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The family of a University of California football player who died during an offseason workout with a school trainer has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school. The lawsuit filed by Ted Agu’s family alleges “reckless and negligent behavior” by school staff in connection with Agu’s death earlier this year, reports The Associated Press. What does the family claim the school did wrong, and what will they need to prove liability in a wrongful death lawsuit?...

Denise Gunderson had a pretty sweet racket going: show up to weddings (uninvited, of course), mingle, have a good time, and go home with stolen wallets, credit cards, and cash. Now, the woman who ruined so many honeymoons will be serving seven years of her own in a San Diego prison after pleading guilty to grand theft and identity theft. Her crime spree may be over, but the newlyweds she robbed might never get their money back....

Gov. Jerry Brown has an accounting problem. When California received $410 million as part of a settlement with banks accused of abusive foreclosures, the state used most of the money to offset state deficits. Now an appeals court says the state must return the funds to help homeowners hurt by the foreclosures – like it was supposed to do in the settlement. The Third District Court of Appeal said the money was “unlawfully diverted” in National Asian American Coalition v....

If you were going to create a television show about law school, it would have to be a sitcom. At least, that’s what CBS is planning. “Class Action” is loosely based on the law school experiences of Jay McGraw, who was a student at Southern Methodist University’s law school. According to reports, the story follows a law student looking for the easy way out but ends up in over his head....

Among marijuana enthusiasts, April 20th is one of the most important holidays of the year – a day to celebrate “420,” or the semi-mythical code for marijuana. But marijuana isn’t just for dirty hippies and shiftless college students these days. With the spread of legalization and decriminalization, weed is becoming big business and weed law is becoming a significant practice area. So, what better way to celebrate 420 this 4/20 than by catching up to the latest weed-related legal developments with some dank CLEs?...

(Hey, there’s an open secret about Trader Joe’s products: they aren’t all Trader Joe’s.) It started to come out in a book several years ago, courtesy of a former company insider and marketing executive. Mark Gardiner spells out how “one of America’s most secretive companies built the strongest brand in its category.” Now another Trader Joe’s secret is out. In Redfearn v. Trader Joe’s Company, a California appeals court said the company may be liable for interfering with a food broker’s contract to go directly to suppliers....

In People v. Contreras, No. G042077, the Fourth District faced a challenge to the trial court’s determination that defendant suffered from a severe mental disorder within the meaning of Penal Code section 2970 in its grant of state’s petition seeking to extend defendant’s commitment one additional year as a mentally disordered offender. In rejecting defendant’s claim that the trial court erred when it instructed the jury with CALCRIM No. 224, the general instruction on circumstantial evidence, rather than CALCRIM No....

Like a tornado sweeping through town, a government can take out a company in a moment that instantly reminds people they are not in control. If any survive, they are left to pick up the pieces and to try to rebuild their lives. In Venezuela, General Motors employees are dealing with a financial crisis sweeping the country. The government seized the automaker’s factory, leaving thousands jobless and wondering about how to pay for their next meal....

When law students begin their schooling, the first semester can often be incredibly daunting. One of the most difficult aspects is time management. Every professor assigns a workload without regard for the fact that you have other classes. This means that free time is as elusive as it is tangible. However, you know that there are fleeting moments of free time, like while winding down for bed, or between classes, or when you finish getting ready 15 minutes early in the morning (cause you ran out of soap and couldn’t shower)....

Score one for a lawyer and Notre Dame football fan who persuaded a judge to push back a court hearing because of the BCS title game. Notre Dame is set to square off against much favored Alabama in the championship game set for Jan. 7. Unfortunately, that was also the date for the last scheduled pretrial conference for an attorney and Notre Dame alumnus. Noting that it may be the last time in his life that the Fighting Irish fight for a championship, the unnamed attorney requested to change the hearing date, reports CBS Sports....

An Illinois man facing a court date for cocaine charges decided to bring some cocaine with him to the courthouse. Alex Robinson was previously arrested for cocaine delivery in 2006 and was due in court for a probation hearing on a drug charge earlier this week. When the 37-year-old man showed up at the courtroom, he had to go through security screening. That’s when he allegedly put a baggie containing three grams of cocaine onto a security tray, reports the Huffington Post....

In plaintiff’s suit against defendant-general contractor on a public works project, and its surety and bonding companies for monies owed at the end of the project, trial court’s award of $150,000 in attorney fees to the defendants is affirmed as the trial court correctly concluded that defendant had not violated the applicable prompt payment statutes. Read Martin Bros. Constr., Inc. v. Thompson Pacific Constr., Inc., No. C058944 [HTML] Read Martin Bros....

In what can only be described as a real life episode of Scooby-Doo, only without the talking dog and extended mystery plot, an art thief was caught by three college students almost immediately after the end of this year’s Super Bowl. Based on reports, it sounds like the art thief would have gotten away with it, if it weren’t for those meddling kids. Obligatory Muttley laugh. The three students, just barely old enough to buy a drink, were out in Boston just after the Patriot’s Super Bowl win, when they spotted the thief as he tried to escape with a Picasso and Rembrandt from the Galerie d’Orsay in Boston....

Koszdin v. State Comp. Ins. Fund, B214481, concerned a challenge to the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint following the sustaining of a demurrer for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, in six class action suits brought by two attorneys against employers and workers’ compensation insurance carriers, claiming that they failed to pay interest owed on attorney’s fee awards issued by the WCAB. First, the court held that, under the relevant provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act, plaintiffs have standing to seek interest on the attorney’s fees awarded directly to them by the WCAB....

In a tragic story out of New York, Truman High star running back Isayah Muller was stabbed to death just hours after his high school graduation on Tuesday while coming to the aid of his father who allegedly started an altercation with two parking lot attendants. Isayah’s father, Andre Muller, has been charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon, but due to the nature of the incident, the attendants must be indicted by a grand jury before being charged....

Trial court’s order committing defendant to a state hospital for an indeterminate term of treatment and confinement is affirmed where: 1) trial court was correct in applying section 6600.1, of the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA), to defendant’s juvenile adjudication for child molestation, as the government satisfied this element of an SVPA commitment; 2) trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the testimony of his lay witnesses; and 3) court did not err in refusing defendant’s request for an instruction requiring the jury to find it was necessary to keep him in a secure facility for the protection of the health and safety of others....

If you’re a young attorney making a lot of money in Miami: (1) congratulations and (2) stay away from the strip clubs. Mark Gold, a South Florida attorney and self-proclaimed king of traffic tickets, rang himself up a $19,000 tab at the Goldrush strip bar in Miami. While the attorney does not deny signing his name to the credit card bill, he does claim that he did not ring up the tab willingly....

Indiana Tech School of Law opened in 2013, touting its emphasis on practical skills and “synergistic” approach to cross-disciplinary studies. It graduated its first class of J.D.s just this May, just 20 in all. Of that 20, only 12 sat for the bar exam in Indiana. Of that twelve, only one passed. That’s a pass rate of only 8.33 percent, just slightly higher than the interest rates on those grads’ student loans....

Ice cream truck drivers were not all that friendly in 2011 – and neither were their customers. Ice cream truck crime was undoubtedly rampant last year, moving beyond the typical robbery. Ice cream truck lovers were treated to tales of drunk ice cream men and violent customers. They learned of bizarre turf wars and prescription drug rings. And hopefully, they finally realized that ice cream trucks aren’t necessarily for children....

Women still struggle for equal representation at BigLaw firms, but a new survey shows that women are the majority in at least one position. The relatively new position of “staff attorney,” or associates on a non-partner track, is predominantly female. Women comprise about 70% of staff attorneys at the firms surveyed. The information comes from a report by the National Association of Women Lawyers, which surveys the presence of women at the country’s Top 100 firms....