10 years after 101 California Street shooting, repercussions reverberate
A decade has passed since Gian Luigi Ferri, a heavily-armed 55-year-old with a simmering grudge, calmly walked into a downtown granite and glass highrise in San Francisco, determined to wreak revenge on a law firm that had represented him years earlier.

Plain English instructions are coming to juries
Eight hundred brand new jury instructions for use by California lawyers and judges in civil trials are expected to be approved by the Judicial Council this month, providing guidance to jurors in plain English instead of arcane legalese.

Attorney-pilot is a top flight volunteer
The medical clinic in Jesus Maria, Mexico, does not offer valet parking, nor is it the kind of place where patients discuss their care on cellular phones. The afternoon wind sandblasts the block building, and villagers’ dreams of gold in the surrounding hills swirl with each gust.

Special masters search,
protect the privilege
Mike Osborne recalls with some bemusement the hundreds of hours spent as a special master on San Francisco’s infamous dog mauling case two years ago. He was called upon to help execute two search warrants at the home office of the attorneys who owned the killer dogs, and later helped search the cell of a Pelican Bay inmate connected to the case.

Stressed out? State Bar can help
Los Angeles attorney Anita Stuppler was close to falling apart at “the law firm from hell” when she discovered that she could get career counseling through the State Bar. Today, less than a year later, she is doing what she loves — teaching law and tutoring candidates for bar exams — and making as much money as she did in her old job.

Trevor lawyers face disbarment
The State Bar charged three Trevor Law Group attorneys with 36 counts of misconduct last month in a petition to the State Bar Court seeking their disbarment.

Online law school scores 60 percent bar exam pass rate
Concord University School of Law, the exclusively online law school that is seeking accreditation for its program, registered a 60 percent pass rate on the February bar exam.

Supreme Court compromises on Boy Scouts issue
Judges in California who belong to the Boy Scouts may continue to associate with the group but they may be required to disclose their membership or even disqualify themselves in particular cases, the Supreme Court announced last month

Ethics update
A summary of recent ethics opinions in areas such a multijurisdictional practice, public interest attorneys, in-house counsel and non-California lawyers practicing temporarily in the state.