Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals judgment is vacated and remanded where defendant is not a contractor and thus the Board lacks jurisdiction over its appeal of the contracting officer’s decision, as the Contract Disputes Act does not gives the Board jurisdiction over a claim against the government brought by a subcontractor that is a third-party beneficiary of a contract between the government and the prime contractor. Read Winter v. Floorpro, Inc....
In a showing of a rarely-used federal appeals court power, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals placed a stay on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), which targets power plant emissions that cross state lines. The stay, which leaves an existing air pollution reduction program in place until the court can assess legal challenges to the rule, has been touted as “a pretty big deal” since the court rarely stays EPA rules....
Rapper Lloyd Banks wants to know: Beamer, Benz or Bentley? Lloyd, take your Benz out, because the Bentley needs to go into the shop. Bentley Motors is recalling 820 cars world-wide on fears that the famous winged “B” that is its hood ornament could come loose in a crash and hurt someone. Yes, this is an actual Bentley recall. The Associated Press reported on September 23, that the head office of Bentley Motors in Europe announced the recall which will cover 620 cars in the United States and Canada, and 200 in Europe....
Before applying to law school everyone tried to scare you about the LSAT. And then you took it. Before starting law school everyone tried to scare you about the Socratic method. And then you experienced it. Before your first law job everyone is trying to scare you about the billable hour. And now… Well, now the model might be on the verge of changing. Whether you find yourself anticipating the life of budding law firm associate or are already deep in its trenches, you should know that one of the defining walls of the law firm industry may be experiencing a few cracks in is foundation....
The California Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal involving an order forcing Yelp to remove a negative review against an attorney. The case arose after a San Francisco lawyer won a defamation lawsuit against a client over her review on Yelp, the online business directory and review site. That victory came with an injunction ordering Yelp to take down the offending post. In June, the injunction was upheld by a California appeals court....
BNSF Rwy. Co. v. Surface Transp. Bd., No. 09-1092, involved a petition for review of the decision of the Surface Transportation Board (Board) that rates challenged in 2004 by fuel companies were unreasonably high maximum reasonable rates, prescribing future maximum rates, and ordering petitioner to pay reparations. The D.C. Circuit granted the petition in part, holding that the Board failed appropriately to consider economies of density and artificially inflated the revenues attributable to the stand-alone railroad at issue....
In plaintiff’s action under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), court of appeals’ reversal of trial court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion seeking an attorney’s fee award of $870,935.50 is reversed where: 1) Code Civ. Proc. section 1033(a), interpreted according to its plain meaning, gives a trial court discretion to deny attorney’s fees to a plaintiff who prevails on a FEHA claim but recovers an amount that could have been recovered in a limited civil case; and 2) in light of plaintiff’s minimal success and grossly inflated attorney’s fee request, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying attorney’s fees....
Ikea customers were surprised and amused to find a coat-wearing monkey in the parking lot while shopping in Toronto on Sunday. The monkey found a way out of its crate and then out of the car while its owner was picking out furniture, and wandered around in his shearling coat and diaper. Police officers and Ikea employees corralled the little guy in the lot until animal services arrived. No one was hurt and most shoppers thought the monkey was pretty adorable, reports ABC News....
Thursday, the California Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for an Oakland man convicted on multiple first degree murder counts, reports the Bay City News Service. Matthew Souza was 18-years-old in 1993 when he began shooting revelers at an apartment party with a semi-automatic assault rifle. Matthew opened fire on the crowd in retaliation for an earlier incident in which his mother had been forcibly removed from a house party. Matthew, his brother Michael, and a third, unidentified man armed themselves with guns and drove to Regina Watchman’s apartment, where five people were shot, and three of the victims, including Watchman, died....
People v. King, No. B210909 involved a challenge to a conviction of a police officer for sexual assault of a female driver, arising from a traffic stop for making an illegal U-turn. In affirming the conviction, the court rejected defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims as, even if his counsel did err, any such error did not prejudice him to require reversal. Defendant’s claim that the trial court erred in denying him the right to cross-examine witnesses and in failing to properly instruct the jury are also rejected....
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was arrested earlier this month after allegedly beating up his mother. Dez Bryant’s mother, Angela Bryant, now reportedly doesn’t want to pursue charges against her son, perhaps ending the prosecutor’s case. Prosecutors still haven’t decided if they will drop the case. But without their star witness behind them, it’s not clear what kind of case they can bring against the wide receiver. Two weeks ago, Dez Bryant and his mom reportedly had an argument that turned violent, reports The Associated Press....
As summer comes to a close, more and more criticisms of the D.C. Circuit’s performance have bubbled to the top of the viscous stew that is political reporting. Some independent sources, like Volokh Conspiracy’s Jonathan H. Adler, defend the court’s actions over the last few years, noting that despite the kerfuffle over President Obama’s recess appointments, “the [c]ourt is hardly anti-regulatory.” The D.C. Circuit hears more regulatory cases than any of its sister Circuits, but how much does the court actually act against agency decisions?...
In plaintiff’s action for wrongful termination, trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to compel arbitration on the ground that the provision concerning witness depositions was flawed is reversed as the language permitting the arbitrator to expand discovery upon a showing of need removes any taint of unconscionability from the agreement, and even if it’s assumed to be unconscionable, the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to severe it. Read Dotson v....
Not all law schools are the same. A student who gets a JD from Yale could have a much different experience than someone who studied at the University of Southern California, who in turn could have a very different three years than someone at the University of New Hampshire. We’re not just talking about differences in ranking, professors, or geography, either. We’re talking differences in teaching styles. And those differences could have a significant impact on your success in law school and your career afterwards....
Bill Cosby, once the most successful comedian in America, lost his criminal case. In the emotional moments following his convictions on three counts of aggravated assault, Cosby also lost his composure. As the judge considered revoking his bail, a prosecutor pointed out that the $400 million man owns a private plane. “It doesn’t matter that I have a plane, you a**hole,” Cosby reportedly shouted. The judge let him leave the court but ordered him to stay in the state....
So the big news out of my adjacent motherland (I’m a KCMO boy; Kansas is basically the same thing) is that the Democratic candidate for governor, Paul Davis, went to a strip club in 1998. A young lawyer at the time, Davis may have been receiving a lap dance (he was reportedly in the back room with a stripper in a G-string) when the club was raided by police looking for its owner, who was also his law firm’s client, The Wichita Eagle reports....
The San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010 killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. Four years later, litigation is still ongoing. Last year, Pacific Gas & Electric – the utility company responsible for the pipeline – was told by the California Public Utility Commission that it should pay $2.25 billion “for decades of negligence,” The Associated Press reported. Federal prosecutors have charged PG&E with felony safety violations. Just when things couldn’t get worse, last week, emails revealed as part of a lawsuit settlement suggest a very cozy relationship between PG&E and CPUC officials regulating the company....
Perhaps you’ve seen your friends slowly drift away from Twitter as their careers take off. Maybe you’ve felt pressure to not share that Clickhole masterpiece, now that you’re a serious lawyer. You might even worry that sharing an article on LinkedIn could give the impression that you’re not working hard enough. After all, lawyers are too important for social media, right? Forget that. Not only can you continue to update your Facebook and ‘gram your selfies as a lawyer, you should....
When Gov. Jerry Brown signed the new data collection law, it scuttled a ballot initiative that would have left the door wide open for damages against companies violating the law. The California Consumer Privacy Act, however, limits consumers to $750 for breaches of their non-encrypted personal information. The limit was a compromise between privacy advocates and legislators, who agreed to put a lower ceiling on companies subject to the deal....
Most people know that if you want to avoid jail time, you really shouldn’t anger a policeman. For example, if you slap an officer on the butt, you might be getting yourself into trouble. First, you’re drawing attention to yourself. Second, you’ve probably earned the officer’s ire. That’s exactly what happened in the case of 21-year-old Taylor Valentine of Madison, Wisconsin. The officer was on bike patrol at the Freakfest event in the State Street area of town....
