Los Angeles Daily Journal Newspaper

The McMartin Pre-school molestation case resurfaced Tuesday as an issue in Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner's campaign for state attorney general when a defense lawyer disputed Reiner's assertion that his office had never offered a plea bargain to defendant Ray Buckey.

Have you heard the one about the lawyer who writes poetry? The folks at the Daily Journal have -- and to them, poetry is no joke. The legal newspaper is to California lawyers as Variety is to studio execs: It's a serious-minded publication dedicated to deals, decisions and the art of jurisprudence. But to enliven its usual buttoned-down pages, the paper recently launched "Barristers and Bards," a weekly poetry column.

The pudgy young man with the impish look and the big cigar bounded into the hotel reception room, surveyed the gathering crowd of 250, and homed in, as if directed by internal radar, on the most powerful attorney in the room, American Bar Assn. President-elect Robert Raven. That same unerring radar has guided 36-year-old legal news baron Steven Brill into choice markets for his publications and has made him a growing power in the wealthy and influential world of lawyers and judges.

The Los Angeles Daily Journal prides itself on being a champion for public access to court records--except when it comes to its own records. The legal newspaper recently had to turn over financial records to a former competitor suing the paper for allegedly driving him out of business. So what did the Daily Journal do next? It asked a federal judge to seal all company records in the case.

Have you heard the one about the lawyer who writes poetry? The folks at the Daily Journal have -- and to them, poetry is no joke. The legal newspaper is to California lawyers as Variety is to studio execs: It's a serious-minded publication dedicated to deals, decisions and the art of jurisprudence. But to enliven its usual buttoned-down pages, the paper recently launched "Barristers and Bards," a weekly poetry column.

The Los Angeles Daily Journal prides itself on being a champion for public access to court records--except when it comes to its own records. The legal newspaper recently had to turn over financial records to a former competitor suing the paper for allegedly driving him out of business. So what did the Daily Journal do next? It asked a federal judge to seal all company records in the case.

Santa Monica Superior Court Judge James A. Albracht on Thursday denied requests by the ABC and NBC television networks for potentially key evidence in the murders of Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty. Albracht tentatively rejected making public an audiotape of an emergency 911 telephone call made to police last Aug. 20, when the Menendez couple was found slain in their Beverly Hills mansion. He said he would reconsider his decision next Tuesday.

Beset by internal problems and a weak economy, Chicago-based Baker & McKenzie--the nation's largest law firm--said Friday that it will shut down its 38-attorney Los Angeles practice, ending a tumultuous foray into the city with one of the region's largest law firm closures.

In a move that could set off a confirmation battle in 1989, a leading association of criminal defense attorneys will oppose Gov. George Deukmejian's choice of Harvey Zall as state public defender, lawyers in the organization said Thursday.

The city of Los Angeles spent $18.9 million on outside legal assistance last year, and two-thirds of the law firms receiving contracts had donated to the political campaigns of Mayor James K. Hahn, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo or both. This analysis of campaign finance data, reported in Sunday's Times by Patrick McGreevy, raises a big red flag, and not just because of the ongoing county and federal investigations into city contracting practices.

The McMartin Pre-school molestation case resurfaced Tuesday as an issue in Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner's campaign for state attorney general when a defense lawyer disputed Reiner's assertion that his office had never offered a plea bargain to defendant Ray Buckey.

The pudgy young man with the impish look and the big cigar bounded into the hotel reception room, surveyed the gathering crowd of 250, and homed in, as if directed by internal radar, on the most powerful attorney in the room, American Bar Assn. President-elect Robert Raven. That same unerring radar has guided 36-year-old legal news baron Steven Brill into choice markets for his publications and has made him a growing power in the wealthy and influential world of lawyers and judges.

Could a lawsuit seeking to cut pensions for Orange County sheriff's deputies be tried fairly in one of the county's own courtrooms? That question is at the heart of a motion filed recently by the board of the county retirement system, which has been sued by Orange County in a closely watched battle over $187 million in benefits.

California cities and counties cannot overcharge developers for building inspection and permit fees as a way to fatten their coffers, the state Supreme Court ruled recently. In a Dec. 22 opinion involving Rancho Cucamonga, the court upheld state law saying building fees must be based on the "estimated reasonable costs of providing the services for which the fees are charged."