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In an action seeking to overturn approvals by the City of Berkeley and Berkeley City Council of use permits and zoning variances for a mixed-use development project consisting of residential units and retail commercial space, denial of plaintiff’s petition for a writ of mandate is affirmed as: 1) the City did not err in its calculation of the number of density bonus units; 2) plaintiff failed to establish that the City has not proceeded in the manner required by law, that the order or decision is not support by the findings, or that the findings are not supported by the evidence; 3) City of Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board’s findings regarding the benefits of the reduced setbacks to the abutting and confronting lots is supported by substantial evidence and are in conformance with the ordinance as there is no requirement that the reduced setbacks benefit the entire affected residential area; 4) plaintiff has not demonstrated that the City violated the Berkeley Code in its approval of the project by failing to require a cost certification; and 5) City did not violate CEQA....

A Florida mother tried to give herself a leg up in a child-custody dispute, but here’s the kicker: She ended up allegedly beating her son’s father with his own prosthetic leg. Jadian Hatfield, 23, of Pensacola, Fla., allegedly tried to kidnap her 2-year-old son from his father’s home in nearby Okaloosa County, local WEAR-TV reports. About 11 p.m. on Aug. 27, she showed up at the home of Brandon Fleming, 25, accompanied by two men and a shotgun....

Movember: a made-up month (see also Rocktober); alternatively, a men’s health awareness movement that takes place in November, which involves growing mustaches as a sign of awareness and solidarity (see also, the closely related No Shave November). Welcome to the greatest month of the year, gentlemen. Yes, yes, we know: both Movember and No Shave November started on Friday, but for those who were still unconscious from Halloween, you have a few days’ worth of scruff built-up either way....

In a case against an automobile insurance company, the Court of Appeal’s judgment is affirmed where, although the made-whole rule applies in the med-pay insurance context and the insured must be made whole as to all damages proximately caused by the injury, liability for attorney’s fees is not included under the made-whole rule. Instead, a pro rata apportionment rule for attorney fees better allocates responsibility between the insured and the insurer....

Let’s not kid ourselves - as law students, lawyers, or prospective lawyers, we can get a tad bit geeky. This means that you definitely have a favorite Supreme Court justice, for one. Mine happens to be Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She’s the SCOTUS Justice with the highest net worth. At a whopping $18.1 million, at that. RBG comes in as the wealthiest justice, and she’s a fabulous woman. Total baller status....

Actor Jeremy London has survived a bizarre kidnapping. Jeremy London, “Party of Five” and “7th Heaven” star, said he was kidnapped, held at gunpoint and forced to use drugs, People Magazine reports. London, 37, told police that the incident happened while he was in Palm Springs and was attempting to change a flat tire on his car. He said he was approached by a group of men who offered to assist him....

Might we have a candidate for worst-reasoned judicial opinion of the year? A man is caught with a homemade billy club. He took a bat, bored out the middle, filled the hole with a metal bolt, and wrapped the stick in rope. It’s now a weighted club, possession of which is punishable by up to one year in jail. That same clever craftsman and his lawyer came up with an even more clever defense: the Second Amendment....

It’s summertime! Unlike your younger years as a carefree college kid delivering pizza, this summer you’ll be doin’ time in an office. You’ll spend your days researching law, handling client intake, or if you have a really unique boss, writing movie scripts! In the old days, most law students would spend their summers working for a judge, a BigLaw firm, or in a public service internship. Today’s reality is a bit different, and you could be working anywhere from BigLaw to a craigslist-sourced crapternship™....

We’ve all heard the now conventional wisdom about watching what you post online, especially when you post under your real name. A candidate for the federal bench, Kansas City attorney Stephen Bough, is living out that life lesson right now after the Senate Judiciary Committee brought up his blogging past during a confirmation hearing. The best part? Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, quoted a comment posted under Bough’s name stating, “You and the 3 other folks who read this blog will agree I shouldn’t be a judge....

The California Supreme Court ruled last week that sentencing a juvenile offender to 110 years in prison qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment, reports the Los Angeles Times. So what should be the upper limit for juvenile offenders? In 2007, Rodrigo Caballero, a 16-year-old, opened fire on three teenage boys who were members of a rival gang. Adrian Bautista, Carlos Vargas, and Vincent Valle, members of the Val Verde Park Gang, were rounding a street corner on foot when Caballero jumped out of a green Toyota and yelled out the name of his gang....

Cal Ripken Jr.’s mother was abducted from her home at gunpoint Tuesday night. After being reported missing, the 74-year-old Violet Ripken was found Wednesday morning in her car, not far from home. Violet Ripken appears unharmed and she is currently resting with her family, reports The Washington Post. Police are still looking for the suspect, described as a white man in his late 30s-to-early 40s, who was last seen wearing camouflage pants....

In plaintiffs’ efforts to recall the city mayor, trial court’s judgment and order awarding attorney fees against the county register and the city clerk is reversed where: 1) although defendant-city clerk’s appeal from the judgment and order awarding attorney’s fees is moot as to the portion of the judgment issuing the writ of mandate because the recall election has been held, the appeal is not moot as to the declaratory relief provided because the recall proponents’ status as the successful parties for purposes of an award of attorney fees depends on the propriety of the trial court’s ruling on the merits; 2) under the plain language of Elections Code sections 103 and 11303, a request to withdraw a signature from a recall petition is effective, without regard to whether the voter signs the petition before or after signing the request, as long as the request is filed with the appropriate election official prior to the filing of the petition; and 3) the withdrawal requests were valid and the city clerk’s initial certification of the recall petition as insufficient was incorrect, as a voter’s request to withdraw his or her signature from a recall petition is not a petition or paper that requires the signature of a circulator under section 104....

Grab yer guns and head out of Wyoming fellas, cuz there ain’t no wolf huntin’ here, at least for now. A couple of years ago, we brought you the big news: Gray wolves were being taken off the Endangered Species Act (ESA) list after 10 years of waiting, all thanks to a bit of language slapped on to a defense bill. (Thanks Congress!) Once Congress cleared the federal red tape, it was up to the states to give the all-clear for wolf hunting....

The employment landscape has changed drastically over the past year, with social media campaigns and even law student run groups affecting real change in the legal industry. Now, California employment lawyers might want to spend some time getting some relevant training to make sure they know what to do when a client shows up with a #MeToo case. On either the plaintiff or defense side, in these divisive times, getting the right training to handle these matters can make the difference between winning your client’s case and tanking the client’s already tarnished reputation....

Dwight Howard is suing the mother of his child for the Dr. Evil like amount of $500 million. Why? Because he claims that she won’t stop yapping about him in the media. TMZ reports that Royce Reed, star of VH1’s Basketball Wives and Dwight Howard, an Orlando Magic NBA star, entered into a court settlement whereby they agreed not to trash each other in the media. Howard apparently claims that Reed leaked information about him a minimum of 11 times....

There’s a time and place for everything, and it’s called college. There’s also a time and place for Snapchatting, and it’s not while traveling 107 mph on a suburban road at night with your two passengers begging you to slow down. Because that’s when you go barreling into another car, giving that car’s driver serious permanent brain injuries, and get yourself and Snapchat sued in the process. But how is an innocent Millennial supposed to know she can’t Snapchat and drive, when the app has a filter that allows users to record their speed while Snapchatting?...

A D.C. Circuit decision on Tuesday has put a legal stop to the importing of an unapproved drug used for executions, which had been passed through by the FDA. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had allowed sodium thiopental, a misbranded and unapproved drug used as an anesthetic in the lethal injection process, to be imported into prisons, and the D.C. Circuit denied their discretion to allow unapproved drugs into the U....

The government shutdown may be over temporarily, but the lawsuit over whether the federal government can require employees to work without being paid doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. The motion for a temporary restraining order was denied, but the case is still moving forward. The judge explained that the TRO could cause “chaos.” Notably, this is not the first case of its kind. In fact, the same court, and same judge, heard nearly this exact same case in 2013....

Appellate practitioners in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will soon pay higher court filing fees. The Judicial Conference of the United States adopted a new court fee schedule on September 13. The fee change will affect appeals, district, and bankruptcy courts. Court filing fees were last raised eight years ago, and the current increase in court filing fees comes in response to inflationary expenses. Fee increases will become effective November 1, 2011....

Incarceration is no good for families. For parents, one of the worst parts of a prison sentence is being separated from one’s children. For kids, incarceration can lead to stress, developmental delays, and financial and emotional trauma. In such situations, incarceration can injure the families of offenders “as much as, and sometimes more than, offenders themselves,” according to studies. Recognizing the problems caused by incarcerating offenders with minor children, California created an Alternative Custody Program in 2010....