Posts

An Ohio man has been cited for holding a sign that warned drivers of a roadside sobriety checkpoint. He claims his civil rights have been violated. Douglas Odolecki, 43, of Parma, held a homemade sign stating: “Check point ahead! Turn now!,” for which he was cited for “obstructing official business,” reports The Associated Press. This incident wasn’t Odolecki’s first run-in with the law either. But does he have the right to warn drivers of an upcoming sobriety checkpoint?...

Thanks to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and a recent SCOTUS decision, a patent infringement case filed by Raytheon against Cray Inc. in the Eastern District of Texas is being sent to the federal district court in Cray’s home state of Washington. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals followed the U.S. Supreme Court precedent established in TC Heartland v. Kraft to explain that the one salesman Cray had within the Eastern District of Texas did not satisfy the venue requirements established by TC Heartland....

Sentencing challenge for firearm and street terrorism convictions People v. Duarte, G041195, concerned a challenge to the trial court’s imposition of a sentence of 15-years imprisonment, in a prosecution of defendant for discharging a firearm with gross negligence, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and other related crimes. The court affirmed the sentence with modification in concluding that the trial court should have stayed sentencing on the street terrorism count as section 654 bars punishment for the firearm offense and a separate punishment for the street terrorism substantive offense for the same conduct....

In a conviction of defendant for second-degree murder, defendant’s petition for habeas relief is issued and allow a notice of appeal in the limited case of criminal actions where: 1) there is no legal basis upon which to recall the September 2007 remittitur, and it would create the peculiar result of having three appeals from the same judgment; and 2) a deputy clerk assigned to a courtroom is part of the clerk’s office, and thus, absent a valid local rule of court to the contrary, a notice of appeal can be filed with a courtroom clerk, not just with the appeals unit of the clerk’s office....

It’s a tough time to be a law school. Your grads are failing the bar at incredibly high rates. The smart kids are all going to grad school to be coders, not lawyers. Grads are indebted, unhappy, and unemployed. Even The New York Times has started calling some law schools scams. Scams. Will anyone do what’s necessary and start putting some law schools out of their misery? Hiring in the legal industry is starting to level out after years of decline, but many recent law grads won’t get to benefit from it....

Have teens realized that posting on Facebook about drunken escapades can get them into serious legal trouble? Apparently not. A teenager in Oregon posted on Facebook about driving drunk as a “classic” move, and then generously apologized to the person whose vehicle he’d hit during the drive. But he forgot that Facebook posts aren’t really all that private. Shortly after the post went up, two people tipped off police officers that 18-year-old Jacob Cox-Brown may have been involved in a hit-and-run accident, according to TechCrunch....

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has embarked on an eight-city cross-country trek to share information about new final rules implementing provisions of the America Invents Act (AIA). The AIA becomes effective on September 16. Monday, the USPTO kicked off its traveling roadshow series in Minneapolis. Will the excitement make its way to a city near you? Click through to find out. The remaining stops on the AIA national tour are:...

Feeling jittery about your career prospects? Jonesing for something that won’t leave you jaded and juiceless? Just jobless? Well, we’ve got you covered. As part of our affiliate program with Indeed, we’re bringing you the coolest legal opportunities of the week. And this week, we’re feeling J – as in jobs. For J.D.s. So let’s jump in. If you want to wear your jeans to work, this may be the job for you....

In an effort to promote ownership of small businesses by veterans, Congress established a goal of awarding a certain percentage of Veterans Administration contracts to small businesses owned by both veterans and service-disabled veterans. In 2012, the VA chose to use an existing GSA contractor to install emergency notification services in several VA medical centers rather than put out bids for the work to veteran-owned businesses. Kingdomware, a small business owned by a veteran, filed a complaint, claiming that the VA was required to solicit bids from veteran-owned small businesses before resorting to using an existing GSA contractor....

A California appellate court has clarified that a sperm donor who is not married to a designated recipient mother does not have to pay child support. The unpublished opinion won press coverage earlier this month because the alleged “father” in the child support lawsuit is national bodybuilding champion Ronnie Coleman, and the child support in question totaled $4,000 per month. Coleman and the mother, Jo D., had a sexual relationship while they were neighbors in Texas....

Orville the cat’s nine lives may be over, but he’s been revived as a unique art project: a remote-controlled cat-carcass helicopter, which many have dubbed a “cat copter.” Dutch artist Bart Janson prefers to call it an Orvillecopter, after his feline friend who was tragically run over by a car six months ago, the Los Angeles Times reports. The furry contraption has propellers attached to its outstretched limbs, and an engine where the cat’s stomach once was....

Aldon Smith of the San Francisco 49ers is looking to face three felony weapons assault charges. This comes on the heels of his recent DUI arrest, which occurred two weeks ago, Santa Clara’s KNTV-TV reports. This stems back to last summer, when the Bay Area linebacker hosted a party in June 2012 where he was stabbed, while two others were shot. Later on, the authorities found a cache of assault magazines, rifles, and ammunition....

A Milwaukee schoolteacher was charged with disorderly conduct for cutting the braid of a student off in the middle of her class. ABC WISN reports that the teacher admitted to cutting off seven year old Lamya Cammon’s braid in front of her first grade class after the girl kept playing with her braids even after the teacher told her not to. The bad teacher even threatened the seven year old; saying she would cut braids off again if she did not stop playing with them....

It’s not an easy question to ask, or to answer. “Do I have a drinking problem?” Everyone has an opinion. Your mother thinks you drink too much. Your buddies think you don’t drink enough. Some folks can drink every night until they black out, then make it to court in the morning, while others have a drink or two and have to call in sick the next morning. There are clinical criteria and there are informal self-evaluations....

It’s that time of year … you should be getting your bar exam results soon. If you live in New York, then you already know if you passed, but those in California have to wait until November 22nd to find out their results. It’s funny how it works. After the exam you’re just relieved to be done, then you get on with your life, and just as things approach normal you remember – the date for the exam results is coming soon – and the stress starts to build all over again....

Most industries no longer demand a formal dress code. Suits are rarely required, and corporate casual has simply become “casual.” In offices across America, people are wearing jeans at this very minute. But not you. You’re stuck in a suit. Congratulations: Law and finance are practically the only industries where formal business attire is still the norm. And yet, there’s hope. Even the formal industries are starting to embrace a little sartorial flair....

In People v. Stacy, No. C060673, the Third District faced a challenge to a conviction for false personation, driving under the influence of alcohol and related offenses, claiming insufficient evidence to support the conviction. However, as there was ample evidence to support the jury’s finding that the individual, whose name and other information was given to the officer by the defendant, was an actual person and as such, there was sufficient evidence to convict defendant on the charge of false personation....

In an action under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act seeking attorney’s fees from a lawyer who, on behalf of a special needs student, initiated administrative proceedings that were eventually dismissed as moot, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where, because the district did not qualify as a prevailing party, it could not recover fees even if defendant continued to litigate inappropriately. Read District of Columbia v. Straus, No. 09-7051...

While the world has come a long way, like sexism, ageism, and racism, nepotism still seems to be holding strong in the legal community. It’s still a tough legal job-market, and it is still rather common for lawyer-parents to help their lawyer-children get jobs (often at their parent’s firm, or via calling in a favor from a colleague). And then there are firms, like the one Above The Law showed us a few years back, where the firm’s blatant nepotism is touted as a feature, among other seeming non-sequiturs found on the firm’s website....

When it comes to using Facebook and other forms of social media during the pendency of case, lawyers have some pretty strict rules about what clients should and shouldn’t post. For instance, not talking about the case, or anything related to the case, or anything that would make them look bad, is just par for the course. But after the ruling out of Wisconsin’s court of appeals this last week, it’s probably a good idea to add one more rule for clients: Don’t “friend” the judge!...