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“Why are you in my house taking a shower … Who are you?” An Oregon woman came home to find a burglar named Timothy Chapek in her house taking a shower. Homeowner Hilary McKenzie seemed to find the incident rather entertaining. She called 911 to let them take care of the matter, but meanwhile she found out that Chapek had already called the police himself. “I just broke into a house and the owner came home … I think they have guns,” Chapek, 24, said to the dispatcher, The Smoking Gun reports....

A workers’ compensation case has put a California taxi company out of business. Faced with more than $500,000 in fines, A-C Transportation Services, Inc. closed the doors on 20 cabbies on Dec. 31, 2016. The Department of Industrial Relations announced that the closure was part of a settlement based on the company’s failure to provide workers’ compensation for its drivers. Kevin and Jennifer Kroh, who also did business as Healdsburg Cab Company, agreed in the settlement to pay a fine of $200,000 and to cease doing business....

Law school isn’t easy and getting through it without leaning on any of the resources available to you is overly optimistic and completely unnecessary. Those resources are there for a reason, and that reason is to help you and every other student looking to improve their academic success. Below are four of the most important resources law students need to learn how to access. As a law student, your best asset is your network....

The shine of Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein was definitely starting to fade in the years following his last championship with the Boston Red Sox and his abrupt departure to take on the Cubs job. But his star apparently never dimmed for a Massachusetts woman who allegedly followed him from Boston and appeared at his doorstep in Chicago. Kathleen Kearney, 44, says she showed up in front of Epstein’s Chicago home to invite him to go church....

Dismissing a federal employee is no simple task. This week, an unpublished Federal Circuit Court of Appeals opinion demonstrates how one federal agency took the necessary steps for its termination decision to withstand judicial review. The plaintiff, Tonia Noble, began working in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2007. Two years later, her supervisor gave her notice that her job performance was unacceptable and, as a result, placed her on a 90-day performance improvement plan (PIP)....

In plaintiffs’ unfair competition action against defendants-healthcare discount program providers, trial court’s judgment in favor of the defendants on the ground that the pre-trial settlement of plaintiffs’ damage claims meant they no longer had standing to sue under the new standing requirements of Proposition 64 is reversed and remanded as the changed standing rule was not intended to apply to cases pending when it took effect where a plaintiff had suffered actual injury as required by the new law, but settled that portion of its action before Proposition 64 took effect....

As 2016 comes to a close, what does the new year hold for in-house counsel? Our crystal ball is on the fritz, but we have a few solid predictions nonetheless. Attorneys in corporate legal departments can expect some current in-house trends to continue strong in to 2017, as companies, for example, continue to place more responsibility on in-house counsel. But big changes could be ahead, too, largely due to the incoming presidential administration which has promised to turn long-standing regulations (and practices) on their head....

Earlier today, we covered the best damn disciplinary opinion we’ve ever read, mostly due to the contributions of the defendant herself, Svitlana Sangary. (Quick recap: Sangary got busted for posting fake pictures of herself with celebrities on the “Publicity” page of her law firm’s website.) Sangary’s philosophies on life, determination, and strength were so inspiring that we figured we’d share what we learned with all of you young attorneys out there, just starting out in the world....

The California Supreme Court is taking applications for the court’s first appointment to the State Bar Board of Trustees. If you’re a current or aspiring California lawyer, you’ll need to remember that name: The State Bar Board of Trustees is the newly spruced-up incarnation of the State Bar’s Board of Governors. These are the people that give you the good — or not-so-good — news about attorney licensing and discipline....

We’ve all been there before – with an ex that makes you so miserable, it has to be a crime, right? Or at least a violation of the state constitution? Well, brave Iowan Tim Le finally had the courage to bring that claim to court, and his claim was roundly rejected. So what was Tim’s ex doing that was unconstitutionally awful? Bill of Wrongs The Iowa Court of Appeals’ review of Le’s divorce proceedings is a little light on the details, at least when it comes to the alleged bad behavior of Le’s ex, Annie....

Jack Montague, who was captain of Yale’s basketball team before being expelling for having non-consensual sex with another student, is now suing the school, alleging that he was unfairly targeted for punishment and would not have been prosecuted had he not been a man. It’s a reversal of most Title IX lawsuits following campus sexual misconduct cases, this time with the accused claiming the school did not properly protect his rights....

Citizens, this is bi-partisanship in action. We can’t agree on health care. We can’t agree on Afghanistan. But we can agree that those darn loud commercials have got to go. And go they will, under HR 1084, which the House of Representatives bill approved Tuesday by voice vote. Loud voice vote. As with anything Congress takes up these days, there are issues. In order to manage the variation in volume between programs and commercials, broadcastors may need to purchase new equipment....

You may work on a lot of independent projects, but you surely don’t work in a bubble. Chances are you’re sharing office space, or work in a cubicle environment so you’re coming into contact with people all day. It’s sometimes hard to be friendly when you’re stressed and working on a deadline, but being sour will get you nowhere fast. Didn’t your mama ever tell you that you “catch more flies with honey than vinegar?...

It’s not that often that a 9-year-old girl attacks a cop, spits on a bus driver, throws rocks at a school bus, and yells profanities. All of this happened during one incident. The school bus tantrum first started when the elementary school child was told to stop eating candy on the bus. The girl, a fourth grader at the Royal Palms School in Fort Myers, Florida, didn’t take too kindly to the bus driver giving her orders....

You may remember back on 2008 when George W. Bush released a statement of the Government’s intention to assist automakers in the midst of the economic downturn. As a result of the government assistance, two groups of former General Motors Corporation (“GM”) and Chrysler LLC (“Chrysler”) car dealers, whose franchises were terminated as a result of the bankruptcies, sued the Government alleging regulatory takings. The Government’s Financial Assistance The franchise dealers have state and federal laws to protect them from terminations that are not available to them in bankruptcy proceedings....

Megon Walker is a Harvard Law graduate and was on a journal. One would imagine that those two notes on her resume alone would guarantee her a high-paying position in BigLaw. Except there’s a little note on her transcript: a reprimand for plagiarism. In 2009, she submitted a journal article for editing that, according to the school, had significant portions of previously published articles included without proper citations. The school investigated and issued a formal reprimand on her file and transcripts, yet allowed her to graduate with her class....

Poor Mike Wood. He never wanted to be known as ’the Anna Nicole Smith judge.’ But that’s exactly what he became after a dispute over the estate of Anna Nicole’s late husband landed in his probate court – a dispute that’s lasted for 20 years and counting. Now Wood is begging, literally begging, to be recused from the case. In case you’ve forgotten, Anna Nicole Smith was the 90s Playboy model turned Guess girl turned reality TV show train wreck....

A public meeting on the future of the California courts recently exposed “a fundamental philosophical difference over how California courts should operate,” the Courthouse News Service reports. On one side are the members of the Commission on the Future of California’s Court System, an almost-all-judge panel tasked with examining ways to increase efficiency and financial stability in the court system. On the other are court workers and labor representatives, who view the Commission as a bureaucratic intrusion, CNS reports – an intrusion that threatens to replace many court jobs with machines....

First there was the Boston Tea Party (the original one, not the current one). Then Prohibition. Now, there is the Portland Lemonade Revolt. Yes, like her forbearers, this modern American citizen truly resents government bureaucrats tampering with her God given right to sell and drink her preferred legal beverage. Now, after county inspectors shut down a little girl’s lemonade stand, some Portlanders are up in arms. Last week, 7 year-old entrepreneur Julie Murphy (with VP Mom assisting) opened a lemonade booth at a local arts fair in usually laid-back Portland, Oregon, according to MSNBC....

The State of Nevada has agreed to settle with San Francisco in the amount of $400,000 in a lawsuit over allegations that the Silver state wrongfully bused over psychiatric patients to San Francisco without the funds to pay for their care. The deal still must be approved by the Nevada Board of Governors and by a similar board sitting in San Francisco. If approved, it will be a welcome close to San Francisco’s grievances against Nevada....