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The owner of a bounce house business in California has been convicted of embezzling more than half a million dollars from a friend while she was in rehab for a meth addiction. While his friend sought treatment, Vincent Robert Eppstein, 49, of San Jose, managed to embezzle and squander more than $600,000 designated for the care of his friend’s ailing mother. Eppstein spent literally all of his friend’s savings – down to her last 60 cents, for which he wrote a check to himself and filled out the memo line with: “Have a nice life....

In plaintiffs’ action against the state of California, through the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA), claiming that the state refused to grant correctional supervisors of a bargaining unit the same increases granted to the rank-and-file correctional officers they supervise, a ruling in favor of defendant is affirmed as plaintiffs failed to establish any violation of Gov. Code section 19849.18. Read California Corr. Peace Officers’ Ass’n v. State of California, No. A124221 [HTML]...

If you, like me, were wondering when you’d finally be able to get married with a pasta strainer on your head, your day of joy has finally arrived. New Zealand has granted the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whose members refer to themselves as “Pastafarians,” the right to perform marriages in the country last year. And although the group has yet to tie a couple’s “noodley knot” just yet, it’s likely only a matter of time before American Pastafarians can enjoy the same marriage rights as their Kiwi counterparts....

Two college students have been charged with animal abuse for making a five-month-old puppy do a keg stand at a State University of New York off-campus party. A picture of the puppy doing a keg stand, being held by an unidentified male with a SUNY Brockport sweatshirt on, went viral after it was posted on Twitter with the caption “Keg Stands n Bits!,” United Press International reports. Ugh, humans. In the photo, you can see Mya, a five-month old black Labrador Retriever puppy, being held by her hind legs with the beer keg’s nozzle in her mouth....

The months of spring are a blur, aren’t they dear law student? Your heads are buried in the books as you study for finals, and when you look up, it will be fall and you’ll be sitting in a lecture hall again. Summer associate season is starting sooner than you think, so as you head in that direction, we’ve compiled a list of our best posts on everything you need to know about being a summer associate....

Now that the February bar exam is over, what are you going to do with all your time? Your dreams of rest, relaxation and vacationing may finally come true. Or not. Bar Review, Part Two. Go to a bar with your fellow February bar examinees and have a few drinks to relax, unwind and share war stories about the M.B.E. (CAUTION: Sharing responses may actually INCREASE your stress.) Get Away. Take a long weekend to get away....

A drug kingpin being sentenced to decades behind bars sounds pretty ordinary. But Owen Hanson was no ordinary kingpin. The former high school volleyball standout and University of Southern California football walk-on turned his notoriety and personality into illegal gambling and drug trafficking enterprises, according to federal prosecutors. And a federal judge has now sentenced Hanson to 21 years and three months in prison. Hanson pleaded guilty in January to racketeering conspiracy and drug-trafficking conspiracy charges relating to a vast, international criminal empire, including an offshore gambling operation and a drug ring that trafficked hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and Ecstasy, and even sold performance-enhancing substances to professional athletes....

British bride-to-be Alex Lancaster was shocked when she got the call from her future father-in-law telling her that her American fiance Tucker Blandford had committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a car. But Lancaster was no less shocked when, upon calling Blandford’s parents house only a few hours later, she discovered that Tucker was actually quite alive, reports the UK’s Daily Mirror. Blandford had apparently gotten cold feet about the couple’s engagement....

Joyce Coffey is one tough lady and she is a big fan of heavy metal – so much so that she got arrested four times in 26 hours for it. Between 3 p.m. Tuesday and 5 p.m. Wednesday last week, Coffey was arrested four different times for offenses related to heavy metal. The 53-year-old New Hampshire resident’s first run-in with police involved her allegedly blasting AC/DC and Guns and Roses....

Lately, we’ve been noticing a new trend in student-debt journalism, a turn towards articles touting how one enterprising post-grad paid off hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans in just a year or so. If they can do it, the logic goes, anyone can. That’s a pleasing claim for law students with loans, most of whom graduate with over $140,000 in debt. So, how do these quick loan repayers do it?...

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon’s DUI spent about nine hours behind bars Sunday after his second drunk driving arrest in two years. Blackmon, who played for Oklahoma State University before being chosen as the fifth overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, was pulled over about 3 a.m. June 3 in Stillwater, Okla., after an officer clocked him going 60 mph in a 30 mph zone, Oklahoma City’s KWTV reports....

Jason Kidd refused a breathalyzer test at the scene of a car accident early Sunday where police charged him with a DUI. On Saturday night Kidd, who just signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks this month, had attended a benefit in East Hampton. Shortly after he left the party, Kidd crashed his Cadillac Escalade, according to TMZ. Kidd was driving when his car left the road and hit a telephone pole, according to the police report....

Atlanta Falcons defensive end John Abraham was arrested Monday night for not leaving the scene of a suicide attempt. This is the second week in a row that a member of the Atlanta Falcons was arrested on a Monday night. And of all the things someone could be arrested for, who would have guessed Abraham would be arrested for not exiting a suicide scene? Who even knew this could constitute a crime?...

Grant of defendant’s motion to decertify the class in plaintiffs’ suit alleging that the defendant-employer failed to pay overtime wage is affirmed as substantial evidence supports the trial court’s conclusion that the individualized issues of liability and damages will predominate over issues common to the class if the overtime claims are tried as a class action. Read Keler v. Tuesday Morning, Inc., No. B210787 [HTML] Read Keler v. Tuesday Morning, Inc....

If you are a tech-savvy law student or legal associate, you are probably well aware of the power of wikis–whether to learn or to share. Wikis essentially ‘open-source’ knowledge by making entries editable by all users. Wikis have become popular in niche settings (i.e. to share knowledge about all things Twilight) and as living encyclopedias of information. And now there is a new wiki that is live and ready-to-use. Wrap your astute legal minds around a wiki that is a living legal community making laws accessible and interactive....

Law partnerships don’t always last but this one ended so badly that Beth and Thomas Darin Boggs believe their ex-law partner is behind a bomb that was detonated at their home. The lawyer couple had a small firm called Boggs, Boggs, and Bates with Mark Bates until they allegedly found him forging documents and stealing from the firm. They claim there was some animosity between them when the law partners had to go their separate ways....

On its website, the Dutch tourist board helpfully provides a list of Holland’s most treasured cultural icons: clogs, windmills, van Gogh, tulips, and cheese. Apparently the company fired a waitress working at an outlet in the northern Dutch town of Lemmer, Friesland province, for failing to charge a colleague after she added a slice of cheese to her hamburger. The restaurant manager said the cheese upgrade turned the hamburger (1.75 euro/$2....

As Michael Cohen testified to Senators behind closed doors, the New York Supreme Court disbarred him. His disbarment made headlines, but his fate was known last year when he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. In New York, lawyers are automatically disbarred for committing such felonies. The court’s Grievance Committee made his disbarment retroactive to November. Cohen may seek reinstatement later, but that’s not going to happen for a while....

The Oscar De La Hoya sex lawsuit may finally be coming to its end. A New York judge has knocked out the civil tort suit against the retired fighter. Angelica Marie Cecora, the plaintiff, sued De La Hoya for $5 million alleging false imprisonment, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, New York Daily News reports. Judge Paul Wooten called Cecora’s suit frivolous. He followed with a one-two of his own by ordering Cecora to pay De La Hoya’s legal fees and imposed a $500 sanction on both her and her attorney....

Pop Warner is the nation’s premier youth football organization. With a quarter of million annual participants, just about every player in the NFL got their start in Pop Warner. And this week, Pop Warner settled a scathing lawsuit that claimed the league “recklessly exposed children to the risk of injury including head, brain and other injuries.” The suit was filed by Debra Pyka, whose son Joseph Chernach hung himself in June 2012....