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Defendant’s drug and firearm sentence is affirmed where: 1) 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c)(2) permitted courts to consider only the consequences of Sentencing Guidelines changes and did not reopen other elements of a sentence; and 2) the district court acted within its discretion in denying a sentence reduction based on a Guidelines amendment. Read US v. Lafayette, No. 08-3024 Appellate Information Argued October 8, 2009 Decided November 3, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Tatel...

In the realm of sports video games, realism is king. Gone are the days of players catching fire or being run over by ambulances. Now gamers want the most true-to-life graphics and game play, all the way down to the players’ tattoos. Which can be a problem, legally-speaking. As a new lawsuit against the makers of NBA2K has demonstrated, figuring out who has the legal rights to a player’s ink can be a little tricky....

Few states top California when it comes to a general anti-gun stance – with possible exceptions in New Jersey and New York. Now, it appears that the state’s “good cause” statute, whose legitimacy has been bouncing around in the courts for some time, is finally on its way to be scrutinized by the highest court in the land. Even after a request was made of 28 of the Ninth Circuit’s judges, no majority granting a rehearing of last June’s contentious case could be met....

BigLaw is pretentious. BigLaw is tierest. BigLaw will only take BigNames. You’ve heard it all, but you’ve probably wondered if it’s true. Well, the National Law Journal is here to prove you (mostly) right. The publication has delved into the employment numbers and ranked the top 50 law schools based on the percentage of 2011 graduates employed at NLJ 250 firms. There are a few surprises. Here are your top 10 law schools for BigLaw jobs:...

Everyone goes into law school worried about class: cold-calling, reading for class, case briefing, supplements, any prep possible to avoid being embarrassed in front of 120 classmates. But do you know what law school is really about, besides Socratic mental torture? Writing. Legal writing class, clinical work, and well-written final exams. And for most people, writing isn’t their strength. That’s why this week’s #DearFindlaw questions came as no surprise. Tips For Bluebook Citations Hey Matt,...

It’s one thing to be besties with your dog, but it’s another to turn your pup into a “stoner dog.” In fact, it could potentially even land you in the doghouse. Yes, “stoner dogs.” Some vets are seeing a spike in dogs being treated for marijuana intoxication. Whether it’s getting high from accidently ingesting a careless human’s weed brownie or inhaling secondhand smoke, getting stoned doesn’t seem to be a pleasant experience for Fido, according to The Huffington Post....

Three Dallas cowboys are being sued by the family of a teen who nearly drowned at a football camp they hosted this past summer. The parents of 13-year-old James Jackson Jr. are suing defensive end Anthony Spencer (the camp’s namesake), wide receiver Miles Austin, cornerback Brandon Carr, former player Sterling Moore, and Sports International, the organizer of the camp. The family is seeking more than $1 million for their teen’s “pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, medical bills, and future loss of earning capacity,” reports NBC News....

There are a lot of legal words that seem obscure to law “civilians,” but that lawyers easily recognize and understand. Everyone who went to law school knows res ipsa loquitor, promissory estoppel, and liquidated damages, right? Yet, there are still even more obscure words that not even lawyers might know. To some of you out there, these words are obvious – but probably because you still use them in certain situations....

Football star Adrian Peterson was booked and released from a Texas jail over the weekend after being indicted on charges of negligent injury to a child. Peterson’s indictment follows an investigation into injuries suffered by Peterson’s 4-year-old son when the Minnesota Vikings running back allegedly disciplined the boy, reports Houston’s KILT radio. Peterson admitted to police that he twice gave the boy a “whooping” with a “switch” – a colloquialism for striking someone with a tree branch stripped of its leaves – and told police he felt “very confident with my actions because I know my intent....

God is talking to authorities in Alabama about fashion. A Dadeville councilman is proposing a dress code that bans baggy pants because “I prayed about this. I know God would not go around with his pants down.” “My concern is it should be for everybody,” City Council member Stephanie Kelley said. “I think for the girls, with these shorts up so high looking like under garments and dresses so short, I don’t want us to be showing favoritism....

Most lawyers out there play by the book. Sure, some of us can get rather creative with the letter or spirit of the law. Others make sure to have hardcovers, or aluminum encased e-readers, so that the book can make more of an impact when we throw it. But, more frequently than the profession would ever like to admit, lawyers succumb to greed and turn a blind eye to a few important rules regarding referral fees....

Remember when you were a kid, rushing to the Christmas tree before the sun came up? And remember the look on your parents’ faces when you tore open the presents? Tired. The look was tired. It was still oh holy night, for goodness sake. Your folks may have managed to smile through it, but Christmas morning sometimes brings a little Christmas mourning. That’s because, as an elf or somebody said, money doesn’t buy happiness....

In a mixed disability discrimination and disability retirement claim, the matter is transferred in its entirety to the Fourth Circuit for lack of jurisdiction where: 1) the present court is not the proper venue for review of the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s discrimination claim; and 2) the claims may not be bifurcated into two lines of review, and thus it was not possible to accept the transfer of solely plaintiff’s disability retirement claim....

Most people get a dog for the love and affection but if you show your dog you also choose it based on breeding value. That is where our dog semen lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania. You read that right; Linda Blackie and Miriam Thomas sued a veterinary hospital that accidentally destroyed over a hundred sperm samples from their prize-winning standard poodles. The samples were collected and cryogenically frozen but accidentally defrosted in 2009, according to Centre Daily Times....

Move over disabled line cutters, fake “service dogs” are the newest and most fashionable way for the entitled to pimp their status. New York City has been hit by a glut of phony “service dog” tags which can be purchased online. The tags allow “ordinary” dogs to enter restaurants, grocery stores, and malls, despite those businesses’ “no-pets” policies, reports The New York Post. So what, if anything, is being done to curb the use of fake service dogs?...

There is a measure of unease in studying in law school. Nearly fifteen weeks of class, reading, and outlining. And it all comes down to a few hours, a number of essays, and possibly a few multiple choice questions. And then the past few months are summed up by a solitary number, a single letter–garnished, perhaps by a symbol. And from there you fit into a rank of your class. Upper half, bottom third, top five percentile…a new identity–even if short-lived–is yours....

Hang on to your I-9’s; you’re gonna need them. If you don’t know what Form I-9 is, then perhaps you haven’t worked for an American company in a few decades. The U.S. government has required workers and employers to complete I-9’s for every new employee since Nov. 6, 1989. It is required when hiring citizens and non-citizens, and all must attest that they are legally in the country. As you absorb President Trump’s orders Wednesday to construct a wall between the United States and Mexico, along with actions to cut back on legal immigration, including keeping Syrian refugees out of the country, now do you remember Form I-9?...

The law is demanding but luckily there are opportunities such as Halloween that allow those in the legal community to chuckle at themselves, and each other, without the danger of being held in contempt of court. So, in case you haven’t landed on the perfect law Halloween costume yet, take a gander at these. Quid pro quo: you may need a legal audience to get the full attention and praise your deserve....

In a habeas petition seeking relief from a hold the Department of Corrections placed on Petitioner a day before his release date, the petition is denied, where Cal. Penal Code section 6601.3 authorized the continued incarceration of a parolee past his discharge date upon a showing of good cause. Read In re Hovanski, No. C059192 in HTML. Read In re Hovanski, No. C059192 in PDF. Appellate Information ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS: Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus....

Probably not the question you want to ask yourself as your rideshare rolls up, but after California’s Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED) fined Uber $1.13 million for failing to investigate reports of inebriated drivers, you might want to double check your driver’s breath. A CPED investigation found that Uber’s California operation received 2,047 complaints about drivers being under the influence in just one year between August 12, 2014 and August 31, 2015, and only deactivated drivers in 574 of those complaints, or less than one-third of all allegedly drunken drivers....