordination’ over January 6 inquiry
The acting deputy attorney general accused FBI leadership of “insubordination” by refusing to identify a “core team” of bureau employees who worked on January 6 investigations, while trying to assure that rank-and-file agents who “simply followed orders” will not be fired unless they “acted with corrupt or partisan intent,” according to a copy of a memo obtained by CNN.
CNN
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Ted Cruz says he’s investigating California’s High-Speed Rail; this is what he’s done
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says he has been investigating the California High-Speed Rail project, accusing the nation’s first publicly funded high-speed rail system of wasting taxpayer money and its governing board of a lack of transparency regarding costs. The comments were made by Cruz on social media Tuesday in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would be launching his own investigation into the project.
KTLA
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Trump's deportation plans get boost from red state actions
Republican-led states are pledging their resources to support President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, setting up a likely legal clash with immigrant advocates who say some measures violate the law. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Sunday he signed an agreement with the Customs and Border Protection allowing the Texas National Guard to make immigration arrests.
Bloomberg Law
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Republican lawmakers want Trump’s admin to bring ‘burglary tourism’ to an end
Republicans are encouraging the Trump administration to better address organized crime by foreign nationals by kicking a non-cooperative country out of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). A group of House Republicans, including Texas Rep. Chip Roy and 10 other lawmakers, called on both the State Department of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Wednesday to remove Chile out of the VWP, according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Daily Caller
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Lawsuit accuses University of California of racial discrimination in admissions
A lawsuit filed this week accuses the University of California of racial discrimination in undergraduate admissions by favoring Black and Latino students over Asian American and white applicants. A group called Students Against Racial Discrimination sued Monday in federal court, alleging the university system admits students with inferior academic credentials at the expense of better-qualified ones.
AP
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Witness says he killed for the Aryan Brotherhood, divulges secrets of LA’s underworld
James Field tattooed stitches over his lips in a vow to never reveal the secrets of the Aryan Brotherhood. He dreamed of one day joining the syndicate that ruled over the prison yards where he spent most of his adult life. He robbed, extorted and killed for them, he testified, until the day he became convinced the men he idolized had turned on him.
Los Angeles Times
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UCPD arrests 2 people for suspected mail theft from off-campus buildings
UCPD arrested two people in connection with the theft of mail from off-campus buildings Friday. The crime was reported around 4:30 a.m. Friday. Officers made contact with the suspects at the intersection of Midvale and Levering Avenue, according to an emailed statement from Jeffrey Chobanian, UCPD’s Acting Captain of the Administrative Bureau.
Daily Bruin
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Alleged arsonist detained by witnesses in Chatsworth
A man was arrested for an alleged arson after a group of witnesses spotted him lighting a fire in Chatsworth on Monday and detained him until deputies arrived, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The man, identified only by the name Martinez, was seen lighting a fire near Knapp Ranch and Woolsey Canyon roads at about 4:30 p.m., the LASD said in a release.
KTLA
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Re-sentencing ordered for man convicted of killing two at Long Beach liquor store
A state appeals court panel today upheld a man’s conviction for killing two gang rivals at a Long Beach liquor store, but ordered a new sentencing hearing for him. The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal vacated Morris Om’s sentence of 91 years and eight months to life, and directed a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to hold a full re-sentencing hearing.
City News Service
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Video: Would-be robbery victims tackle rifle-toting suspect before LAPD OIS
The LAPD released body worn camera and security camera footage of an officer-involved shooting of a man who tried to rob two victims with a gun, according to a critical incident video release. Surveillance video from the Dec. 28 incident shows the suspect approaching two people while raising a rifle and pointing it at them. The victims can then be seen charging the suspect and tackling him to the ground while wrestling for control of the gun.
Police1
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Ventura County Sheriff's Office warns residents of jury summons phone scam
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a recent jury summons phone scam where someone is claiming to be from the sheriff’s office and asks for payment via cryptocurrency. According to the department, the scammer is representing themselves as a member of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. They discovered the scammer, under the name Sergeant Locker, has called residents claiming they missed grand jury summons.
NBC4
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff guilty of excessive force against woman
A Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff is facing the prospect of 10 years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of using excessive force on woman outside a supermarket more than two years ago, authorities announced Thursday. The violent encounter occurred on June 24, 2023, in the parking lot of a WinCo Foods supermarket in Lancaster.
KTLA
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Crypto ‘godfather,’ LASD detective agree to plead guilty
A cryptocurrency businessman who dubbed himself “The Godfather” and a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy have agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges, including for their roles in a conspiracy that targeted multiple victims in Los Angeles, violating their civil rights via intimidation, extortion, illegal search warrants and other abuses of police power, the Justice Department announced.
LA Downtown News
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Former Skydance Interactive president pleads guilty to piloting drone that crashed into plane during Palisades Fire
Peter Akemann, the former president of Skydance Interactive, has pleaded guilty to flying the drone that collided with and subsequently grounded a Canadian Super Scooper firefighting plane as the Palisades Fire raged on Jan. 9. Akemann, who worked with Skydance’s video game and virtual reality arm starting in 2016 and recently left his role, agreed to a guilty plea of one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft.
The Hollywood Reporter
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Former owner of ‘Timepiece Gentleman’ luxury watch consignment store in Beverly Hills sentenced to nearly 6 years in federal prison
A Los Angeles man who ran a Beverly Hills luxury watch consignment business and was known as “The Timepiece Gentleman” was sentenced today to 70 months in federal prison for swindling dozens of his customers of out a total of at least $5.6 million. Anthony Farrer, 36, formerly of downtown Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton. Farrer pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Hollywood producer found guilty of murder in overdose deaths of LA model and her friend
A Hollywood producer was convicted Tuesday of two counts of first-degree murder for the drug overdose deaths of a model and her friend, along with charges of sexually assaulting seven other women. The downtown Los Angeles jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 days before reaching their verdicts in the trial of David Brian Pearce, 42.
City News Service
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Women sue prison gynecologist over ‘horrific, sadistic’ exams, sexual abuse in California
If women needed gynecological care at an all-female prison in southern California, their only option was to see the sole gynecologist on staff - a doctor now accused of sexually and physically abusing scores of patients. Dr. Scott Lee performed abusive, invasive and unnecessary exams on pregnant women and others incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Chino, a new federal class-action lawsuit says.
Centre Daily Times
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Pacific Palisades, Eaton wildfires spark ‘feeding frenzy’ among lawyers, ethics concerns
Kwynn Perry described it as “ick,” the cringy feeling she got when approached in line at the post office by a guy from a law firm trying to sign her up for litigation less than a week after her rented house burned down in Altadena. “It felt predatory,” Perry said of the pushy man with a clipboard. “There’s a lot of scammy things out there. … When people are trying to rile you up about the fire and get your case, it’s too quick.”
Orange County Register
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Fox sues LinkedIn co-founder Hoffman for litigation funding info
Fox Corp. wants documents from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman regarding his funding of a defamation case against the media company. Hoffman revealed last July that he funded voting technology company Smartmatic USA Corp.'s $2.7 billion defamation case against Fox over a conspiracy theory that the company rigged the 2020 US presidential election. Fox says it learned that Hoffman funded the plaintiffs with $25 million to support the lawsuit.
Bloomberg Law
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