LA Weekly, long-known for its progressive coverage of Los Angeles culture, is having its own culture shock. It’s toxic litigation, the type that can tear apart any business. One investor is suing the others, alleging they are using the weekly newspaper to line their pockets. A judge has denied a motion to end the case, but the litigation could spell the end for the publication. Some say the old LA Weekly is already dead....
It’s hard to witness a train wreck, but not too hard to see it coming. In a way, that’s what happened to Portland attorney Erik John Graeff. He was moving down the track in his law practice, when the wheels started to come off. Maybe it started when he allegedly shoved a client against a wall last year. It could have been the suspicious shooting incident a few months ago. But it all came crashing down this week when he was charged with operating a meth lab in his basement....
Northwestern University’s football players may be able to unionize after a NLRB ruling Wednesday determined that scholarship-receiving players are employees of their private university. The National Labor Review Board found that many of the school’s football players were being “paid” in the form of scholarships and working 20 to 50 hours a week to maintain the school’s multimillion-dollar football program, reports CNN. What legal ripples could this decision have for college athletes everywhere?...
Do you really want the State of New Jersey handling the decommissioning of a nuclear facility? If you’ve ever watched an episode of Jersey Shore, or Real Housewives of New Jersey, or Jerseylicious, you would have to have doubts, right?. And you wouldn’t be alone. This week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed transfer of authority over nuclear waste disposal at the Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation to New Jersey was arbitrary and capricious....
Defendant’s conviction is reversed as collateral estoppel barred the court from convicting defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm after the jury acquitted him on the charges during which the firearm possession allegedly occurred. Defendant’s claim that he was not properly advised of the rights he was waiving is rejected as he knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights to jury trial on the gun possession charge. Read People v....
Dismissal of conspiracy charge for failure to satisfy the corpus delicti rule affirmed in a prosecution for cocaine possession People v. Powers-Monachello, A124358, involved a prosecution of a defendant and three co-defendants for possession for sale of cocaine and conspiracy to possess cocaine for sale. In affirming the trial courts’ dismissal of the conspiracy charge for failure to satisfy the corpus delicti rule, the court held that, although the defendants’ extrajudicial statements might have been introduced to determine whether they would be held to answer, such statements remained irrelevant until the corpus delicti rule had been otherwise satisfied....
The Orca Welfare and Safety Act was just effectively put in hibernation, a/k/a, interim hearings where it won’t be the subject of hearings, or put to a vote until 2015. In 2013, the film “Blackfish” came out exposing the nature of animal captivity and the effects on Orcas. As a result, earlier this week Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) introduced AB 2140 – the Orca Welfare and Safety Act – that would prohibit orca shows, and the import, export, and breeding and holding of orcas in captivity for “performance or entertainment purposes,” reports the Independent Voter Network....
Everybody loves to read about lawyer screw-ups. Sometimes they can be pretty run-of-the-mill and even mundane ethics breaches like co-mingling of funds. But sometimes they can be pretty emotionally provocative. Some lawyers get on the bad side of ethics by making outrageous accusations about people based on nothing more than their idiocy. While conducting a deposition, Marc Kurzman, a Minnesota lawyer, began a line of questioning in impeachment style that strongly suggested that a parenting consultant had been accused of inappropriate sexual contact with minors....
Attention attorneys: Are you a nomophobe? To find out, ponder this simple question: How long can you go without using your cell phone? If just the thought of being without cell phone contact strikes fear in your core, you’re probably among the untold masses – including, probably, countless lawyers – who suffer from nomophobia: the fear of having “no mobile phone,” the website CNET reports. The term was first used in the UK, where a 2008 survey found more than 50% of respondents worried about being without their cell phones....
When a cup of coffee costs a few bucks, you want every penny’s worth. Now Starbucks latte drinkers who say the company has been shorting them on their java and milk drinks got the green light and their lawsuit against the Seattle coffee corporation is going forward, reports Reuters. The suit was filed in federal court in San Francisco and claims that Starbucks changed its latte recipe in 2009 in order to save money on milk....
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a pine cone. And it may have caused brain damage, according to a lawsuit filed in San Francisco this week. Sounds Silly, but It’s Serious At first glance, the lawsuit seems silly. But it is serious. Sean Mace, in his fifties, was pummeled by the pine cone during a visit to the Bay Area during last year’s Fleet Week. He was relaxing under a tree when the 16-pound seed pod fell on his head....
Melvin Jones suffers from a variety of health problems. He alleges that, by 2004, he was unable to perform the tasks required — including lifting and driving — for the jobs he previously held. Since he could no longer work, he applied for disability benefits under the Social Security Act. In the course of his disability benefits evaluations, Jones saw three doctors. Two noted his extensive back and leg pain; one of those determined that Jones could not work....
In a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) action seeking certain FBI records, the denial of an attorney’s fee award to Plaintiff is affirmed, where the amendment to FOIA in the OPEN Government Act of 2007 does not apply retroactively, and thus Plaintiff was not entitled to fees under that provision. Read Summers v. Dep’t of Justice, No. 07-5315 Appellate Information Argued November 10, 2008 Decided June 26, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Ginsburg...
Americans are litigious. We certainly like to enforce our legal rights. We also like to make sure somebody pays up when they wrong us. Some of the most outrageous lawsuits of 2011 include sex, crime, and flying body parts. Below is our compilation list of FindLaw’s top 5 weirdest – and wonkiest – lawsuits to hit the news: 5. Tourist Sues Hooker for Leaving ½ Hour Early College student Hubert Blackman was in Las Vegas....
When I was a recent grad, desperate for a paying gig, I looked across this fair nation. I wondered, “Where might the jobs be?” And then I realized: there were none. So, much like my forefathers, I packed on up and moved to Southern California. After all, if you’re going to be living in a refrigerator box, is there a place with weather more suited to the lifestyle? That realization of a nationwide depression was based, mostly, on anecdotal evidence and a dearth of job ads....
In plaintiffs’ action against various defendants including a building contractor involved in the construction of their retirement home, the judgment of the trial court is modified as the corporation that acted as the building contractor on the project violated the California’s licensure requirements and, based on that violation, the homeowners are entitled under Business and Professions Code section 7031(b) to recover all compensation paid to the contractor for the unlicensed work....
Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds’ sentencing is set for Friday. The home-run king could be sent to prison for allegedly lying about an alleged steroid scandal. Bonds, 47, was found guilty in April on a single count of obstruction of justice. His conviction came nearly four years after Bonds was indicted for reportedly lying to a grand jury about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. An obstruction conviction carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, followed by three years of probation, MLB....
What causes of action, if any, does a law student have against bar examiners for failing her? No, this is not a cruel bar exam question. It is a question in a lawsuit pending in a Mississippi court, where Zundria Crawford has filed a complaint over her failed bar exam results. Crawford claims she didn’t fail the bar, rather the bar failed her. Her complaint looks like a Hail Mary, but many other examinees who have failed may be praying it flies....
A a twist of tragic irony, police and prosecutors have “taken a bite out of crime” by getting McGruff the Crime Dog sentenced to 16 years in prison for a massive pot operation and weapons cache, including a grenade launcher. John R. Morales, 41, a former actor who played the crime-fighting canine, was pulled over for speeding in Galveston, Texas, in 2011. A real-life dog (this one of the drug-sniffing variety) ratted him out for pot....
If you follow international soccer, the question wasn’t whether FIFA was a corrupt sporting institution, but whether it was the most corrupt sporting institution. And while allegations of bribery were rampant, FIFA’s executives remained largely untouchable. That all changed overnight. Early this morning, Swiss Police arrested seven FIFA officials and corporate executives in Zurich as they gathered for the governing body’s elections. Seven others have also been arrested, based on indictments from the U....
