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Conviction of defendants for first degree murder of their accomplice, who was killed by the intended victim of an apparent attempted robbery, is reversed and remanded where: 1) a defendant may be convicted of first degree murder under the provocative act doctrine if the defendant personally acted willfully, and with premeditation during the attempted murder; but 2) the jury instructions on first degree murder failed to require the jury to find whether each defendant personally acted willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation during the course of the attempted murder of the victim....

Defendant’s conviction for rape and related crimes and imposition of sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment is affirmed where: 1) the 10-year statute of limitations for the offenses of rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object did not expire, and the prosecution of defendant was timely; and 2) upon consideration of both the probative value of the evidence and its prejudicial effect, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting certain uncharged acts evidence under Evidence Code section 1108....

As the nearly two-year-old lawsuit reaches the summary judgment stage, more details about the inflammatory accusations made by John Ray III against BigLaw firm Ropes & Gray, as well as the firm’s defense, are being made public, and at this point in the proceedings, it’s not looking great for Mr. Ray. Ray, on the other hand, accused the firm of treating him, and explicitly asking him to be, their “token black associate” during meetings with clients....

In Kanawha County, West Virginia, stealing from someone’s stash of pain killers located in their personal medicine chest will get you a slap on the wrist. Or maybe the face. That is literally what the alleged victim of this crime suggested she be allowed to do in return for dropping the charges against the defendant. However, here is the “legally weird” part; the assistant D.A. agreed. And of course now, it’s the ADA who is getting slapped....

With litigation pending against Uber over its self-driving technology, a group of its engineers are reportedly headed for the doors. Recode reports that the company is facing an exodus of key talent. Instead of waiting for a court decision that could terminate their division, the engineers are looking elsewhere. It is another impending problem for Uber, which is already entangled in various lawsuits and barely able to pay its bills. So what is a company attorney to do when facing critical resignations?...

Would you buy your child a toy doll that says profanity? Probably not. But if you recently purchased the “You and Me Play and Giggle Triplet” dolls from Toys “R” Us you might be in for a surprise. The dolls say baby babble. They say “goo goo,” “ma ma” and “da da.” They also say something that sounds suspiciously like a word that starts with a “b” and rhymes with “ditch....

It’s universally known that the legal job market is nonexistent for new graduates. Heck, The New York Times writes a story on it every week, it seems. The ABA released job data earlier this week for the class of 2012 and unsurprisingly enough, there were no jobs. We’ve also talked about how this is a “buy low” time for entering law students, as the number of applicants is nearly half of what it was a few years back....

David Kappos, the former UPSTO Director, himself stated: “Admittedly, this move is overdue.” The update has been met with positive response, and, rightfully so. Just as technology changed, the way attorneys practice law has changed since the Model Code was first adopted in 1969, and later revised in 1985. These changes to the USPTO Rules will bridge that gap. The USPTO has its own set of ethical rules, the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, which regulate attorney conduct before the USPTO....

An attorney in Connecticut has been cited for possession and fined $150 after he dropped a small bag of marijuana on courtroom floor. Attorney Vincent Fazzone was busy representing a client in New London Superior Court, when the bag of pot fell from his back pocket, in full view of the court marshal. After Fazzone was finished with the judge, the marshal approached and cited him for possession of an illegal substance....

Think fast. What do you do if you’re trying to rob a bank with a note and you realize there is a uniformed officer standing in line behind you? She attempted to swallow the note, trying to eat her words after she noticed an off-duty officer in line. According to the report, Lois Harvey entered Columbus Chase bank branch wearing sunglasses and handed the teller a note. Surveillance photos show the woman at the counter, only a few feet from the officer while she tried to rob a bank....

Despite crashing into a parked car, the lawyer was not going to miss her court appearance. Layne C. Savage had represented many criminal clients, only this time she was appearing for her own crime: driving under the influence. Savage, who allegedly had five times the legal limit of alcohol in her system, pleaded no contest. Her case, unfortunately, is too common in the legal profession. But it is also surprising because it reveals a little-known fact about alcoholic lawyers – more women than men have drinking problems....

Today’s #DearFindLaw advice column is all about junk in the trunk, aka hauling your crap to class. A reader asks us for recommendations for backpacks, an important consideration considering the size and quantity of expensive casebooks law students will be hauling back-and-forth to class, not to mention your irreplaceable notes stored on your expensive laptop. And speaking of casebooks, another reader wants our advice on procuring casebooks: buy or rent, finding cheaper casebooks, and getting casebooks before your financial aid checks clear....

Baseball powerhouse A-Rod and 12 other players were suspended by the MLB on Monday due to their alleged ties to a Florida anti-aging clinic called Biogenesis. Major League Baseball’s ruling was based on the players’ alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. The Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, a three-time MVP, was alleged to have been using “testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years,” reports ESPN. Have questions about A-Rod’s suspension and the Biogenesis scandal?...

Big-law may have lost its capital b. The American Bar Association reports 4300 job layoffs from big-law firms over the course of the present recession. Add to that small law firms that have closed shop, in-house legal departments that have downsized, non-profit law firms that have reduced staff, and law school grads that didn’t get offers, and you may notice that the legal profession is weathering one tough season. Don’t dwell on bad economic news to the extent that you worry about problems that may not occur and miss opportunities right in front of you....

In a petition for review of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims’ order setting an effective date for Petitioner’s receipt of disability benefits, the petition is denied where an earlier decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs implicitly denied Petitioner’s informal claim that his heart condition was connected to his military service. Read the full decision in Adams v. Shinseki, No. 2008-7162. Marshall O. Potter, Jr., of Vienna, Virginia, argued for claimant-appellant....

A Los Angeles immigration lawyer who dedicated her life to trying difficult asylum cases is now getting what every Angeleno dreams of: a movie. Attorney Judy Wood will be the subject of a new biopic entitled Saint Judy. The film will chronicle Wood’s fight to protect immigrants and ease restrictions on asylum seekers. Here’s a quick preview. When Hollywood depicts lawyers, they aren’t usually wearing halos or illuminated in divine light....

In 2010, Luis Miranda – also known as “El Gordo” – was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the United States, among other places. In 2012, after a federal court rejected his motion to dismiss the charges because the statute was unconstitutional and because the statute didn’t apply to his conduct, El Gordo entered an unconditional guilty plea that purported to prevent him from raising the pretrial motions on appeal....

Divorce can certainly take a heavy toll on a family. But in a unique case out of Pittsburgh, one former husband-and-wife team is taking the acrimony to new levels by playing tug-of-war with their son’s ability to play high school football. In this case, one parent thinks the sport is too dangerous, while the other thinks the benefits outweigh the risks. And it’s not what you think – dad is actually the one saying “no” to football....

We all know you can’t reveal confidential client information, even long after your attorney-client relationship has ended. But confidential info isn’t the only client secret you must maintain. Sharing even public, embarrassing client information can be an ethics violation, according to a recent formal ethics opinion issued by the California Bar. So think twice before sharing that blog post about a former client’s messy divorce, or bragging about how you got a client off easy; you might be violating your duty of confidentiality....

Floridian Justin Laboy’s love story is not that traditional. It’s not a “teen falls in love with high school sweetheart, and lives happily ever after” story. No, it’s quite different. It’s a “teen falls for undercover cop, gets busted for marijuana” story. Yeah, you read that right. Laboy’s boyish crush landed him in some legal trouble, according to the Huffington Post. Laboy said that the cop pressured him into buying her marijuana....