Ever since California's courts adopted their "fast track" programs some twenty years ago, state court cases here have generally moved along at a pretty good clip. Even somewhat complex cases can be set for trial, and go to trial, within a year of filing. (I recall one defense lawyer complaining near the beginning of "fast track" that he was being "denied my God-given right to conduct a leisurely defense.)
A big exception for some time has been the Superior Court in the inland empire's burgeoning Riverside County . That Southern California court has experienced extreme population growth, a shortage of judges and a district attorney who reportedly never met a potential criminal filing he didn't think meritted a jury trial. These factors have combined to cause a multi-year backlog of cases, and frequent suspension of civil trials altogether. As reported in Legal Pad, the problem has most recently been attacked with a group of visiting judges from other counties, but they apparently have their doubts whether they have provided any long term relief.
But Riverside also has a Federal Court outpost, and that's where they've
been trying the Mattel v. MGA Entertainment plastic doll smack-down, with Mattel claiming the defendant stole its intellectual property to develop and sell the Bratz doll. The case has been a boon to the Riverside hotel and lodging industries, as swarms of lawyers have descended for the lengthy trial. As previously reported here, and just about everywhere else, the jury found liability in the first phase of this bifurcated trial, and the presentation of evidence on damages has just concluded. The LA Times reports that Mattel's lawyer John Quinn asked the jury for $1.8 billion. "I'm well aware that the numbers we're talking about here are very substantial," Quinn told jurors.
Ya' think?
Off Topic Double-Barreled Musical Interlude
It's been awhile since we had a music post. Some of you may be familiar with What About Clients, Dan Hull and Holden Oliver's excellent and unique law blog dealing with client service issues. Happily, it also includes periodic musical posts, and recently included this one, featuring the late and great Paul Butterfield, Son House and my boyhood blues guitar hero, Mike Bloomfield. He really did sound as good as I remembered (Language warning -- may not be entirely safe for work):
I commented on WAC that I thought they and I had the only lawblogs that featured jazz, blues and r & b interludes, but boy was I wrong. Hull turned me on to Raymond Ward's Minor Wisdom. He's a lawyer from New Orleans, and, as is only proper, his blog has tons of outstanding musical posts.
For example, there is this one with Dr. John and Johnny Winter:
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