Legal Pad

"Sedgwick" Makes It Official

[Petra Pasternak]

Following in the footsteps of Orrick and Bingham — and many other firms across the country — San Francisco’s Sedgwick has shortened its name.

As of today, Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold will go by Sedgwick LLP.

Unlike Orrick and Bingham, though, Sedgwick has opted to drop the last three names completely, not just on marketing materials. “We like the clarity of simply being Sedgwick,” Chief Marketing Officer Kathleen Flynn said this afternoon.

Second District to Hear Red Light Camera Case

[Cynthia Foster]

California drivers may get an answer on whether or not to fear those red camera lights after all.

On Tuesday, the Second District Court of Appeal decided to take up People v. Goldsmith, in which the Los Angeles Superior Court Appellate Division ruled photos from the cameras installed on traffic lights were admissible evidence. (The Appellate Division in Orange County had previously ruled, in People v. Khaled, that the photos were hearsay.)

"Our review of the issues presented in the case establishes that transfer to this court is necessary in order to secure uniformity of decision and to settle important questions of law," the Second District's unsigned order states.

John Jackman, attorney for defendent Carmen Goldsmith, speculated that the court may have seen a need for a definitive answer in an increasing number of appeals of this type.

"Maybe they think it's time to resolve it once and for all," he said.

The hearing is scheduled for June 15.

Judges Band Together Against Trial Court Rights Act

[Cheryl Miller]

Assembly Majority Leader Chuck Calderon, D-Montebello, said in a Recorder story last week that he might be willing to temporarily shelve his AB 1208, the Trial Court Rights Act, if there was no organized opposition to the legislation.

Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

More than 100 judges — many from Santa Clara County Superior Court — have signed a letter of opposition to AB 1208, saying the bill “would transform the judiciary from a cohesive and co-equal branch of government into 58 fragments.” Presiding judges from some 24 counties signed on.

This follows a storm of emails from judges in support of AB 1208 that flooded branch inboxes on Friday. The presiding judges of at least four trial courts have offered their benches’ backing.

A hearing date has not been scheduled yet for the bill.

New Ruling Further Complicates Red Light Camera Issue

[Cynthia Foster]

Some bad news for red-light runners: Last week, in a rare published opinion, the appellate division of the Los Angeles Superior Court made it harder to challenge the tickets spit out by cameras aimed at busy intersections.

The ruling in People v. Goldsmith comes one year after People v. Khaled, where an appellate division in Orange County ruled that photographic evidence is hearsay, and inadmissible. The Goldsmith panel acknowledged but “respectfully disagreed” with Khaled, reasoning that photos transmitted from a red light camera do not “amount to a ‘statement’ from a human declarant,” and therefore can’t constitute hearsay. Accordingly, defendent Carmen Goldsmith’s red light citation, and corresponding fine, was affirmed.

Burn Convention -- Pot Entrepreneurs Get Tips on Protecting IP

[Scott Graham]

With 14 other states and the District of Columbia having joined California in legalizing medicinal marijuana, and potential pot sales estimated at $35-45 billion if it's ever legalized nationwide, the attorneys at Berkeley's Cobalt law firm had a message Thursday for the industry:

It's time to get serious about your intellectual property.

Entrepreneurs are pouring large amounts of money into education, cultivation and dispensing, but stand to take big losses if they don't lock down their IP.

"What's the point of building the Taj Mahal if you can't lock the front door?" associate Lezlie Huston said to an audience of 38 that included both entrepreneurs and other IP lawyers.

The catch is that marijuana remains illegal under federal law. So the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office isn't going to register Big Fatty, Orange Krush or Alaska Thunder Fuck any time soon. The Purple Heart Patient Center may be popular among Oaklanders, but the PTO isn't going to approve.

So Cobalt partner Tsan Abrahamson offered some practical advice:

Don't try to register a mark for manufacturing or dispensing. Instead, consider building the brand around a broader set of legal activities such as running a community center or offering educational services. (Two years ago, Abrahamson registered the Lollipipe, an "edibile candy tobacco pipe.")

Try registering with the state of California. That will protect a trademark in California, and create leverage to block infringement in states where medical pot isn't legal.

Don't indulge questionable practices like contests, coupons or sweepstakes -- that will only draw more scrutiny from regulators.

And make sure not to appropriate someone else's mark, no matter how funny you think it is.

 

Stop Making Rape Victims Testify About Their Pregnancies, Justice Urges

[Scott Graham]

Nearly three years ago, the California Supreme Court ruled that a child molester who impregnates his victim could be found to have committed great bodily injury. In a concurring opinion, Justice Carol Corrigan went a step further, calling on the Legislature to declare that pregnancy always constitutes great bodily injury, or otherwise prescribe lengthier sentences in such circumstances.

Perhaps surprisingly, nobody in the Legislature appears to have taken up Corrigan's suggestion. On Thursday, Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Williams Bedsworth gave it another try.

"It is hard for me to imagine how we can require the victim of a rape to come to court and try to persuade us the physical suffering of her childbirth or abortion was sufficient to meet the statutory standard" of great bodily injury, Bedsworth wrote in People v. Meneses, [pdf].

Bonds' Trainer Sure Isn't Dressed Like A Bribee

[Ginny LaRoe]

Plenty of people suspect Greg Anderson is getting some sort of payoff for refusing to testify against Barry Bonds in the perjury trial that began this week. If that's true, he certainly isn't spending the dough on dress shoes.

Anderson, Bonds' former trainer and a convicted steroid supplier, stood before U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston earlier this wearing a suit and wild chin hairs and reiterated that he would rather sit in the clink than testify.

Anderson Attorney Mark Geragos contends the continued refusal to cooperate is not out of loyalty to Bonds, a childhood friend, but rather because of his distrust of the government.

Cynics assume something more insidious. Either way, one example of how he's not flashing cash came late after Illston remanded Anderson into the custody of the marshals for the duration of the trial.

AOC Executive Makes Retirement Announcement

[Cheryl Miller]

One day after AOC administrator William Vickrey made public his impending retirement, another AOC executive has announced that he, too, is leaving.

Kenneth Kann, director of the Executive Office Programs division, will retire in August, according to an email sent by Vickrey to AOC employees today.

“He has made significant contributions to further the work of the Judicial Council and our organization and has earned the respect of his AOC colleagues, as well as the appellate and trial court judicial and administrative leaders with whom he has worked over the years,” Vickrey wrote.

Bonds Team Grows by Two, One Torso You May Recognize

[Ginny LaRoe]

Sure, the Barry Bonds defense team is made up of some serious heavy hitters.

But does it have a Big Law hottie? At least for today it did.

At a motions hearing, the all-star (and ... ehh... veteran) defense team of of Allen Ruby, Cristina Argeudas, Theodore Cassman, Dennis Riordan and Donald Horgan were joined by two fresh faces from Ruby's new home, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Avoiding Your 'That's Not How We Used to Do It' Moment

[Vitaly Gashpar]

New judge assignments mean new rules — which can mean surprises for lawyers appearing in their courtrooms. On Tuesday, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers invited four judges with new assignments to preview what attorneys can expect.

Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg took over Santa Clara County’s complex litigation department in January. When asked what attorneys should know about him, Kleinberg reflected on his years of experience as an attorney — “I know what you are doing, and I know what you’re not doing,” he said. “Come prepared!”

Kleinberg emphasized that there will be changes to the department.