California state lawmakers are calling for an audit of the state's February bar exam that was plagued with technical issues, concerns over AI-generated questions, and now, one of the highest pass rates of any spring exam since 1965.
An influential California legislator is pressuring the State Bar of California to ditch its new multiple-choice questions after a February bar exam debacle and revert to the traditional test format in July.
Someone passed a box of tissues to Sequoyah Thiessen. Child abuse, she told the Senate Health Committee, drove her to drugs at age 15. But at 22, she vowed to get sober. Thus began a hellish descent into California’s private-pay, insurance-money-fueled segment of the addiction treatment system. “Treatment,” she told the senators, was an oxymoron there. She endured violence, sexual harassment, emotional manipulation, cult-like environments, grotesque living conditions, forced relapses, constant displacement.
The state’s auditor issued a review of the city of Anaheim’s lease with the Los Angeles Angels for Angel Stadium, criticizing a lack of access for inspections and its revenue-sharing terms, which compare unfavorably to other stadiums in the state.
A pair of powerful California lawmakers is teaming up to pass legislation that would require device manufacturers to ascertain the age of users, with the goal of providing kids with age-appropriate online experiences. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Tom Umberg (D) and Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Buffy Wicks (D) announced Tuesday that they will work together to advance the Digital Age Assurance Act.
A bill in the California Legislature could change the way public officers and candidates raise money for their campaigns by allowing them to use public funds, with some rules in place.
If you agreed to a mind-meld with Spock, you wouldn’t expect the Vulcan to share all of your deepest thoughts with the entirety of the United Federation of Planets, would you? That’s exactly what Sen. Tom Umberg’s newest bill would prevent in the real world, where brain-computer interfaces are becoming more of a reality rather than a phenomenon from “Star Trek.”
The Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) is proud to announce the distinguished recipients of its highly coveted 2025 annual awards. LACBA will celebrate the following three exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and remarkable contributions to the legal community at its Installation and Awards Dinner on Friday, June 20, 2025, at the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Proposition 36 will be less expensive to enforce than critics have claimed – and the state will pick up the tab. That was Sen. Tom Umberg’s message while speaking to a conference of nurses and public health officials in Sacrament on Wednesday. “I say this without seeing exactly how the Senate’s going to respond to the budget, but I think it’s a state responsibility,” the Santa Ana Democrat said of the tough-on-crime measure passed by over 68% of California voters in November. “I don’t think it’s a county responsibility.” Umberg added, “I think that there are some exaggerated estimates as to what the additional costs may be.”