Last year the world’s biggest law firms saw their lowest revenue increase in a decade, according to reports. The mere increase of 2.8 percent showed revenue per lawyer was flat, while partner equity dropped one-half percent. The top 100 firms still brought in billions, and the most profitable partners made more than $5 million each. But the revenue increase was lower than the cost of living increase in major American cities....
It’s March. Many of you have landed a summer associate gig, clerkship, or internship with a small firm. The rest of you will soon (we hope). That means you’re going to need to start preparing your wardrobe. After all, those ironic anti-lawyer t-shirts that read “Dewey Cheatem & Howe” and “Jack Schitt, Esq.” aren’t going to fly at most firms. It’s time to step your game up - either to business casual or if you’re really lucky, the BigLaw ballin’ barrister look....
The New York City marathon that was to be held this past Sunday was cancelled due to Superstorm Sandy. Some disappointed runners may now be contemplating bringing a lawsuit against the marathon organizers. Runners from around the world flew into New York City to take part in the race. Along with paying for the cost of travel and lodging, these contestants also paid marathon fees and other expenses. But the organizers of the race, New York Road Runners (NYRR), are sticking to their no-refund policy, the Associated Press reports....
Charles Dickens coined the phrase “the law is a ass,” and unfortunately sometimes lawyers embody it. Let me not cast the first stone because everybody makes stupid remarks. I remember a judge once interrupted my argument to say, “stop that galloping nonsense!” But Hayley Geftman-Gold’s comments give lawyers a really bad name – as if that were possible. Her Facebook posts came at the worst possible time. Las Vegas Shootings As victims of the worst mass shooting in U....
On March 26, the Associated Press reported that conservative activist James O’Keefe looks to have struck a plea deal with prosecutors in his case for allegedly planning to tamper with the phones in the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu last January. The new charges have been lowered to entering a federal building under false pretenses, a misdemeanor. O’Keefe and his cohorts initially were arrested on felony charges. AP writes that Sean Hannity of Fox News opined that he did not believe the group broke any laws and insisted O’Keefe and Co....
Lawyers know a thing or two about burnout. After all, dealing with high-stakes conflicts, demanding hours, and constant pressure, well, it’s no wonder so many people find themselves at the end of their ropes. Some attorneys change practices or change careers, others implode in a more spectacular fashion. But Johnson & Johnson thinks it might have the cure for burnout amongst its high performers – and it involves a dietitian, a physiologist, and an executive coach....
The ever-present question in response to the ongoing FIFA corruption investigation has been: how far will this go? Will it force Sepp Blatter out? Yes. Will Jack Warner do something stupid or crazy? Yes and yes. Will Russia and Qatar lose their World Cup bids for 2018 and 2022? Maybe. FIFA’s head of compliance told a Swiss newspaper, “If evidence should emerge that the awards to Qatar and Russia only came about thanks to bought votes, then the awards could be invalidated....
In People v. Eusebio, No. B216149, the Second District faced a challenge to a defendant’s seven year sentence for forgery conviction. In affirming, the court held that an amendment to Penal Code section 4019 concerning conduct credit for county jail inmates is not to be applied retroactively and the prospective application does not violate defendant’s right to equal protection under the California Constitution. In People v. Davis, No. B216348, the court faced a challenge to the trial court’s order imposing a $30 facilities fee in a prosecution of defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm....
It’s National Hugging Day! The day all you Bear Huggers and Snuggle Huggers have been waiting for. But before you move in for that warm embrace, make sure to first squeeze out any potential legal issues. After all, you don’t want to end up as the resident Creepy Hugger. Here are three ways you can hug your way into legal liability if you aren’t careful: The student who was suspended for hugging a teacher can attest to the fact that even if you have the most innocent of intentions, you never know how a recipient will feel about intimate contact....
Defendant’s request for issuance of writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its order denying his section 995 motion to set aside one of the counts is granted as the trial court erred by allowing the prosecutor to present revised testimony in order to fill an evidentiary vacuum concerning the gravamen of the offense. Read Garcia v. Superior Court, No. H033111 Appellate Information Filed September 17, 2009 Judges...
Weymouth police in the Boston area are probably counting their lucky evidentiary stars after a bank robber hatched a brilliant plan to Google various robbery-related questions before pulling a bank heist with two others. The robber apparently didn’t think to clear her search history. (Doh!) Alas, sometimes it’s the planning and not the cover-up that’s worse than the crime. While reviewing surveillance video footage of a bank robbery, Weymouth police recognized Sarah McLoud, a suspect in the ongoing investigation of a heroin ring based just around the corner from the targeted bank, reports The Boston Globe....
Apparently a couple that drinks together stays together, even when one of them gets thrown in jail. A husband and wife were each arrested in two separate DUI stops on the same night. Police first arrested Stephanie Souza of Warwick, Rhode Island, on suspicion of drunken driving Friday night. She was taken to the police barracks, where a chemical test indicated that she was driving under the influence, reports the Providence Journal....
In Hussain v. Obama, A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit has affirmed the district court’s decision to deny Guantanamo detainee Abdul al Qader Ahmed Hussain’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court determined that the habeas court’s findings of fact were not “clearly erroneous.” Instead, the court found the findings support the conclusion that Hussain was more likely than not a member of enemy forces. Terrorist Ducks Pointing out the crux of the evidentiary issue is Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution, writing for Lawfare....
New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose and two friends were found not liable on all counts in a civil rape trial on Wednesday. The lawsuit was filed by a woman claiming Rose, Ryan Allen, and Randall Hampton drugged and raped her in 2013. The case was notable not only for its famous defendant, but for some odd pre-trial rulings by the judge and how a civil trial is distinguishable from a criminal one....
U.S. Supreme Court Justice and resident constitutional stalwart Clarence Thomas’ recent Nebraska trip served up some insight into his legal jurisprudence. And his view toward elite, Old Guard law schools. Justice Thomas spent about 90 minutes last Thursday speaking to an enraptured crowd of students and faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Law School. Thomas’ Nebraska trip included some gushy words about his travels in the Midwest. Well, that and criticism that many elite law schools lean too much to the “left....
It’s the least shocking arrest in America’s long and storied criminal justice history – the founder of “The Big Lebowski” homage Lebowski Fest was arrested (wait for it) at Lebowski Fest (wait for it) at a bowling alley for … smoking weed. Louisville police put the cuffs on Will Russell outside of the Executive Strike & Spare for drug possession, resisting arrest, and menacing after he allegedly took a fighting stance and challenged officers....
Former Mets and Phillies slugger Lenny Dykstra was sentenced to three years in prison for grand theft auto, despite his impassioned plea for leniency. “I’m doing everything in my power to be a better person,” Dykstra, 49, told a Los Angeles judge at his sentencing Monday, the Associated Press reports. But the judge said Dykstra’s conduct “was indeed criminal” – the latest in a series of legal problems that have included assault, indecent exposure, and alleged possession of cocaine, ecstasy, and synthetic human growth hormone....
Who would have thought that the police would one day post a guide on “legal” pot use. But that’s what the Seattle Police Department has done in an online guide that’s gone viral, entitled “Marijwhatnow? A Guide to Legal Marijuana Use In Seattle.” The guide looks ahead to Dec. 6, when Washington’s voter-approved Initiative 502 will take effect, making recreational marijuana use legal for adults over the age of 21....
Patent troll haters’ eyes are rolling at the Federal Circuit after, according to some critics, the court missed a golden opportunity to finally rein in abstract patents, reports SiliconAngle. One such notable critic, Timothy B. Lee, rolled his eyes completely into the back of his head in a Washington Post article he wrote titled, “One the worst patents ever just got upheld in court.” Yeah, he was referring to the Federal Circuit…...
Trial court’s denial of defendant’s petition for a judicial finding of factual innocence following the dismissal of charges that she made a terrorist threat and stalked the victim is affirmed as, while the People failed in their burden to present evidence sufficient to bind defendant over for trial, she failed to sustain her burden to show that she is factually innocent of the charges brought against her such that she never should have been subjected to criminal process in the first place....
