In petitions for review of the Department of Transportation’s order approving certain of the methods used by a city to calculate the rental rates airlines pay for terminal space at an airport, the petitions are granted in part where the DOT was required to justify or abandon its disparate treatment of airfield and non-airfield space. However, they are denied in part where the rate increase did not discriminate against particular airlines....
Apple may not be known for playing nice when it comes to using the tech they want, but it is surely known for fighting knock-out, drag-out, scorched-earth variety litigation, and isn’t in the least bit afraid to take matters decided against them up on appeal when it loses. Thanks to that latter willingness to appeal, however, Apple has won a sizable bit of relief. A judge panel unanimously decided, as a matter of law, that the jury in the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s big patent case could not have, as a matter of law, ruled for the university....
In a patent infringement action involving oral contraceptives, district court judgment is affirmed where plaintiff’s patent is invalid due to obviousness as it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in pharmaceutical formulation to try a normal pill in formulating drospirenone as an oral contraceptive. Read Bayer Schering Pharma AG v. Barr Laboratories, Inc., No. 08-1282 Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey....
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at questions about the federal climate post-January 20th, the day when President-elect Donald Trump becomes just President Trump. What will happen to the Affordable Care Act? Will Dodd-Frank be dismantled? How will the Supreme Court change under a Trump appointee? Here’s another question for the list: Will we all die in a desert hellscape, having given up our last best chance at an international fight against climate change?...
In plaintiff’s suit against defendants for using its employees to drill its water wells without a required license, trial court’s judgment against plaintiff after sustaining defendants’ demurrer is reversed where the trial court erred in concluding that Water Code section 13750.5 does not apply to public entities such as defendant. Read California Groundwater Ass’n v. Semitrophic Water Storage Dist., No. F056823 [HTML] Read California Groundwater Ass’n v. Semitrophic Water Storage Dist....
Summary Judgment in Claims for Negligence in Connection with Burst Pipe Affirmed In Capitol Sprinkler Inspection, Inc. v. Guest Serv., Inc., No. 09-7128, third-party claims for negligence and breach of contract in connection with a burst pipe at a building managed by third-party defendant, summary judgment for third-party defendant is affirmed where 1) the alacrity with which defendant staunched the flow of water was relevant only to the measure of damages, not to liability; 2) because plaintiff did not show “good cause,” the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying plaintiff’s motion for an extension of time; 3) the district court did not err in denying plaintiff’s motion to strike defendant’s reply brief....
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is in hot water over alleged racist remarks made to girlfriend V. Stiviano about being seen with black people. But was it legal for Sterling’s comments to have been recorded in the first place? A man TMZ has identified as Sterling was caught in an audio recording making racist demands of Stiviano, after the woman posted a picture of herself on Instagram with basketball legend Magic Johnson....
Fit for a Tarantino film, a Nazi dad in the middle of a child custody battle donned a Nazi uniform in court. The dad, Heath Campbell, “suited up” in a New Jersey courthouse to petition a family court judge to allow him to see his youngest son, reports Philadelphia’s WCAU-TV. The father claims he lost custody of three older children because he gave them Nazi-inspired names. But the state says there was previous violence in the home....
Shalant v. Girardi, No. B211932, involved a trial court’s dismissal of an attorney’s complaint, finding him to be a vexatious litigant within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 391. However, because plaintiff was initially represented by counsel, who filed the complaint on plaintiff’s behalf, he did not violate the pre-filing order by later appearing in the case in propia persona and as such, the trial court’s dismissal is reversed....
Kirby v. Immoos Fire Prot., Inc., C062306, concerned a challenge to the trial court’s award of $49,846.05 in attorneys’ fees to defendant following plaintiffs’ dismissal of the suit after the trial court denied class certification, in plaintiffs’ suit against defendant-employer as well as 750 Doe defendants for violating various labor laws and unfair competition law. In affirming, the court held that the trial court did not err in ruling that section 1194 did not impose a complete bar on defendant’s recovery of attorney’s fees in this case, and as such, the trial court did not err in awarding attorney’s fees to defendant for its defense against rest-period claim....
Lateral hiring at BigLaw firms is increasing. Some commentators are concerned, as this trend does not necessarily mean the economy is faring well. In fact, it could actually mean the opposite. The spate of hiring may actually be spurred on by desperation – and we all know desperation isn’t exactly a positive sign. Lateral hiring increased by 22% from the previous year, the ABA Journal reports. That’s a whole lot of firm bigwigs shifting around: More than 2,400 partners joined or left law firms....
A man in Minnesota is accused of loading vibrators with explosives which he planned to give to ex-girlfriends as Christmas gifts. Terry Allen Lester, 37, has been arrested and charged with creating an explosive device and making terroristic threats, both felonies, the Toronto Sun reports. Making terroristic threats can typically be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending upon the facts of the case and the discretion of the prosecutor....
Briefing just got a little easier in the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. No, it’s not any easier to research and write briefs in the complex cases handled by the Federal Circuit. It is still the clearing house for patents, trademarks, and other specialty claims across the country. But practitioners can now access briefs as soon as they are filed with the court. That helps, especially because the court used to hold onto them for days and nobody could get access....
In a petition for review of a Merit Systems Protection Board decision affirming Petitioner’s removal from a supervisory position with the Department of Agriculture, the petition is denied where the administrative judge exercised sound discretion by excluding evidence on the grounds that it was nonprobative, cumulative, or likely to unduly delay the proceedings. Read the full decision in Fellhoelter v. Dep’t of Agriculture, No. 2008-3244. Before MICHEL, Chief Judge, BRYSON, Circuit Judge, and CUDAHY, Senior Circuit Judge....
With the premiere of RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has transcended the fame of her illustrious legal career. Ginsburg is more than a pioneer of women’s rights. She is more than the most famous sitting-member of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Notorious RBG is, in the words of many fans, an “icon” and a “rock star.” Following her documentary’s showing at the Sundance Film Festival, now Ginsburg is on a speaking tour....
If you are a fan of foie gras, you aren’t going to like this decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. The High Court rejected a challenge to California’s ban on the delicacy. The state law went into effect in 2012, and the U.S. Ninth Circuit upheld it. If you are a fan of humane treatment of animals, the decision should be good news. That’s because foie gras is made from the livers of duck and geese that have been force-fed....
Joe Paterno and other high ranking Penn State officials failed to take action against Jerry Sandusky because they didn’t want the negative publicity against the school, according to an internal investigation led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh. On multiple occasions, Paterno and school officials were made aware that Jerry Sandusky may have been sexually assaulting young boys, the Freeh report found. Yet Penn State officials failed to take steps to alert authorities or prevent Sandusky from bringing children onto campus, reports Yahoo!...
A Texas jury has sentenced ex-NFL player Josh Brent to 10 years of probation, 180 days in jail, and a $10,000 fine for a drunken-driving crash that killed his teammate and friend Jerry Brown. Brent, formerly with the Dallas Cowboys, was convicted this week of involuntary manslaughter for causing the fatal crash in December 2012. Brent was driving at least 110 mph and had a blood alcohol level of 0.18 percent – more than twice the legal limit in Texas, The Dallas Morning News reports....
There are a lot of factors to consider when applying to law schools: ranking, cost, scholarship funds, odds of admission, geography, schools’ success rates in regards to job placement and bar passage, and more. Somewhere, far down that list, is a school’s culture. It’s a soft factor that is often overlooked, but it really is an important one, especially if you’re planning on spending most of the next three years of your life there....
Pinterest has hired as new general counsel Christine Flores, who had been working as Google’s vice president of legal. Flores worked for Google 10 years and led several corporate teams, including mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate governance, real estate, and ethics and compliance. At Pinterest, she will lead the company’s legal and public policy teams. “Christine is a proven leader with a decade of experience in corporate law, and has tackled some of the most challenging projects in the business world – from the Alphabet reorganization to large international acquisitions and investments,” Pinterest cofounder and CEO Ben Silbermann said in a statement....
