grateful jittery

Tax season is upon us. Around this time of year, many accountants and taxpayers are scrambling, trying to figure out the smartest and most creative tax deductions. The Internal Revenue Code is jam-packed with all sorts of tax deductions. Some taxpayers have been creative over the years and come up with some truly crazy schemes to deduct expenses on their tax returns. Here are five of the weirdest tax deductions approved by the IRS:...

Elder law, family law, animal law, human rights law, tax law…if there is a legal topic you are curious about, there likely exists a law school clinic that explores it. And while law school clinics offer the community free/low cost legal services, they also give law students the unique opportunity to get involved in actual legal work, under the supervision of professor-attorneys. . By no means exhaustive, this no-particularly-ordered list provides a glimpse of what kinds of law school clinics are out there....

In an appeal from the trial court’s denial of Plaintiff’s motion to register a judgment against Defendant, the order is affirmed where: 1) Code of Civil Procedure section 1710.40 was the proper means to challenge registration of a sister-state judgment on jurisdictional grounds; 2) Section 1710.40’s 30-day limitations period was inapplicable to challenges based on lack of fundamental jurisdiction; and 3) the trial court did not err in ruling that the sister-state default judgment against Defendant was void....

Soon after Jonathan Nichols enrolled in law school at Seattle University, he started getting offers for backstage passes, calls from luxury-car dealerships, and raunchy texts from strangers. “There were some girls in really short shorts and skimpy tops, obviously turned around showing their butts. And they’d say ‘I know you love us: because we got a big butt,’” Nichols says. No, the messages weren’t inspired by Nichols’ attendance at Seattle’s second-best law school....

Judgment of the United States Court of Federal Claims upholding the decision of the Air Force Board of Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR) denying additional backpay and disability benefits is affirmed where: 1) the Court of Federal Claims did not err in concluding that the AFBCMR’s failure to award additional incapacitation pay was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law; 2) the Court of Federal Claims did not err in finding that the AFBCMR’s decision not to award claimant constructive active duty pay was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law; and 3) to the extent that claimant disagrees with the Air Force’s decision not to reimburse certain expenses, the trial court’s decision does not preclude claimant from filing another claim with the court....

Homelessness is a major problem in many major U.S. cities. It’s such a major problem that one Cardozo law student decided to – well – “immerse” himself into it. He became homeless by choice. The student, who went by the pseudonym of “David” in an interview with the Yeshiva University Observer, wasn’t facing financial problems. He wasn’t forced out of his home. He decided to become homeless last spring because he “experienced the ultimate problem” of having no problems....

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had an uncharacteristically busy day last week, releasing eleven opinions on Friday. Out of the many interesting holdings from the day’s bounty comes the appeal of civil contempt findings against the two Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys involved in the late Sen. Ted Stevens’ prosecution. The two attorneys, William M. Welch and Brenda K. Morris, were held in civil contempt by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan for violating a court order to turn over documents to Stevens’ defense team....

Peremptory writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its order denying petitioner’s application for a certificate of probable cause for his appeal is granted where the court erred in denying petitioner’s application for being untimely under Cal. Rules of Court 8.304(b) as the rule does not clearly specify when the items in questions are to be filed. The court is ordered to consider petitioner’s application for a certificate of probable cause on the merits or on other procedural grounds....

Bummed about having to pay taxes? You’re not alone. Romanian witches are threatening to cast a spells with dog feces on the Romanian government over new labor laws that would force them to pay taxes on their income. Witches, in addition to, fortune tellers, models, valets and astrologers are vowing to hex the government for its taxing ways. The laws are designed to fight tax evasion, according to the Romanian government....

The law has finally caught up with Ray McDonald. After several arrests for domestic violence, McDonald, the former San Francisco 49er, has been charged with felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor domestic violence, child endangerment, and violating a court order. What took the Santa Clara District Attorney so long to charge him? In the past year, McDonald has been arrested three times for domestic violence already. In August 2014, McDonald was arrested for alleged domestic abuse against his then pregnant fiancee....

Can’t we all just get along? That’s what Theodore Finnell and a rival ice cream man in Uniontown, PA were asked last week after Finnell’s wife informed police that a year-long ice cream truck feud had escalated into a potentially dangerous and rocky road war. With permits on the line, the two must now work together and chill out. From the perspective of Theodore Finnell and his wife Patty, an unnamed rival ice cream man has been harassing them for the last year, reports WTAE-TV....

We all know that in house counsel positions generally offer a better lifestyle option than law firms. But besides having better hours, avoiding the pressure to bill, and not having the need to rain-make, Matt Herrmann at Above the Law provides reason number 1,000 (or was it reason number 1,000,000) as to why in house counsel positions are better – law firms are unnaturally meaner. No big shocker. But perhaps no one has ever put it down to pen and paper....

Jim Thorpe was probably one of the best American athletes of the 20th century: He won Olympic gold medals in 1912 for both pentathlon and decathlon, and he played football, basketball, and baseball (did Bo know all that?). His sports career ended about when the Great Depression started, and he had trouble finding work. He became an alcoholic and died intestate (without a will) in 1953. So why is it that, 61 years later, Thorpe’s children and a Pennsylvania town that Thorpe had never been to are fighting over his remains in federal court?...

In plaintiff’s action seeking damages for wrongful foreclosure and usurious interest against defendants, including a fellow investor, judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed where: 1) the trial court correctly ruled that the joint venture exception to the usury rules applied as there is strong evidence that a joint venture existed between plaintiff and the fellow investor; and 2) since the transaction was not usurious, it follows that the foreclosure sale was properly conducted....

In a paternity action, trial court order requiring defendant to pay child support is reversed and remanded where: 1) the court did not abuse its discretion in including his speculative bonus income in his gross annual income for purposes of calculating child support; and 2) the court abused its discretion by including his Indian tribe’s payment of his attorney fees in his gross annual income under Family Code sec. 4058 (a) for purposes of the guideline support calculation, as the payments go directly to his attorneys and are not part of his income or cash flow available for child support, and thus may be considered only under Family Code sec....

Iowa resident Jerald Reiter, 55, was arrested on Sunday for drunk driving with a zebra in his truck. The baby animal, along with a macaw parrot, was reportedly sitting in the front seat with him when he was stopped by police. He had apparently taken the animals to the Dog House Lounge, a local bar that he claims often allows animals inside. Unfortunately, food was being served that night, so the bar owner sent the zoo animals back to the car....

Pennsylvanian woman Amanda Confer and her beau, a pre-release prison inmate named Randell Peterson, had an illicit encounter: they had sex on a city bus. In broad daylight. Oh, and Confer was with her baby at the time. Confer, 24, boarded the Montoursville bus with her baby daughter one late afternoon in August. Peterson and his fellow pre-release inmate Joshua Schill were also riding the bus at the time. Both are part of a prison work release program....

The glass is half-full. The glass is HALF-FULL. THE GLASS IS FREAKING FULL. Seriously, it takes an optimistic soul to run a law school nowadays, especially one that keeps popping up on lists of schools that are facing financial crises. Brooklyn Law School Dean Nick Allard seems to be that sort of man. He’s the leader of the club that’s too expensive for you and me. (BLS, 50k, better win the lot-ter-ry!...

Do law schools really need to teach students how to use the emerging legal tech of today and tomorrow? Or maybe just yesterday? After all, some Millennials don’t even know how to Google. While it might sound nice for schools to require students to pass certain technological core competencies, there’s a pretty strong argument against tech being a requirement: Law school is for learning the law, not how to create or use legal tech....

The 2011 Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) is out, and it appears as though law students are as masochistic as ever. More than 33,000 law students at 95 Canadian and American law schools responded to the web-based survey, which is curated by Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research. Researchers asked about on-campus engagement, career services, and overall satisfaction. And guess what? Eighty percent of respondents said they would definitely or probably do it all over again....