Articles Posted in California

In this tough legal economy, 4,364 applicants took the February California bar examination. Approximately 42% of the applicants passed the exam.

California has a tough bar. The pass rate has floated between 33 and 40 percent for the last 10 years.

The key to passing the California bar? Not having failed it before. The pass rate for the California bar was 53% for those taking the bar for the first time. Another leading indicator? Go to an accredited law school. Only 27% of those at non-ABA accredited law schools pass the exam which makes you question the wisdom of having law schools in California that are not ABA accredited.

I wrote on Sunday about the awful motorcycle accident in California that killed six people this weekend.

I predicted the hit-and-run driver who fled the scene would be found. But 72 hours later, no one has been taken into custody. How could that be? Apparently, there is one problem that we would not have in Maryland: the proximity to a safe haven in Mexico. It is now being reported that authorities plan to meet today with Mexican officials to look over border surveillance video to see if a 4-door Gold Honda Civic with California plates crossed over.

Hopefully, that haven will not be so safe, but it certainly complicates the efforts of law enforcement officers. If we find him, the driver will likely face felony hit and run and gross vehicular manslaughter charges in California.

A San Mateo County jury ordered the California Department of Transportation to pay a 17-year-old girl injured in a pedestrian accident $12 million. As is the case in too many pedestrian accident cases, the plaintiff’s injuries were catastrophic: she sustained a brain injury that put her in a permanent vegetative state. No matter what the facts are, it is just an unbelievable tragedy that happens far too often.

Plaintiff’s attorneys’ case rested on the premise that uncontrolled intersections with designated crosswalks are more dangerous than unmarked crosswalks because they give pedestrians a false sense of confidence that they can cross.

These pedestrian cases against state entities are tough and few accident lawyers will take them. Plaintiff’s lawyers, in this case, deserve a lot of credit.

The family of a man killed by police during an attempted arrest for a gang-related murder has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Sunnyvale. The family contends the decedent did not attempt to run over the police officers and was not resisting arrest at the time of his death. The family filed a previous suit six months ago but withdrew it after the city protested that it was too vague. The city plans to seek a dismissal of the case again. You can find one of the articles on this case here.

Sunnyvale is not the only city in California to face a similar lawsuit. In what would appear on its face to be a more compelling case involving an innocent 20-year-old black man who had a wife and small child, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the city of Anaheim for fatally shooting this young man in his front yard.

It is impossible to prejudge a case by knowing all the facts. But absent other factors which very well may exist, the Plaintiff’s wrongful death claim in the latter case seems strong.