Civil Law

It was a clear case of irreconcilable differences. The wife said there was no love left in the marriage, she wanted a divorce. The husband insisted that she had been put under the influence of a taweez, a talisman, that had erased her affections for him. He refused to divorce.

UCLA Law School and the Rand Corp. launched an alliance Friday to study secrecy in the nation's civil justice system. Attorneys and legal scholars spent the day at a conference at the law school debating just how much secrecy there is and whether any of it is justified. "This subject could not be more timely," said UCLA Law School Dean Michael Schill. "Transparency in our civil justice system is incredibly important for its legitimacy."

When Michael Jackson's wife wanted out of their marriage, the pop star hand-picked and paid the retired judge who signed off on a prearranged deal giving Jackson sole custody of their two children. Jackson did not have to set foot inside a courthouse to finalize his 1999 divorce from Deborah Rowe, avoiding the kind of glaring public scrutiny he encountered last year when he was tried on and acquitted of child molestation charges.

Starting today, Michael Jackson will figure in another courtroom drama -- this one centering on attempts by Los Angeles Superior Court officials to show that celebrities and other rich people can't buy special treatment from the legal system when they have business disputes or want to get divorced. For years, Jackson's custody battle with ex-wife Deborah Rowe sometimes seemed to suggest the opposite point.

As residents attempt to fix blame for the deadly La Conchita landslide, legal experts say suing public agencies or even uphill neighbors is difficult unless roads, leaky pipes or other man-made conditions contributed to the collapse. "When you build on a hillside you are taking a great risk," said Tarzana attorney David B. Casselman, who has represented individuals, corporations and public agencies in landslide litigation over the last two decades.

The woman who says she bit into a human finger while eating chili at a Wendy's restaurant has a history of making claims against corporations, including another fast-food chain, a former employer and General Motors. Anna Ayala, 39, who hired a San Jose attorney to represent her in the Wendy's case, has been involved in several legal battles in the Bay Area, according to court records.

Merv Grazinski set his Winnebago on cruise control, slid away from the wheel and went back to fix a cup of coffee. You can guess what happened next: The rudderless, driverless Winnebago crashed. Grazinski blamed the manufacturer for not warning against such a maneuver in the owner's manual. He sued and won $1.75 million. His jackpot would seem to erase any doubt that the legal system has lost its mind.

Comics have gained a certain gravitas in recent years: Graphic novels get reviewed alongside conventional books, and universities offer courses on comic book theory. There has been a glut of news stories telling us of comics' newfound maturity. The courts, though, have not adapted so readily. "We still have to deal with prosecutors who will look at a jury and say, 'Come on -- comics are for kids. Let's call a spade a spade,' " says Charles Brownstein of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

After the flood comes the flood of litigation. Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast, lawyers from the region are deciding whom to sue over the catastrophe -- or rather, whom to sue first. At least one suit was filed in the last week, and plans were being sketched out for many more. The targets include real estate agents, insurance companies and federal agencies. The potential damages being sought range from a few thousand dollars to billions of dollars.