Legal Pad

Rounded Up: 49ers Experience Some Moving Pains, the Broadcom Trial Hits Twitter

Former Hewlett-Packard exec and would-be U.S. Senator Carly Fiorina has plenty of money to spend on her campaign to oust Sen. Boxer. Plenty. [San Jose Merc]

The 49ers face another setback in their move to Santa Clara: a lawsuit. [SFGate]

A new execution method, used in Ohio, seems unlikely to catch on in California. [LAT]

Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli is crying prosecutorial pressure. [OC Register] OC Register courts reporter Rachanee Srisavasdi is covering the Broadcom trial with up-to-the-minute efficiency at her Twitter page, as well.

21% of law students regret the attending. Surprised it's not more, are you? [ABA Journal]

— Cynthia Foster

Rounded Up: Biglaw and Turducken

Billing rates increased in 2009, but barely. [The NLJ]

Mayer Brown asks a handful of would-be first year associates to "voluntarily" defer to October 2010. [ATL]

California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is set to testify in the EBay/Craigslist matter. [WSJ, sub. req.]

McDermott Will & Emery has announced their 2010 partner promotions. [LA Legal Pad]

Attorney General Jerry Brown fires his clients, the Orange County fair board. [Calitics]

Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski's "turducken" dissent makes its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. [Sidebar]

— Cynthia Foster

Rounded Up: Bad News for Simpson Thacher, In-House Lawyers, and Elliott Broidy

In-house lawyers, like the rest of us, have seen a halt in the climb of their annual compensation. (Law Department Management)

Los Angeles venture capitalist Elliott Broidy pleaded guilty yesterday to charges that he bribed New York officials with $1M in gifts. (LAT)

The birther woman is back, this time in the Central District. (The OC Register) 

A California appellate court has reinstated a malpractice suit against Simpson Thacher. (ATL)

— Cynthia Foster

Rounded Up: Snark a Crime?

A new proposed ballet measure would criminalize "false allegations" made against the government (including legislative acts), punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. ...And the blogger scuttle begins. (Political Blotter)

San Diego jurors side with a power company in a dispute over a $6.6 million contract with the California Department of Water Resources. (The National Law Journal, reg. req.)

L.A. County is set to explore the possibility of reopening its Hall of Justice, a storied building that was damaged in the Northridge earthquake of 1994. (LA Times)

Silicon Valley's Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel has added former Deloitte tax partner David S. Howard to its ranks. (LA Legal Pad)

The ACLU came down on the side of same-sex marriage opponents in the Ninth Circuit battle over documents that may show unconstitutional bigotry on the part of the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. (SFGate)

— Cynthia Foster

Rounded Up: Samueli Gets Immunity, You Get Un-Googled.

The lieutenant governor appointment battle is heating up — will the Dems delay or prevent Maldonado's confirmation? (SacBee)

Alleged voter fraud clouds a Southern California city council election. (LA Times)

Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli will indeed be testifying against former CFO William Ruehle. District Judge Cormac Carney granted Samueli, who had indicated he would plead the Fifth, judicial immunity. (OC Register)

For those on the job hunt or just looking to do some reputation management, Wired has seven tips on how to "Un-Google" yourself. (Wired)

— Cynthia Foster

Rounded Up: Chris Norby and More Stimulus Money for CA

Hard-line conservative Chris Norby to replace Mike Duvall in the state assembly. (Capitol Weekly)

California is the recipient of $60M in stimulus funds, which will be used to upgrade the current unemployment benefits system. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the confirmation of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, who was nominated to U.S. District Court. (LA Legal Pad)

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Ford over an $82M judgment in a product-liability jury trial in San Diego. (LegalNewsline)

— Cynthia Foster

The Usual Suspects: Google, Microsoft, the State of California

Openly gay California attorney David Huebner was confirmed yesterday as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. (LA Legal Pad)

District judge declines to overturn campaign finance limits, despite claims that the law violates free speech rights. (LA Times)

TiVo strikes deals with Google and Virgin. (SFGate)

Howard Rice is representing game "enhancement" maker Datel in an antitrust suit against Microsoft. The former claims the latter is forcing them out of the market. (DigitalTrends)

Could CalPERS be the straw that breaks the California budget's back? Are we there yet? (Capitol Weekly)

— Cynthia Foster

Rounded Up: Capital Moves, Embezzlement, and Controversy in L.A.

Los Angeles County Supervisor is in an uncomfortable position after refusing to release information regarding his relationship with lobbyist associate. (LA Times)

An office manager at Sacramento's Diepenbrock Harrison has been sentenced to three years in prison for embezzling $1.6 million from her employers. (Sac Bee)

The Governator hits the Jay Leno Show to announce his new choice for lieutenant governor. His pick is old ally state Sen. Abel Maldonado. (Political Blotter)

Restrictions on class action suits brought by legal aid lawyers survive a Ninth Circuit test. (SFGate)

Speaking of Schwarzenegger, he appointed four lawyers to state positions on Friday. (LA Legal Pad)

— Cynthia Foster

Rounded Up: Jerry Brown, medical marijuana and pesky Twitter

Sometimes I feel like marijuana is being positioned as the great savior of the California budget. This week, San Jose weighs the opening of new dispensaries and Los Angeles stops to consider if it's already opened too many. (San Jose Mercury News/Los Angeles Times)

Would-be Governor Jerry Brown raised $1M in one night in LA while he continues to remain mum on whether or not he's... really running. (Calbuzz)

Sara Granda, a disabled law grad who successfully sued the California Bar for the right to take the bar exam in July, has another victory to celebrate: she passed the test. (SFGate)

The Twitter COO spills his guts on the company's move to generate revenue. Is IPO next? (TechCrunch)

— Cynthia Foster

Email Can't Convict You, But Facebook is Your Alibi

A criminal-themed installment of an irregular series that ought to be called "Stuff We Read Online" ...

The New York Times today has a piece about a burglary suspect who proved his innocence by pointing to his Facebook status, which had been updated with a complaint about pancakes, from his dad's apartment, at the time of the crime.  The story rounds up other cases of social media providing grist for the defense or prosecution.

Keeping with a prosecutorial theme, we ran across Time magazine's piece about the Bear Stearns acquittal, noting that jurors seemed not to buy email evidence. The story kinda suggests that if you can't get corrupt hedge fund managers convicted during this recession, then email evidence might not be all that persuasive at all.

After the jump: Spider-Man arrested, and someone's putting child porn on your computer ...