They say that with age comes patience and wisdom, but one World War II veteran, 93, is short on the former. He wrote a letter to federal judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to let them know that their recent intervention in a sports scandal is, well, scandalous. Calling a decision to overturn a ruling for quarterback Tom Brady and reinstate his four-game suspension for Deflategate “asinine,” Warren B....
A Florida woman has been charged with sending drugs to her boyfriend behind bars by hiding them under postage stamps on the envelopes she mailed to him. Sarah Laurito, 18, admitted to sending her locked-up lover Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid drug dependence, in at least three drug-laced letters. First Coast News reports that Laurito actually “turned herself into the Marion County Jail” last Monday, and she is currently out on bond....
There are two words a sperm donor does not expect to hear: “Hi, Dad.” But that’s about what a California appeals court said while interpreting the Family Code in County of Orange v. Brian Jeffrey Cole. The appellate panel said Brian Jeffrey Cole could not escape child support because he acted like he was the father – except around his wife who knew nothing about his relationship with the child’s mother....
When I was in elementary school, I saw a fist-fight between a bully and my friend. Hundreds of children surrounded them, or at least it seemed like that. Everything seems bigger in the rear-view mirror of life. I’ll never forget how the bully tried to show off, whirling around like a dancer before he threw a punch. It bloodied my friend, a fresh white canvas splashed with angry flares of red paint....
Steelers’ OT Michael Adams is recovering in the hospital after being stabbed by carjackers Saturday morning. Adams was stabbed once in the arm and once in the stomach, after three men confronted him outside of his truck and demanded his keys, reports Pittsburgh’s WTAE-TV. Though the attackers have not yet been identified, once caught, they will likely face serious consequences – including, perhaps, even federal charges. Under federal law, a person who takes another person’s car by force, violence, or intimidation with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm can receive a life sentence if the carjacking causes death....
In People v. Ayala, No. A122412, the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth District faced a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a second-degree murder conviction under the natural and probable consequences doctrine. The court stated: “the fatal shooting was a natural and probable consequence of a planned physical attack by multiple gang members upon perceived rival gang members even though the shooting occurred at the start of the confrontation and no assault with fists, baseball bats, knives, or other weapons preceded the shooting....
If you didn’t know about the problems at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, you might think that California accreditation was a good thing. And it is. But there’s at least one reason the new accreditation is not so good. It means the law school is concerned it may soon lose its accreditation from the American Bar Association. Administrators went for state accreditation just in case the ABA pulls the plug. It’s like the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the dike – everybody is hoping it holds....
Terrorists have been blamed for a lot of things, but a man’s erectile dysfunction may be a first. Steven O’Hara claims he monitored cleanup crews at Ground Zero immediately following the 9/11 attacks. As a result, he now suffers from 17 different ailments – including a loss of his libido. In a lawsuit against six firms involved in the Ground Zero cleanup, O’Hara claims that he breathed in “toxic smoke and fumes,” despite the firms’ assurances that the air was safe to breathe, reports the New York Post....
Just as stores are starting to unpack Christmas signs, reports are that Toys ‘R’ Us is considering bankruptcy. Toys “R” Us has $400 million in loans coming due in 2018, and Christmas sales will not solve the problem. Weighed down by about $5 billion in debt, the retailer has hired Kirkland & Ellis to help review its legal options: restructure or file for bankruptcy. The economic signs have been staring down everyone in the retail industry for some time....
It looks like the University of Michigan Law School produces the most influential federal judges – by a large percentage. A recent study conducted by the legal analytics firm Ravel Law shows that the graduates of the law school wrote more opinions and were cited more times than any other law school in the nation. Even the co-founder of the company who conducted the study said it was “a bit of a surprise....
Widener University will be another law school to offer online non-J.D. education – this time, a master’s degree in higher education compliance. The school is reticent to take credit in pioneering the program, though it did say it was unaware of any other school who offered this degree. It looks like Widener could be a little late to the game as non-J.D. sign ups have been on the rise for some time now....
In an action for personal injuries involving a malfunctioning gas wall furnace, trial court judgment sustaining defendant’s demurrer is affirmed where, although the court erred in sustaining the demurrer on the ground that discovery responses were inconsistent with the second amended complaint, the decision was still correct as defendant-utility did not owe plaintiff a duty of due care since it was a bystander and not under a duty to act. Read Williams v....
Even for lawyers, being called greedy isn’t desirable. However, there are certainly aspects of a lawyers job (or performance) that are improved by greed. And, in case you’ve missed one or more of the many entries in our “Greedy Tip of the Week” blog series, below you can find five of our best greedy tips. Greed is really all about perspective. Lawyers need to be greedy when it comes to self-care in order ensure they can take care of themselves so that they can, in turn, take care of their clients....
History is littered with the carcasses of legal dramas – good ones, like “Boston Legal” and “Ally McBeal,” and bad ones, like “Harry’s Law” or “Law and Order: Cancun” (kidding … or am I?). This fall, unsurprisingly, there will be a ton of new shows botching the law on primetime. Thankfully, some (anyone remember “Rake”?) have already been cancelled. So what’s left? These are the new shows on the block, the proverbial 1Ls that haven’t dropped out yet....
The City of Lake Forest is fighting local pot shops in both state and federal courts, with mixed results. In February, the city had a setback when a California state appellate court ruled that “local governments may not prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries altogether, with the caveat that the Legislature authorized dispensaries only at sites where medical marijuana is ‘collectively or cooperatively … cultivated.’” In that case, Lake Forest used zoning ordinances to force the Evergreen Holistic medical marijuana dispensary out of business by characterizing dispensaries as a categorical nuisance under the zoning code....
In the midst of World War II, songwriters Harold Adamson and Jimmie McHugh popularized the expression “on a wing and prayer.” They wrote several patriotic songs during the war, prompting President Truman to award them the Presidential Certificate of Merit. It was all good, except that they borrowed the “wing and a prayer” lyric from an earlier John Wayne movie. It’s a snapshot of history that illustrates something about the world of music law: it can be a glamorous business where your chances for success sometimes depends on fighting and a bit of luck....
The Navarro, Arceo and Garcia families had a tough May in 2007. Not only did their Mother’s Day end up in a brawl, a child’s birthday party ended up as a stabbing party. That lead to the conviction of three relatives for murder. Those convictions were upheld on Tuesday, when the state’s 4th Appellate Court upheld their convictions in full, despite claims of ’legally impossible’ jury instructions. Samuel and Lizbeth Navarro lived in a converted barn outside San Diego, next to Luis Arceo, 16, and his family....
The California Court of Appeal just adjudicated a browsewrap case on the merits that will now be considered the current benchmark case in the ever murky issue of web-user assent. Hopefully this case will help to clarify the design elements that must be present for every webpage owner in order to ensure that their users get the notice needed for the applicable Terms of Use. Browsewrap is an umbrella term that generally refers to a contractual agreement or license agreement that covers a user or browser’s access to materials on a website....
In Chambers v. Dep’t of the Interior, No. 09-3120, the Federal Circuit faced a challenge to the decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board, affirming petitioner’s removal from her position as the Chief of the United States Park Police, allegedly due to certain conversations she had with a member of the United States House Representative and a reporter from the Washington Post regarding the underfunding of the U.S. Park Police, which was later published....
In re K.C., No.F058395, involved a father’s challenge to the juvenile court’s denial of a petition for relative placement brought by the child’s paternal grandparents in dependency proceedings terminating the father’s parental rights to his infant son. In affirming the denial, the court held that the father does not have appellate standing to challenge the order denying a relative placement request once a permanency planning hearing is pending and he has not shown that his interest in the child’s companionship, custody, management and care is, rather than may be, “injuriously affected” by the court’s decision....
