Attorneys Los Angeles

Julio Garcia, known to the homeboys in his gang as Cesar, shook his head as the district attorney's investigator served him with a stack of papers that could dictate whom he can talk to, where he can hang out and what he can do from now on. The 18-year-old ex-convict knew this was coming; he'd read in the newspaper that the city was suing his gang to block members from even being seen together in some public areas.

Robert D. McLean, chairman of the executive committee of the international law firm Sidley & Austin who defended auditors in litigation stemming from the Orange County bankruptcy, has died. He was 53. McLean died Monday of cancer at his Chicago home, his Los Angeles office said Friday. Skilled in law firm administration, McLean made his reputation as an antitrust lawyer defending major accounting firms and blue-chip corporations.

SACRAMENTO - Members of the panel that sets salaries for California officials said Thursday that raises are unlikely this year for Gov. Jerry Brown, legislators and other officeholders. The California Citizens Compensation Commission delayed a vote on the matter until June, after the state announces whether it has the budget surplus required before salaries could be increased. The economy is still volatile, said commission Chairman Thomas Dalzell, and the seven-member panel is unlikely to approve raises so soon after the state's budget crisis had abated.

Four federal prosecutors from Los Angeles will receive a U.S. attorney general's distinguished service award for their work prosecuting avowed racist Buford O. Furrow Jr., authorities said. The award, which will be presented during a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, D.C., will go to Michael J. Gennaco, Michael Terrell, Caroline C. Wittcoff and Bobbi Bernstein. Gennaco headed the civil rights section of the U.S.

A Placentia-based contractor this week protested a Public Works Department recommendation to award a bid to build Bob Henry Park. Micon Engineering, the second lowest bidder, claimed through its attorneys that Los Angeles Engineering, the city's choice to build the $930,000 park, did not comply with state license laws. Officials of Los Angeles Engineering, a Rosemead firm, called the protest ridiculous and desperate.

A financial settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit, brought by a couple whose baby died of a severe birth defect five days after it was born at a county hospital in Sylmar, has been delayed at least until Sept. 16, their attorney said Monday.

Attorneys for Los Angeles city officials filed an emergency appeal Friday seeking to overturn a federal judge's order that secret grand jury transcripts be given to plaintiffs in a civil rights case brought against the LAPD's controversial Special Investigations Section. In a petition filed with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, attorneys for the mayor, the City Council and police said the ruling by U.S. District Judge J.

A firm accused of using high-pressure tactics to get Latino families in the Los Angeles and Bay areas to buy expensive pots, pans and water filtration devices will pay a $250,000 fine and offer refunds to settle a consumer protection lawsuit, according to the state attorney general's office. Hy Cite Corp. of Wisconsin will offer full refunds to more than 400 consumers named in the judgment issued in San Francisco Superior Court, said Sandra Michioku, a spokeswoman for state Atty. Gen.

The Home Depot USA has agreed to pay $8 million to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of anti-pollution rules and laws prohibiting false and misleading advertising in connection with sales of paints and other coatings containing illegal smog-forming ingredients, air quality officials said. Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement chain, signed the agreement earlier this week with the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the district attorneys of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, SCAQMD Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein said.

CVS Pharmacy has agreed to pay more than $2 million in fines and other costs to settle a consumer protection lawsuit alleging that the drugstore chain overcharged customers for sale items and engaged in misleading advertising. The civil complaint, filed Aug. 11 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged that CVS failed to provide an immediate discount for certain advertised items. An investigation also determined that since 2006, the company routinely charged consumers more for items than the advertised sale price.