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Lawyers may have found a new hero, and the Portland public may want to take a tip from this unlikely protagonist, who got sued by his landlord after she realized she signed a contract that heavily favored her tenant. The true story, courtesy of the wacky Northwest rental market in Portland, pits two of the public’s least favorite stereotypical small business persons against each other: a lawyer and a landlord. And while most of the coverage seems to be sympathetic to the landlord that filed the case, as lawyers, we can’t help but see through the anti-lawyer reporting....

Although Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand pleaded guilty to driving impaired, the matter also is still being reviewed under the league’s personal conduct policy. Detroit Lions exec Tom Lewand was arrested in June on suspicion of drunk driving but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of operating while visibly impaired, the Detroit News reports. According to officials, Lewand’s car was seen crossing from one lane to another after leaving a bar’s parking lot....

It’s costly to give away your sperm for free – just ask Trent Arsenault. The 36-year-old Northern California man has “fathered” 14 children since 2006, and has 4 more on the way. But they may be his last. The FDA got wind of his one-man sperm donor operation last year and has ordered him to shut it down. Though he charges nothing for his services, the agency has labeled him a “manufacturer of human cells....

An Oklahoma State basketball coach, an assistant coach, and two others were killed in a plane crash Thursday, the university announced this morning. Oklahoma State University women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in the crash about 4:30 p.m. in Arkansas. Former Oklahoma state Senator Olin Branstetter and his wife Paula were also killed in the crash, The Oklahoman reports. Branstetter, 83, an experienced pilot, is listed as the plane’s owner, the newspaper said....

Court of Appeals’ issuance of a peremptory writ of mandate directing the trial court to dismiss premeditation and gang enhancement allegations is reversed where: 1) trial court order setting aside the allegations for a new trial cannot be construed as an express or implied acquittal triggering constitutional double jeopardy protections; 2) plaintiff’s conviction of the underlying attempted murder offenses did not bar retrial of the allegations under Penal Code sec. 1181; and 3) the scope of the retrial may be limited to penalty allegations as penalty allegations are not elements of an offense under California law....

In plaintiffs’ suit against the defendant-Cruise Line brought under the California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), the False Advertising Law (FAL), and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), over charges added to the price of shore excursions taken during a cruise, trial court’s order denying defendant’s motion for summary judgment is vacated and remanded where: 1) trial court erred in concluding that the CLRA cause of action was barred by Civil Code 1781(c); 2) a plaintiff asserting UCL, FAL and CLRA must show that he or she relied on the defendant’s misrepresentations; 3) plaintiffs did not rely on any representations made by defendants; 4) there are no material questions of fact about the cost of excursions....

For California lawyers, defending individuals on criminal marijuana charges was already a rare event. However, over the past two decades, medical marijuana businesses kept some lawyers busy. But now that marijuana is legal for recreational purposes in the state, more lawyers will undoubtedly be needed to help the new pot shops keep on the legal side of selling pot. Below, you can find a few resources to help you help your legal weed selling clients in California....

In an action by minority interest-holding beneficiaries opposing trustee’s sale of the estate’s principal asset, probate court’s order awarding approximately $226,000 in attorney’s fees and costs to the trustee and ordering the fees charged against the minority interest-holding beneficiaries’ future trust distributions is affirmed as the probate court had the equitable power to make the attorney’s fees award. Read Rudnick v. Rudnick, No. F056587 [HTML] Read Rudnick v. Rudnick, No. F056587 [PDF]...

San Francisco continues to bolster its image as a “feel good, live well” city with the latest passage of the San Francisco Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance. The first of its kind in the state, the city ordinance could have a lasting, and wide-reaching impact across the state, and hopefully, the country. The San Francisco Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance gives employees who are caregivers a “right to request” flexible or predictable work arrangements....

At this point most of us would agree that smoking is bad for you. It’s bad for the guy standing next to the guy who is smoking. It’s bad for the kids of the guy who is smoking. But here is an question, if tobacco is still a legal product in this country, and it is, maybe the one place you should be able to smoke is at a tobacco trade show?...

Solvay SA v. Honeywell Int’l Inc., 09-1161, involved a suit for infringement of a patent, directed to methods for making 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane (non-ozone depleting hydrofluorocarbon). In reversing in part, the court held that the district court erred in ruling claims 1, 5, 7, 10, and 11 of the ‘817 patent invalid as defendant was not a prior inventor for purposes of section 102(g)(2). However, the court affirmed in part as the district court did not err in ruling that claims 1, 5, 7, 10, and 11 of the ‘817 patent were infringed....

According to the brilliant minds over at the Harvard Business Review, employers can help identify those employees with the highest potential to succeed thanks to some scientific research. They explain that doing so is critical as you need to identify your top performers in order to make sure you retain them, and best utilize them. Surprisingly, the three factors cited in the HBR report don’t seem very scientific at all. But, apparently, the three primary indicators for an employer to identify its star employees are:...

A Mississippi man who was previously declared legally dead was sentenced to death on Friday. No, he’s not a zombie (that would be “undead”), he was just missing for so long that a court declared him dead. Thomas Sanders, 57, was declared dead in 1994 after he’d abandoned his family in 1987. However, that wasn’t to say that he was exactly lying low. The Associated Press reports that a federal jury convicted Sanders for the kidnapping and death of a 12-year-old Las Vegas girl in 2010....

By now, law school class ranks are undoubtedly out. Those numbers can be everything in legal education where everyone is comparatively evaluated. If your rank isn’t as high as you’d hoped then you have your work cut out for you. But if your number is up there, it’s time to start thinking about how to leverage that success. Being at the top of your class isn’t just something to be proud of; it’s something you can use as evidence of your own personal merit....

In an action brought by labor unions against transportation industry employers under the unfair competition law and the Labor Code Private Attorney General Act of 2004, Court of Appeals judgment is affirmed where: 1) a plaintiff has standing to bring an unfair competition law action only if the plaintiff has suffered injury in fact, and an injured employee’s assignment of rights cannot confer standing on an uninjured assignee; 2) a plaintiff has standing to bring an action under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 only if the plaintiff is an aggrieved employee, and an aggrieved employee cannot assign a claim for statutory penalties as the employee does not own an assignable interest; and 3) a representative action under the unfair competition law must be brought as a class action....

In a petition for a writ of mandamus to overturn a trial court’s order vacating an arbitration award, the petition is denied where the arbitrator excluded material evidence that substantially prejudiced respondent pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1286.2.1. Read Burlage v. Superior Court, No. B211431 Appellate Information Filed August 31, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Gilbert Counsel For Petitioners: Richard M. Hoefflin, Hoefflin & Associates, ALC, Westlake Village, CA...

Vacations are a time to go wild, but don’t go too wild. You may get arrested. Four tourists were arrested in Malaysia last month after they got naked on a sacred mountain and caused an earthquake. Back in May, 10 tourists climbed up Mount Kinabalu on the island of Borneo, which is partially owned by Malaysia. In the near freezing temperature, the tourist took off all of their clothes, and took pictures in their birthday suits on the mountain....

California lawyers take note: the state Supreme Court will now be appointing the California State Bar’s seven lawyer, and six non-lawyer, board members, as well as the Bar’s president and vice president (which have been rebranded as chair and vice chair). Last week, the court made three appointments: Jason Lee, as Chair, Alan Steinbrecher as Vice Chair, and Brandon Stallings as a member of the board of trustees. However, in the announcement on the state bar’s website, there’s something that is likely more concerning for lawyers in the state: The bar is still trying to find a way to increase membership dues....

Welcome to “First Week at the Firm,” a new FindLaw feature for beginning associates, focused on helping you navigate the transition into firm life. We hope you’ll enjoy this new series and come back regularly for more insider tips. Welcome to the firm! Get ready to start writing, because the bulk of many new associates’ workloads will be research. It’s easy to sit down and begin researching a question – be it something simple, or something juicy – and find yourself still sitting there, still researching hours later....

His name is Augustus Sol Invictus and he wants to be the next Marco Rubio. The 32-year old lawyer in Orlando, Florida, is running as a Libertarian candidate to replace U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. But it’s not his Randian politics that are turning him off to voters; it’s his animal sacrifices. “I did sacrifice a goat,” Invictus told the Associated Press last Friday. “I know that’s probably a quibble in the mind of most Americans....