Posts

Two bucket list shoplifter BFFs in Florida might be reconsidering how to celebrate friendship. Police say that two longtime friends who reunited recently after years apart came up with a friendship bucket list – and added “shoplifting” as a to-do, reports the Ocala Star-Banner. The bestie bandits – Andrea Mobley, 36, and Jennifer Denise Morrow, 38 – were each charged with petty theft. What did they steal, hand-in-hand? (Spoiler alert: It wasn’t friendship bracelets....

The University of Michigan School of Law just ruined our morning. Though not a day goes by without us considering our crushing debt, Michigan had to go and create a calculator to show us just how hopeless it actually is. The Debt Wizard combines practice area, cost of living for a selected geographic area, and salary to spit out your chances at repaying your student loans. The news, surprisingly enough, wasn’t pretty....

It’s been a rough few weeks for Uber. First, the ride hailing company’s mishandling of protests around the president’s travel ban launched a #deleteuber campaign that saw thousands canceling their accounts. Then, last Sunday, a former Uber engineer’s blog post detailing sexual harassment at the company went viral. Just days later, a New York Times article revealed the “aggressive,” “Hobbesian,” and potentially law-breaking culture inside Uber’s offices. Can such a culture be fixed?...

Cyberbullying has become an epidemic. And some people are taking online harassment to new levels. Instead of just threatening rape or telling someone to kill themselves, which seems part and parcel of the online experience these days, one Twitter user sent a strobing GIF to another user he knew to be epileptic, along with the message, “You deserve a seizure.” The GIF had its intended affect. The victim did have a seizure, and the sender was arrested on federal cyberstalking charges....

A dozen North Carolina counties announced court closures as Hurricane Florence threatened to become the “Harvey of the East Coast.” The storm could be the strongest to ever hit the northern part of the coast, and could be followed by a “major flood event” in the middle Atlantic region. “It is likely some areas will flood that have never flooded before,” meteorologist Mike Smith told USA Today. In South Carolina, Chief Justice Donald Beatty said county judges could keep courts open – if conditions are safe....

Another lawsuit has been filed against Catholic bishops for sex abuse, but this one is of epic proportions. Thomas Emens, who says a priest molested him for years, wants every bishop in California to answer the complaint. The plaintiff says they have covered up sex abuse in the church for too long. The problem has plagued Catholics for decades. Even the Pope says something has to change, or another Exodus is coming....

If your company, firm, or nonprofit, ever hosts golf outings, or sponsors golf tournaments, or runs contests, there is a big lesson to learn from the All Risks v. Old White Charities case. That lesson involves reading and following the terms of your contest’s insurance policy, particularly when it comes to a hole-in-one contest with exposure into the hundreds of thousands. Also, in case you didn’t know, apparently you can buy insurance for hole-in-one contests....

In People v. Yokely, No. B213003, the Second District faced a challenge to a conviction for murder at retrial, following district court’s grant of defendant’s petition for habeas relief based on its findings that his constitutional rights had been violated because defendant’s attorney was not present at the live lineup where defendant was identified as the murderer and because his attorneys failed to object to admission of the lineup and in-court identifications by the witnesses at trial....

Gilbert Arenas’ Basketball Wives lawsuit has put a damper on the upcoming reality series, Basketball Wives: Los Angeles. Arenas is a player for the Orlando Magic. He wants to prevent his ex-fiancée, Laura Govan, who is also the mother of his four children, from appearing on the reality series. The lawsuit is alleging that Govan and her company, Shed Media US, is infringing on Arenas’ trademark, is false advertising, and is a misappropriation of his likeness, reports The Washington Post....

The Washington Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas remains under investigation after allegedly bringing firearms to the team’s locker room at the Verizon Center. Now, Wizards coach Flip Saunders says he met with a federal grand jury regarding the Gilbert Arenas gun investigation and indicated that players on his team have also met with authorities, the Associated Press reports. In addition, three members of the Washington Wizards have met with authorities concerning the Gilbert Arenas gun investigation....

For Google fans and investors, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals recent panel decision may not be the easiest read. Basically, Oracle’s lawsuit against Google stemming from the unlicensed use of Java APIs was not just resurrected from the dead by the appellate panel, the jury’s verdict for Google was turned into a win for Oracle. The panel remanded the case back to the trial court, but only to conduct a trial on damages....

Do you pride yourself in finding the best deals or stretching your dollar out to its limits? Then you might want to take a look at this list showing some of America’s “cheapest” cities by living expenses that featured law schools as highly ranked as the University of Texas. It’s a list that will surely give you “bang for the buck” types something to think about. We’ll cover some other interesting aspects of the lists here....

For those of you preparing to enter the daunting world of law school this coming fall, you should take advantage of this summer. First off, give yourself a part on the back – you’ve worked hard on those personal statements, getting all your applications in, that dreaded LSAT, and (hopefully) have gained admission into the school of your choice. Once school starts, and quite literally, on the first day, you’ll be thrown into law school work....

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ Paul Vance has been fired as general counsel, and a costly typo in a series of contracts may be to blame. Vance, the Jaguars’ general counsel since 1994, also served as the team’s senior vice president of football operations, ESPN reports. The team fired him Sunday. Paul Vance’s firing is apparently linked to a typo in the contracts of seven former assistant coaches, ESPN reports. The assistants signed contract extensions in 2010....

On the heels of the Oregon State Bar issuing a $1.12 refund to members that requested one as a result of publishing political speech in the April issue of the bar’s almost monthly “Bulletin,” a pair of lawyers have filed a serious challenge to the Oregon Bar’s collection of membership dues for political activity. The lawyers’ case relies on the recent SCOTUS decision in Janus v. American Federation, which held that public employees that opt-out of union membership cannot be compelled to pay dues....

Apparently authorities at Dulles International Airport are familiar with creative drug smugglers and were unphazed when a man accused smuggling cocaine in soup packets was arrested. Jose Acevedo, a 41-year-old from Carlisle, Pa, was arrested after a drug-sniffing dog picked up a scent of cocaine hidden in dry soup packages, the Washington Examiner reports. Jose Acevedo was trying to enter the country at the Dulles International Airport from a trip to El Salvador....

Sven Koppler does not suffer from arachnophobia. Some of the adult live tarantulas measured over six inches, reports the Los Angeles Times. Koppler, 37, a German national, admitted shipping 247 live tarantulas to federal agents in Los Angeles. In a 10-month sting operation, agents posed as buyers ordering tarantulas and spiders. Koppler shipped the live tarantulas wrapped in colored plastic straws, and the spiders inside small plastic tubes, reports the Times....

The NFL is investigating the abuse and harassment of Miami Dolphins player Jonathan Martin, announcing Wednesday that attorney Ted Wells will lead the investigation. According to the Miami Herald, Wells’ investigation will conclude with a report to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before the results are eventually released to the public. How would an internal investigation affect a possible lawsuit by Jonathan Martin? The seeds of the investigation were sown earlier this week, when the Miami Dolphins suspended the alleged culprit, Dolphins guard Richie Incognito, to evaluate Martin’s claims of racially charged harassment....

In celebration of National Nude Day today – not to mention Nude Recreation Week – Legally Weird is letting it all hang out. We’re going to show you the family crown jewels in our naked and nude archive, and show that while nudity may not be shameful, it can leave you legally exposed. Check out our Top 10 real-life legal notes for nudists before you strip down: Driving topless is probably OK....

Conviction of defendant for first degree burglary is affirmed where: 1) the evidence reasonably supported the jury’s finding that the apartment was “inhabited” within the meaning of Penal Code section 459 at the time of the burglary; and 2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding a building inspector’s testimony. Read People v. Aguilar, No. E047830 [HTML] Read People v. Aguilar, No. E047830 [PDF] Appellate Information Filed February 3, 2010...