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Maybe Mark Zuckerberg should have taken the blue pill. The “blue pill” reference comes from The Matrix, a sci-fi movie in which one character bemoans the day he realized the virtual world was not real. Zuckerberg, stunned by a $500 million verdict against a virtual reality company Facebook acquired in 2014, may be wondering whether this was worth it. Zuckerberg will certainly have second thoughts about it. At least, his lawyers are contemplating an appeal....

If you are a security official, and your suspect is running away from you - but he is in fact, a feces-covered man, would you chase after him? Apparently a security officer had to, after a man hid in a portable toilet. The more-than-slightly barf-inducing facts are as follows. A woman attending the Hanuman Festival, a yoga event in Colorado, noticed something was suspicious about the tank in the portable toilet she was in, reports the Daily Camera....

Starting a global company may be easier than ever before thanks to the internet and the fact that just about every regulation in every country can be found online. However, navigating all those rules and regs is not for the uninitiated. Just about any company these days can enter the global market. But to be competitive, it takes more than just a good idea, a website, and international shipping. One of the most important team members to get on board before going global is a general counsel....

Leondra Who? Leondra Kruger, that’s who. Kruger was nominated by Governor Jerry Brown to fill the seat vacated by Justice Joyce Kennard, who retired in April. Kennard’s seat has been vacant since then, requiring various justices of the courts of appeal to sit in on cases in order to fill the seventh seat. Kruger’s nomination is a “mind blower,” reported the Los Angeles Times, because, at 38, she’s barely old enough to hold the position....

Yesterday was Human Rights Day, and although our remembrance is a little late, it did serve as a reminder to how far human rights have come in the past 70 years, and how much of the progress has been made in the courtroom. While the work is far from done and we still have far to go to ensure equal rights for all human beings, here are five cases decided or laws passed in recent years that advance that goal:...

Juvenile court’s conviction of a minor for resisting a public officer under Penal Code section 148(a)(1) arising from a vandalism charge is reversed where, as a matter of law, a campus security officer is not a public officer for purposes of section 148. Read In re M.M., No. E045714 Appellate Information Filed September 24, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge McKinster Counsel For Appellant: Lauren E. Eskenazi, under appointment by the Court of Appeal...

Something dirty has happened in Intercourse. Isaac A. Stoltzfus, 58, a district judge from Intercourse, Pennsylvania, was cited after handing out condoms hidden inside of acorns, reports the AP. He handed out these condom-stuffed nuts to unsuspecting women in the state Capitol complex. First things first - the “unsuspecting” women should really have suspected something was afoot. Who hands out acorns on the street? And, as a matter of fact, who accepts acorns from strangers?...

Convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky’s new home is a supermax prison in a remote part of southwestern Pennsylvania, where most of the state’s death-row inmates are also being held. Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections transferred Sandusky to the State Correctional Institution at Greene near Waynesburg on Wednesday, after an evaluation at a corrections facility near Harrisburg, the Associated Press reports. Sandusky, 68, will serve his 30- to 60-year sentence at Greene, where he will be under protective custody at all times....

Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was honored at the 44th Convention of the National Black Law Students’ Association in March, states the NYU School of Law on their site. Judge Edwards was given the A. Leon Higginbotham award is given annually at the conference. The award is named after a former federal judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals....

Don’t tell those students who left law school in deeper debt a few years ago, but student debt may actually be declining now. According to a new report, students at law schools across the country are graduating with less debt than three years ago. A Pepperdine Law School professor drew some conclusions from national rankings of 116 law schools, but cautioned that the results are based on averages. “[T]his is hardly a statement about whether any particular law school is a ‘good’ value or whether the debt loads are appropriate,” said Derek T....

Bribing a state lab worker with $300 is probably not the smartest way to pass a drug test. Using a “Whizzinator” is probably not a bright idea either. A 34-year-old Colorado parolee found this out the hard way and could be headed back to prison. He was on parole for a 2007 menacing conviction. According to the Associated Press, police said the man tried to bribe a state worker to allow him to use a “Whizzinator” to pass a drug test he had to take while on parole....

New lawyers might need to brush up on securities fraud claims or federal energy regulations, sure. They are, after all, new. But their writing? Associates have spent years writing, from their undergrad thesis papers, to their torturous legal writing courses, to their summer internship memos. Writing is their strong point – right? Not if you ask partners, who can quickly rattle off a litany of problems with their associate writing. Here’s a brief rundown of partners’ biggest complaints....

Defendant’s vehicular manslaughter conviction is affirmed where the trial court did not err in failing to instruct the jury that gross negligence requires conscious indifference to consequences, because CALCRIM No. 590, the pattern instruction on gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated the trial court gave, conveyed the equivalent of “conscious indifference” by informing the jury that gross negligence exists only if a reasonable person would have known that acting in that way would create a high risk of death or great bodily injury....

Dustin McCombs is a rape suspect who loves Facebook. Or at least he loves giving the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office a few online jabs. You see, the Alabama sheriff’s office has a Facebook page. They also have a section labeled “Creep of the Week.” One day they posted a photo of McCombs. McCombs, 21, was listed as accused of forcible rape. After his photo went up, the strangest thing started to happen....

The proliferation of sports nutrition companies and performance supplements has led to a proliferation of lawsuits regarding the content of the products and the veracity of their claims. Sports supplements are a billion-dollar industry and consumers are claiming that they’re not getting what they pay for. Some of these lawsuits attack supplement brands for false advertising, while others claim that products aren’t accurately labeled. Here’s a look at two recent lawsuits and what might happen:...

Some might call Tina Baughman a vexatious litigant or unscrupulous plaintiff. Others would label her a crusader for those with limited mobility. Here is her record, per the court’s opinion: This lawsuit was filed, not on the basis of ADA accessible restrooms, but because Baughman desired to use a Segway to traverse Disneyland with her children. She alleges that she can’t (and never has) used an electric wheelchair because her muscular dystrophy makes getting in-and-out of the chair difficult....

One of the biggest hurdles to landing a good job for law students is taking the time to prepare a thoughtful application. That’s why over winter break, law students might want to actually consider spending some time on their resumes and cover letters, and maybe even start sending some out. While it’s important to get some rest and relaxation over winter break, slacking on the job hunt really is not an option if you don’t have a job or something lined up....

Uber is finding itself “disrupted” right into federal court, this time over allegations that it’s charging users a 20 percent gratuity but not paying that to employees – excuse me, partners (because they’re not employees and Uber isn’t operating a transportation company). Deceptive Trade Practices The class action complaint, filed in January, alleges that Uber automatically charges 20 percent gratuity in addition to the fare. Though characterized as “gratuity,” the complaint claims that Uber “keeps a substantial portion of this additional charge for itself....

If you’re unemployed and saddled with debt, it’s your own fault – just ask William Robinson, the president of the American Bar Association. Robinson sat down with Reuters to address rising tuition costs and the unrealistic expectations held by today’s law students. Congress, the media and the profession have accused the trade group of contributing to both problems. Robinson’s response is anything but what you want to hear. You are not a kid, according to William Robinson....

It’s been six years since a federal three-judge court ordered California to drastically reduce its prison population and four years since the Supreme Court affirmed that ruling. At the time, the order brought cries that there would be “blood in the streets” if state prison populations were reduced. Of course, California didn’t just open the prison gates and let inmates walk free. Instead, it instituted a realignment program, moving prisoners from state to local jails, and adopted changes to “tough on crime” laws....