A student crams for an exam. (Photo: Antonio Diaz)California’s law-school students are failing the daunting State Bar exam in surprising numbers — and experts are trying to figure out why. “It’s difficult to understand why the pass rate in California is so low,” said Barry Currier, the managing director of the American Bar Association’s legal education and admissions unit.
An attorney gives advice to a client via a cell phone. Photo: PhuShutter)A special master has been named to ride herd on the State Bar’s request for money – a move that follows the Legislature’s unprecedented refusal to allow the bar to collect dues from thousands of attorneys. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Wednesday appointed appellate court Justice Elwood Lui of Los Angeles to examine the Bar’s funding request.
A gavel in a California courtroom. (Photo: bikeriderlondon, via Shutterstock)The agency that protects Californians from unethical lawyers faces an uncertain future because of complaints about its ability to do its job. For the first time ever, the state Assembly and Senate this year were unable to agree on a bill to set the annual dues that lawyers pay to the State Bar of California because of disagreements over the extent of changes needed at the troubled agency.
The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that California’s undocumented immigrants are eligible to practice law if they meet licensing requirements — even though they are not citizens. The court’s decision involved Sergio C. Garcia, an undocumented immigrant from Chico who passed all qualifying state exams and was seeking a license to practice law in California. Arguments in the case were heard last year.
Tucked away between a car rental agency and a dry cleaner at 1415 16th street, Simon’s has become a household name for Capitol oldies and newbies alike, a place peppered with political anecdotes since its establishment in 1984.
Bob Huff’s political career began with a building permit. While serving as chairman of the Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar’s building program, he tangled with the planning commission and the city council, where he eventually won the extension of the permit.
“That pulled me into the political process, where you see the things that