Bonnie Eslinger

Courts Reporter, Law360

June 2015 to present

Reporting on high-profile, high-stakes courtroom proceedings and trials for online, legal news publication owned by LexisNexis.  I am currently based in the San Francisco bureau and have also worked for Law360 in Los Angeles and London.

Cases recently covered include Fortnite developer Epic Games’ antitrust battle against Google; San Francisco's legal fight against drug companies and pharmacies over the city’s opioid crisis; multidistrict litigation against e-cig maker Juul over youth vaping, and a securities fraud complaint against Tesla and CEO Elon Musk over his 2018 tweets about taking the company private.

In London, I wrote about Johnny Depp's libel trial against News Group Newspapers, Meghan Markle's privacy suit against Associated Newspapers Ltd., a U.K. Supreme Court case affirming the English courts' authority to set global licensing rates for multinational patent portfolios under European telecom standards, and a U.K. Supreme Court case that invalidated certain patents for genetically modifying research mice.

Other stories for Law360: the public corruption trial for former Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca, a sexual harassment trial against worldwide “hot yoga” guru Bikram Choudhury, a $14 million settlement of a copyright class action that placed “Happy Birthday To You” in the public domain, a civil trial over claims that NBA star Derrick Rose and two friends drugged and sexually assaulted a woman, and a $9.4 million verdict for producer Quincy Jones for his work on the Michael Jackson albums "Thriller," Bad" and "Off the Wall." 

Freelance Writer, Argonaut News

June 2015 to present

Wrote news and feature stories. Cover stories include articles on California's entertainment tax credit program, an effort by Los Angeles County cities to plug into a publicly managed renewable energy network and the vexing achievement gap in Santa Monica's schools.

Reporter, Daily News/Bay Area News Group

June  2010 to November 2014

Reported on San Mateo County government and other San Francisco Peninsula concerns.  Stories ran in the Daily News as well as other BANG publications including the San Jose Mercury News and the San Mateo County Times.

Issues covered include the impact of Facebook’s new corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, East Palo Alto’s struggle to implement rent control amidst the Bay Area’s skyrocketing rental market, San Mateo County’s litigation-driven supervisorial redistricting, the push to open new charter schools in Redwood City, and other news related to public health, municipal budgets, environmental initiatives, transportation, labor, development, law enforcement, and social services.

Spearheaded the newspaper’s social media outreach.

Local News Editor/Reporter, San Francisco Examiner

August 2004- January 2010

Managed daily print and online news coverage: worked with reporters to assign and develop stories, monitored breaking news and wire stories, edited copy, chose art, prioritized story placement, and updated website.

As a reporter, covered City Hall and then-Mayor Gavin Newsom and stayed on top of a wide range of stories: the city’s affordable health care program, efforts to legalize gay marriage, the battle to close down an aging power plant; the achievement gap in public schools, initiatives to curb homelessness, the impacts of the city’s structural budget deficit, and master development plans for Treasure Island and Bayview Hunters Point, among others. 

Promoted to editor in 2007.

Journalism/English teacher, Arrowsmith Academy

September 1997 to August 2004                                 

Taught and developed curriculum for freshman and sophomore English classes and oversaw production of the school newspaper for private Berkeley high school. 

Editor, Passionfruit Magazine

May 1998-June 1999                                                              

Co-created and edited a women’s travel journal that garnered a “Best New Title” nomination from Utne in 1999.

Reporter, Modesto Bee

October 1996 to September 1998

Bay Area stringer: helped cover flood crisis in December 1996.                                                             

Freelance Reporter

September 1996 to June 1999

Wrote stories for the San Francisco Chronicle, West County Times, and Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Research Assistant, Robert Scheer  

December 1995 to May 1996