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A law professor and American Bar Foundation researcher, Rebecca Sandefur, has been awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant to help advance her research in the field of access to justice. Sandefur has been focused on figuring out how to help individuals attempting to navigate the civil justice system. As the ABA Journal explained, the civil access to justice problem impacts countless individuals in regards to housing, healthcare, family law matters, and employment issues....

Madison Square Garden (MSG) has been sued in a class action suit by former interns. In the latest lawsuit involving unpaid interns, Forbes reports, the former MSG interns claim that MSG had used the title of “intern” or “student associate” to classify workers who performed in duties that would normally qualify them as regular employees. According to the complaint, had the plaintiffs not performed these duties, additional employees or regular staff members would have had to take on the work, Forbes reports....

A Florida man allegedly faked having a heart attack inside a Walmart store to allow his accomplice to make off with almost $400 worth of toys, including a motorized Power Wheels Barbie car. According to police, 30-year-old Tarus Scott and 27-year-old Genard Dupree were captured on surveillance video walking through the Walmart store in Lake Wales, Florida, filling a cart with items. As the two approached the store’s exit, Dupree reportedly began clutching his chest as if he was suffering a heart attack, reports Tampa’s WFLA-TV....

After being ticketed and told by an officer, “You can’t just go down the road eating a hamburger,” it turns out an Alabama man won’t be charged with eating while driving after all. An officer in Cobb County, Georgia, originally ticketed Madison Turner under the state’s distracted driving law after observing Turner eating a McDonald’s double quarter pounder with cheese for two miles. But a county solicitor dismissed the charge, believing the state did not have enough evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, The Associated Press reports....

Although parents should teach their kids how to drive, one mother was arrested for starting way too soon. Kwanique Glenn, 25, of Altamonte Springs, Florida, would have gotten away with it too, if only it weren’t for that pesky thing called social media. Back in October 2016, when Glenn arrived at the bus stop to pick up her son, she decided to let her 7-year-old boy take the wheel and drive them home....

The case of Mike Peluso, the former NHL player on the infamous New Jersey Devils “Crash Line” filed a workers’ compensation claim in California in 2012. The claim is a result of the repeated concussions he sustained while being one of the team’s most prolific enforcers. Recently, it has come to light that Devils’ administration withheld crucial medical documents and information from Peluso, both while he was an active member of the team and as part of his workers comp claim....

An Ohio police chief is “shaming” alleged criminals on Facebook, and people can’t get enough it. Brimfield Police Chief David Oliver uses humor and honesty in his Facebook posts to inform residents about what’s going on in their community, the Associated Press reports. The lighthearted posts give people insight into police work that one might not typically find on TV shows like “Law and Order” or “CSI.” Those shows might want to borrow Oliver’s style: The department’s Facebook page has more than 52,000 “likes” and counting....

Comcast Corp. v. FCC, No. 08-1291, concerned a petition for review of the FCC’s order concluding not only that it had jurisdiction over an internet service provider’s network management practices, but also that it could resolve the dispute through adjudication rather than through rulemaking. The D.C. Circuit granted the petition, holding that 1) the FCC relied principally on several Congressional statements of policy, but statements of policy, by themselves, did not create statutorily mandated responsibilities; and 2) the Commission also relied on various provisions of the Communications Act that did create such responsibilities, but for a variety of substantive and procedural reasons those provisions could not support its exercise of ancillary authority over petitioner’s network management practices....

In a class action lawsuit against General Nutrition Companies (GNC) involving over-the-counter sales of products containing anabolic steroids, brought under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), trial court’s denial of motion to certify is reversed where: 1) plaintiff’s UCL claim presents two predominant issues, both of which are common to the class; and 2) the damage that a plaintiff in a CLRA action must show is any damage which is not synonymous with actual damages and may encompass harms other than pecuniary damages, and here, the damage plaintiff alleged in the case is that, in reliance on GNC’s deceptive conduct, he bought an illegal product he would not have bought had he known it was illegal....

Talk about a diamond in the ruffage. Police in Windsor, Ontario, are waiting for an alleged diamond-swallowing thief to pass along a key piece of evidence worth about $20,000. They’ve been waiting for a week. Police arrested Richard Mackenzie Matthews, 52, on May 10 after he allegedly tried to surreptitiously swap a 1.7-carat diamond with a fake one at a jewelry store, The Windsor Post reports. Store employees confronted Matthews, who allegedly swallowed the real diamond before police arrived....

Legally Weird loves a crazy trademark suit. So if you fear a bad pun, head for the hills. (See, we did it already.) According to the suit, Twin Peaks’ protected trademarks include its cleverly designed snow capped mountain logo with the slogan: EATS · DRINKS · SCENIC VIEWS, reports the Dallas Observer. Further, the restaurant wants to protect the trade dress of its log cabin decorated establishment. The trade dress includes rugged lumberjacks with a side order of cleavage with the uniform of the servers....

We’re getting into the second month of law school, and 1Ls have learned how the Socratic method works, what their professors want to hear, and presumably how to study. So does this mean that it’s time to slough off and use case supplements – especially those with convenient case summaries? Case Summaries: A Study Aid Supplements containing case summaries can be valuable as a study aid if, for example, you don’t understand the case for some reason or if the court’s reasoning is pretty opaque....

A North Carolina convenience store clerk foiled a Spider-Man robbery this week using a cleaning tool that most Americans have at home: a broom. The man in the costume, Dale Foughty, is now facing charges for his alleged crime. The event unfolded as follows: a man dressed in a Spider-Man costume, later identified to be 56-year-old Foughty, entered into a store. The masked thief demanded money. Foughty pulled out a sword, and the clerk pulled out a broom....

Not to sound like Captain Obvious, but it’s been a bad year for law schools. After years of declining enrollments, it appears legal education hit bottom in 2017. The cumulative effects washed ashore when barely a third of law students crawled past the bar exam in one state. So let old acquaintance be forgot as we wring out the worst of a miserable law school year: 1. Which State Has the Worst Bar Pass Rate?...

But, the gun wasn’t loaded! It doesn’t matter. Putting a gun to your child’s head and pulling the trigger is a crime. And it wasn’t Gregory Culbert’s first. Culbert’s son and stepson, both teenagers, were arguing over money. The stepson has ADHD and opposition defiance disorder. As his mother put it, “he’s difficult.” Culbert intervened in the argument, determined that his stepson was at fault, and sent the child to the bathroom for a time out....

Trial court order denying defendants’ application under Code of Civil Procedure sec. 4731 to vacate a default judgment is reversed and remanded where: 1) defendants’ appeal is timely; and 2) the trial court erred in denying defendants’ motion to vacate as defendants’ failure to answer and prevent the entry of their default was caused by their counsel’s neglect and they substantially complied with the requirement to submit a proposed answer with the motion....

According to prior guidance by the IRS, there would be no Jeter ball tax if the Yankees had simply decided not to reward Christian Lopez, the fan who graciously returned the player’s 3000th-hit ball last week. But now that the life-long Yankees fan has been gifted with box seats and signed Jeter memorabilia, he may have to deal with the IRS come next tax season. And he could owe them thousands....

In 405 words, a talented writer, and a frustrated, unemployed recent graduate engages in a bit of catharsis, and summarizes, quite aptly, the feelings of every person who has gone to law school with dreams of a decently-paying career, yet graduated into the world of working for low or no pay for the Saul Goodmans of the industry. He does so in the form of a craigslist classified ad (SFW version)....

The Illinois Registration and Disciplinary Commission has filed an ethics complaint against an Illinois lawyer who they claimed faked an illness to avoid oral arguments. The complaint alleges that Finn agreed to represent a client, Kenneth Clark, in an appeal of his criminal conviction for possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Clark was sentenced to 240 months, and paid $15,000 for Finn’s representation in his appeal. But Finn never made it to his client’s scheduled oral argument....

Between the Trump administration’s ramped up immigration enforcement efforts, legally contested executive orders, and the recent government shutdown, immigration court proceedings have been tumultuous, to say the least. But the one thing you think the government could get right is everyone’s court date. That was very clearly not the case on Thursday, as courts in several states were flooded with thousands of immigrants and their lawyers, waiting for hearings that didn’t exist....