The National Law Journal's L.A. Legal Pad

C3 dispensary to close

The C3 Collective marijuana dispensary in Walnut Creek has been ordered to close.

Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barry Baskin granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday afternoon to close C3 or else face contempt of court charges. In his ruling, he wrote that the city will likely prevail in its theory that the "operation of a medical marijuana dispensary is not an expressly permitted use under the City of Walnut Creek's zoning code." The ruling went on to state that the owners of the dispensary had failed to prove a risk of irreparable harm to its patients as a result of its closure.

C3 has been the target of several attempts at a shutdown by city leaders.  The injunction mandates that the dispensary close by March 23.

Full story here.

Lujan pleads guilty to perjury

Louie Lujan is the former mayor of La Puente.  And because of a plea deal, it will be the last public office he will ever hold.

Lujan has pleaded guilty to charges of perjury, stemming from campaign finance reports that stated he collected no money in the second half of 2008. He had, in fact, collected donations at a fundraiser in December of that year.  He later amended the documents to show the donations. In exchange for pleading guilty to the perjury charge, prosecutors agreed to drop other charges relating to forgery and bribery. 

Prosecutors insisted that the plea deal include a provision that Lujan will be barred from ever holding another public elected position.  He will be sentenced on March 19.

Full story here.

Ogletree Deakins opens new office in Orange County

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. have announced that they will open an office in Orange County on March 1.

Joining the firm as co-managing shareholders will be Vince Verde and Keith Watts, formerly with the Orange County office of Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP.

Verde represents management in all areas of employment law, including wage and hour matters, medical and disability issues, and wrongful discharge claims. In addition to handling employment cases, he regularly handles commercial litigation. Verde serves on the board of the Philippine American Bar Association of Los Angeles and earned his J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1995.

Watts practices labor and employment law and has handled a wide range of matters, including sexual harassment, discrimination, wage and hour, and wrongful termination claims. His practice also involves advising employers on strategies for remaining union-free, as well as successfully representing employers in union organizing campaigns, collective bargaining negotiations, and state court strike injunction litigation. Watts is a frequent lecturer on labor and employment law issues, having conducted workshops, seminars, and speaking engagements throughout the United States. He earned his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in 1997.

This is the third new office for Ogletree Deakins in the western United States in as many months: the firm opened its Las Vegas office in January, followed by its Denver office in February.

Duffy new Obama pick for U.S. attorney

President Barack Obama nominated assistant U.S. attorney Laura E. Duffy yesterday to be the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California.

If confirmed, Duffy would replace current U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt, who took over the position when her predecessor, Carol Lam, was one of eight prosecutors abruptly dismissed in 2006 by the Justice Department under former president George W. Bush.

She joined the U.S. Attorney's office in 1997 after spending several years in the Justice Department’s criminal division, working on money-laundering prosecutions and later narcotics cases. Prior to that, she worked for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice from 1993 until 1997, first as a trial attorney for the Money Laundering Section until 1994, and then as a trial attorney for the Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Section.

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LAUSD sued over teacher layoffs

The ACLU and other civil rights lawyers have filed suit against the state and Los Angeles Unified School District on behalf of three middle-school students, alleging that budget cuts and teacher layoffs have infringed on their equal rights to an education.

Layoffs have hit Gompers, Liechty and Markham middle schools harder than most due to state laws that require districts to let go of teachers based on seniority during tough budget times. Attorneys for the students, who include the ACLU of Southern California, the Public Counsel Law Center and the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP, said California law allows districts to circumvent the seniority rule on the basis of need or if cuts disproportionately affect certain groups.

In order to balance the budget, district officials estimate that they could lay off some 5,000 workers, including about 1,000 teachers.This suit would require the district to lay off teachers at the schools in question at the same or lower levels than at any other campus in the district. 

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Former OC judge joins Panish Shea & Boyle in LA

Panish Shea & Boyle LLP has announced that former Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Polos has joined the firm in an "Of Counsel" role following his retirement from the bench on February 19, 2010. He is the firm’s Director of Litigation and will assist in overseeing the firm’s entire litigation practice including mass tort cases, personal injury cases, business litigation and product liability cases.

Prior to being appointed to the bench, Polos was a member of the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee of the Coordinated Fen/Phen Litigation; he was on the Executive Committee for the Coordinated Ford/Firestone Litigation; and was the Co-Lead Counsel for Southern California for the Coordinated Sulzer Hip Litigation. He was appointed to the Superior Court on December 24, 2000 by Governor Gray Davis and was sworn in on February 8, 2001. He spent most of his time on the bench on the court’s General Civil panel handling complex civil cases. He also handled felony and misdemeanor criminal trials.

He began his legal career working as an associate with the late David M. Harney and after eight years there served as a partner with the Orange County firm of Lopez, Hodes, Restaino, Milman, Skikos & Polos in Newport Beach.

Judge Polos received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and is a graduate of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Supergraphics under siege again in LA

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich filed a lawsuit on Monday that accuses several individuals and businesses of erecting supergraphic advertisements illegally on buildings across the city, including the Sherman Oaks Galleria and the Howard Hughes Center in Westchester.

Trutanich's lawsuit includes World Wide Rush, which already has a separate case pending before the 9th Circuit in which the company seeks to strike down the city's ban on installing new supergraphic ads. Gary Mobley, the attorney for World Wide Rush, said the new suit violates a federal injunction barring the removal of 21 such ads installed by the company.

Trutanich says in the lawsuit that the supergraphics are a nuisance and impede firefighters from entering windows in the event of an emergency.

Full story at LATimes.com.

Preliminary injunction reinstates autism therapy

The Los Angeles Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction yesterday against the Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center in Alhambra for unlawfully terminating a treatment for autism.

The order requires ELARC to reinstate funding for Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based treatment services for a class of children with autism served by the center, including children recently diagnosed with autism who have yet to receive treatment.  A judge will decide later whether or not the center can stop using DIR.

California considers DIR to be an experimental therapy.

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Johnson joins Arent Fox in LA

Arent Fox LLP announced last week that leading labor and employment lawyer Harry I. Johnson III has joined the firm as a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office. He comes to Arent Fox from Jones Day, where he served as the practice coordinator of the management-side attorneys that made up that firm's labor and employment practice in Los Angeles.

Mr. Johnson counsels clients in addressing issues posed by California and federal labor and employment law. In the traditional labor field, Mr. Johnson has represented clients in NLRB unfair labor practice hearings, union representation campaigns, union corporate campaigns, labor arbitrations, assistance with collective bargaining, and Section 10(j) injunction hearings. In the specific area of discrimination law, he has provided guidance to employers in disparate impact and treatment claims of alleged racial, sexual, age, national origin, disability, and sexual orientation discrimination; harassment claims and investigation; retaliation claims; and disability accommodation.

Mr. Johnson earned his JD degree at Harvard Law School and his Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was a summer associate at Arent Fox's Washington, DC office. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his BA degree.

Six Venable attorneys move to Arent Fox

Arent Fox LLP announced last week that six attorneys are joining the firm's automotive practice. Aaron H. Jacoby, John D. Bronstein, and Richard D. Buckley, Jr. join Arent Fox as partners. Kenneth Murphy joins as counsel. Rounding out the new team are associates Victor P. Danhi and Melanie S. Joo. The attorneys held the same positions at their former firm, Venable LLP. All six lawyers will be resident in the firm's Los Angeles office.

Mr. Jacoby, who served as chair of Venable's automotive industry group, will co-chair the Arent Fox automotive practice, along with Christopher H. Grigorian, who resides at the Arent Fox office in Washington, DC.

Aaron H. Jacoby's practice focuses on class actions and consumer litigation, unfair competition, defending government investigations, and federal and state regulatory matters affecting the automotive industry. In 2009, he was recognized in the Daily Journal's Top 100 Lawyers in California. Mr. Jacoby graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

John D. Bronstein focuses his practice on counseling automotive, commercial trucking and transportation clients in federal and state regulatory matters, defense against personal injury and consumer litigation, and government investigations. He earned his JD degree from Loyola Marymount University after obtaining his BA at UCLA.

Richard D. Buckley focuses his practice on business litigation, including class actions, with an emphasis on the automotive and entertainment industries. He was selected for inclusion in 2009 Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars edition. Mr. Buckley earned his JD degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law, where he served as the Notes and Comments Editor at the Tulsa Law Journal. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California, earning a BA degree.

Kenneth J. Murphy's practice encompasses a vast array of sectors within the automotive industry, including business entity formation, structured financing, and purchase and sale of dealerships. He served as special counsel for a new business regarding e-commerce issues related to the automobile distribution system, including development of a national compliance plan for conducting new vehicle purchase and lease transactions on a national basis in compliance with laws of multiple jurisdictions. Mr. Murphy is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Law. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Santa Clara.

Victor P. Danhi's practice focuses on advising automotive industry clients, including large national and regional dealership groups, in consumer class actions and complex litigation, federal and state regulatory matters, unfair competition cases, consumer warranty claims, consumer fraud litigation, franchise disputes and the sale or acquisition of motorcycle dealerships. He earned his JD degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Scott Moot Court Honors Board. He graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University with a BS degree.

Melanie S. Joo's practice focuses on commercial litigation, class actions, consumer litigation, government regulatory matters and administrative proceedings. At Venable, she led the Automotive Group's Compliance Team, conducting regulatory reviews of advertising, finance, and franchise laws for automobile dealerships, industry associations and advertising agencies. Ms. Joo earned her JD degree from Tulane University Law School, where she served Senior Case Notes Editor at the Journal of American Arbitration and sat on the Executive Editorial Board. She obtained her BA degree from the University of Southern California.

Full story here.