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If lovers get into a physical fight, it’s not too hard for someone to get temporary restraining orders against the other. Courts often issue them based on declarations alone. Of course, the orders are only temporary until a court hearing. Then the outcome depends a lot on the credibility of the witnesses. That’s why in the case of the lawyer versus the actress, it will be a toss-up. Just a Miniutti Like attorney Michael Avenatti, actress Mareli Miniutti went from relatively unknown to well-known almost overnight....

We’ve all done it. Whether it’s an extra bag of peanuts, that delightful magazine of stuff you definitely don’t need, or a complimentary set of earphones, we’ve all intentionally or accidentally taken free stuff with us when getting off a plane. And it pretty much never matters (until you’re stranded somewhere and you find that miracle bag of peanuts at the bottom of your purse). But whatever you do, don’t go through Customs with any fruits or vegetables from your flight....

School children everywhere, here is an unsolicited lesson in proper class etiquette. Never, ever insult your teacher, or spew bad language in the middle of class. You shouldn’t tease your classmates, and you shouldn’t cheat during your exams. Oh, and don’t burp in class. You might get arrested for that. That is exactly what happened in the case of one 13-year-old from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The student let out some gas in the middle of a PE class on May 11....

Here’s a life lesson that all you board game enthusiasts should take to heart: don’t cheat at Monopoly. Your actions can come back and stab you. Literally. Laura Chavez, 60, of New Mexico is learning this exact lesson in court. She’s accused of stabbing her boyfriend, Clyde Smith, after a friendly game of Monopoly turned violent. When an argument ignited, Chavez allegedly accused Smith of cheating at the board game. The 10-year-old went to sleep at around 11 p....

Petition for writ of mandate to overrule a trial court ruling regarding rights related to possession of medical marijuana is denied where the Constitution and laws of the state provide real party in interest Williams relief at law to bring a civil action based on a violation of his constitutional rights, and seek an adjudication as to whether the deputy had probable cause to order Williams to destroy his property or whether a lack of probable cause led to a violation of his constitutional rights....

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a Guantanamo detainee in a largely redacted case. The circuit court found three errors in the lower court’s grant of habeas corpus to detainee Adnan Farhan Abd Al Latif. The court vacated and remanded the decision, instructing the district court to “evaluate Latif’s credibility as needed in light of the totality of the evidence, including newly available evidence.” The D.C. Circuit specifically accused the district court of “overlooking the government’s expert evidence that [redacted]....

It adds up pretty quickly, doesn’t it? LSAT $165 Credential Assembly Service $160 Law School Reports $25 per school Application Fees $50-$60 per school Looking to cut back on the money you spend before you even get into law school? The easiest way to trim the bill is a Law School Admission Council (LSAC) fee waiver, but they are notoriously difficult to get. As a point of reference, as a pizza delivery boy, with a sub-$20k income, I still didn’t qualify back in 2007....

In an action against plaintiff’s school claiming it was liable under hate crimes laws for death threats he received from classmates who misperceived his sexual orientation, judgment granting petition to confirm an arbitration award against plaintiff and denying a petition to vacate is reversed where: 1) plaintiff and his parents filed suit against a school, seeking remedies under the California hate crimes laws, and since hate crimes laws constitute unwaivable statutory rights comparable to antidiscrimination laws, neither the student nor his parents may be required to pay any type of arbitral expense that would not be imposed were the dispute adjudicated in court; and 2) hate crimes laws prohibit an award of fees to a prevailing defendant, and thus render the award of attorney’s fees in the case invalid....

The Fight of the Century has turned into the Farce That Launched a Thousand Suits. Unhappy boxing fans have filed 13 lawsuits (and counting) against Manny Pacquiao and his promotional team for not disclosing the fighter’s shoulder injury before last weekend’s title bout. The litigation, some of it aimed at his opponent Floyd Mayweather and fight broadcasters, claims that, had viewers known about Pacquiao’s torn rotator cuff before the fight, they wouldn’t have ponied up the $100 pay-per-view fee....

California is somewhat famous for its protracted battles over property variances and compliance with zoning restrictions. In Eskeland v. City of Del Mar, neighbors of a man who wanted to remodel his home fought tooth and nail to keep him from doing so, claiming he was in violation of the city’s many municipal codes. In the end, the Court of Appeal denied the neighbor’s challenges to his plans. Here are five lessons all neighbors can learn from the Eskelands:...

Even the guys from the Hangover weren’t this bad … at least until today’s newly-released second sequel. Three UC Berkeley School of Law students ended the life of an exotic bird, and perhaps their legal careers, with one moment of stupidity and cruelty last year, when the three intoxicated men chased an exotic bird into the trees at a Las Vegas hotel’s wildlife habitat. Moments later, they emerged with a decapitated bird corpse....

It’s bad enough trying to pass the bar in this dear state. With a three-day exam, no reciprocity with anyone, and the exorbitant fees, plus the cost of bar review class, joining the California State bar is no picnic. Part and parcel of course is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), which to be fair, is pretty much required everywhere, but it’s still one more thing to add to the list....

In plaintiff’s design patent suit against Walgreens and another defendant involving shoes typically referred to as “clogs”, district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants in finding that the claims of the asserted patents were invalid as anticipated by a patent assigned to Crocs, Inc. is affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded as, although district court correctly held that the ordinary observer test is the sole test of invalidity, it erred, however, in failing to compare the insole patterns in plaintiff’s patented designs to the prior art as part of an overall comparison of the designs....

A few months ago, Kaplan released a survey that asked the question: why in the heck are people still applying to law school? (Our paraphrase.) It’s not out of some foolish belief that things will improve over the next four or five years, is it? Didn’t you hear kiddos? BigLaw, much like Hip Hop, is dead. Imagine that. People getting a doctorate of jurisprudence as a means to pursue a career that has nothing to do with jurisprudence....

Practicality? Puh-leez. If that was the only consideration, philosophy majors wouldn’t exist. That foolish blogger (who coincidentally holds a liberal arts degree with two liberal arts minors) apparently has company. A survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep finds a whole lot of pre-law students who are headed to law school knowing that there are no law jobs. A few of the hilariously naive results from the survey include: Most students (71 percent) say they’re motivated by passion, not money....

McHugh v. DLT Solutions, Inc., 09-1536, concerned a challenge to a final decision of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals holding that the government breached a non-substitution clause of a delivery order awarded to plaintiff (an authorized software reseller and licensor under a blanket purchase agreement between Oracle Corporation and the Army’s Information Technology E. Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center). In reversing the Board of Contract Appeals’ decision, the court held that, under a proper interpretation of the contract, the government did not replace the contracted-for software following the termination of its contract with plaintiff, and hence did not breach the contract....

A Nigerian lawyer in Michigan now holds a rather unique distinction: He’s been disbarred before he even got a full-fledged license to practice law in the state. Gbenga Anjorin, a 1992 graduate of a Nigerian law school, handled hundreds of cases – many as a court-appointed attorney – and even attended hearings in the so-called “Underwear Bomber’s” terrorism trial, the Detroit Free Press reports. But Anjorin’s courtroom antics in a case involving five crates of nuts led to an ethics complaint, and eventually his downfall....

There’s nothing like fishing on a hot summer day: the sun in your hair, the feel of a cool lake breeze across your sweaty brow, the view of a naked man fishing… Okay, the last part isn’t so pleasant, which might be why Dean H. Meginniss, the naked fisherman, was arrested over the weekend. Meginniss was letting it all hang loose last Sunday afternoon at Medical Lake, Washington. He was spotted when a witness, who was accompanied by his kids, saw him stand up in his boat, exposing himself for the world to see, KREM-TV reports....

Somewhere in the Bible or the movies, there are Seven Deadly Sins – not 70. But that’s how many new ethics rules will be imposed on California lawyers this year. Technically, it’s only 69 but that would make the first sentence really wrong. Actually, it would have been 70 but the state Supreme Court rejected one. It means attorneys can get away with at least one thing. Harassment, Discrimination and Sex Leah T....

California’s Supreme Court has ruled that juvenile’s who don’t intentionally kill people should not be sentenced to more than 50 years behind bars. The court explained that a 50 plus year sentence for a juvenile that hasn’t murdered anyone is cruel and unusual. The ruling came in the cases of two teens sentenced to 50 and 58 years, respectively, for the rape and kidnapping of two teenage girls. Neither conviction was overturned, but both convicts will be resentenced by the trial court in accordance with the state’s highest court’s guidance....