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Gov. Gavin Newsom took a step forward in his campaign for juvenile justice reform by visiting a juvenile detention center. Speaking to officials, reporters, and young inmates, the governor said he hopes to bring changes as early as July. The first change, if approved by the legislature, will be to transfer the care of some 660 offenders from corrections to health and human services. It is a small step, given there are tens of thousands of youth in the juvenile justice system....

“Follow the money” is a catchphrase in journalism and elsewhere, and it can apply to non-lawyers owning legal services. In California, the State Bar commissioned a study into the subject. It wanted to know whether to change ethics rules that forbid non-lawyers from owning legal service companies. The report suggests it’s about time to open the doors because, among other reasons, fewer people are hiring lawyers. $7 Billion Market Loss According to the report by William Henderson, twice as many people are representing themselves in cases than they were 20 years ago....

A high roller who bet on some creative tax accounting has lost an appeal in court. The Canadian man tried to deduct more than $96,000 in gambling losses as business expenses. Giuseppe Tarascio’s business-expense claims may have been a gamble from the start, but the phone-company technician tried to back them up with proof, the Toronto Sun reports. Tarascio kept records of his gambling and touted his “special knowledge and skill as a gambler” in trying to claim casino and horse-betting losses as business expenses, according to the Sun....

Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education was dealt a severe blow for its delay in carrying out the Borrower’s Defense to Repayment, which was supposed to go into effect on July 1. Attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia filed suit, claiming the delay violated the Administrative Procedures Act because DeVos did not meet the standard for a delay, give proper notice, or afford adequate time for public comment....

The pass rate numbers for the California bar exam are bad – really bad. If you took it, there’s basically a third of a chance you passed – and that’s if you were a randomly chosen individual. If you took the test and you were from an out of state, non-accredited law school? Why were you even sitting for this thing? Still, we remain hopeful and have pushed an idea that this could be the beginning of the bottom....

While grades, test scores, and all the traditional factors you expect to matter for law school admissions do in fact matter, one of the most underestimated factors is real world experience. Think about it, all other things being equal, who do you think a law school would rather admit, someone who has never held a real job, or someone who has? As US News explains, law students with real world experience are generally viewed as more mature and able to bring something extra to the table....

Finding of Liability Against the Government For Breach of Contract in a Winstar Case Reversed Holland v. US, 09-5095, concerned a challenge to the the Court of Federal Claims’ holding that the government is liable for breach of contract, in a Winstar case. In reversing, the court held that the plaintiffs’ release of all claims against the FDIC as manager of the FSLIC Resolution Fund (FRF) in the settlement agreement effected a release of all claims against co-obligor, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)....

Let’s say you graduated from law school, landed a less-than-ideal job, and now want to make the switch to BigLaw. Can it be done? Most people would say it can’t, but the true answer is “maybe.” It’s not an easy task – many people try and then give up, or perhaps never try in the first place. But for the determined few, it may just be possible to make the leap to a big firm....

FSU quarterback Jameis Winston will not be charged for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in 2012, leaving many to wonder if he will end up in civil court. State Attorney Willie Meggs said in a press conference on Thursday that the case did not have “sufficient evidence to go forward and bring [it] to trial,” reports Sports Illustrated. Though the criminal investigation is currently over, Winston’s accuser still has the option to potentially sue him for battery....

Fortnite has become a real epidemic. Not only has it been instrumental in the World Health Organization’s declaration that “gaming disorder” is a mental health condition, now it has been linked as the cause for 200 divorces in the United Kingdom. To put the Fortnite craze into some perspective, there are over 125 million registered Fortnite players around the world. One third of the Forniters play six to 10 hours per week, and over a third play the game more than 11 hours per week, about 90 minutes per day....

Maricopa County was understandably upset when they found out Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewart had billed them incorrectly. The county first noticed that they were billed for an associate’s time when the work was actually done by a new hire who had not yet passed the bar. Then they noticed that Ogletree Deakins had actually billed two not-yet-attorneys as if they were full associates. Billing errors happen and while they’re upsetting to clients, they can also be fixed....

The cheese thieves must be stopped! Two women walked into a Bend, Oregon Whole Foods Market on Tuesday night and then proceeded to walk out with about $600 worth of stolen cheese. It was even the good stuff–aged Gouda and decadent blue. Where’s the party? Though poundage is unknown, the wheel sells for $300. However, it is traditionally cut up into much smaller chunks before being sold. Or stolen. What’s even odder than the concept of stolen cheese is that the women then asked for a box, which was brought to them by a market employee, notes the station....

Patent trolls may have to come out into the sunlight, finally. Last week, in what’s been dubbed “The Big Tent Letter,” fifty business organizations, as diverse as banking and publishing, asked Congress to enact legislation to deal with frivolous patent suits. So what is Congress doing about patent trolls? In 2011, the America Invents Act set up a temporary program, limited to financial patents, for the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board to review a patent’s legitimacy....

Quitting a legal job usually requires some finesse. In general, you’ll want to give your employer ample notice, and you don’t want to burn any bridges. Then again, we can think of a few rare instances when you may just want to tell your boss to “take this job and shove it.” We’re not here to advise you which route is best. But if you’re hoping to leave a lasting impression when you quit, some pop-culture examples may come in handy....

Applying a voter-approved initiative designed to ease prison overcrowding, the California Supreme Court effectively reduced a felon’s crime to a misdemeanor by expanding the definition of shoplifting. The high court said that shoplifting does not apply only to taking merchandise from stores. Under Proposition 47, the court said, it also means taking property worth less than $950 in other ways. “Here we hold the electorate similarly intended that the shoplifting statute apply to an entry to commit a nonlarcenous act,” Justice Carol Corrigan said for the 5-2 majority....

OK, you’ve finally started getting your loans in order. You used the National Student Loan Database System to see what you’ve borrowed from the feds. You’ve consolidated, if appropriate, and picked an income-based repayment plan so that your payments are manageable. You’re also up-to-date on your monthly payments on any private loans. But now your career is taking off and you have a bit of surplus cash. And instead of letting the interest build on those loans, you’re ready to start dumping your excess cash on one or more of them....

Even with the Christmas season coming, it must have been a ‘Come-to-Jesus’ meeting for Toys ‘R’ Us and its lawyers. Kirkland and Ellis, a top ranked restructuring firm, was hired to look at options for the struggling retailer. Refinancing was on the Christmas list, but the attorneys had some bad news. “Second-Rate Website” Chronicling that history, the Washington Post put the blame on Toys ‘R’ Us: “Lousy in-store customer service, a second-rate website, and prices that are often higher than at many of its big-box competitors....

False Claims Act Action In US v. Science Apps. Int’l. Corp., No. 09-5385, an action against a government contractor for violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by seeking payments at the same time it knew it was violating contractual provisions governing potential conflicts of interest, the court vacated judgment for plaintiff where the district court’s “collective knowledge” instruction conflicted with the FCA’s scienter standard, the proper application of which was critical to ensuring that FCA liability attached only for false or fraudulent claims and not for accidental or even negligent breaches of contract....

A Utah mother has been charged with two felony counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child and two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after police learned that she was attempting to sell her daughter’s virginity. The sale price? $10,000. The advertising? Pornographic photos and a lingerie fashion show. According to police affidavits, the mother exchanged text messages with two men negotiating the sale of her 13-year-old daughter’s virginity, reports the Associated Press....

What’s the cost for overseeing a program where fraud was rampant? About $75 million and counting. That’s the amount that Wells Fargo’s board announced it would “claw back” from two executives this morning, sending them the bill for the bank’s account fraud scandal. The bank agreed to pay $185 million to regulators in September, after it was accused of fraud that saw 2 million fake bank account and credit card lines opened in customers’ name....