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Savalle Sims has been named the new general counsel for Discovery Communications. Sims, formerly deputy general counsel, will lead the company’s global legal teams and manage legal issues worldwide. In the new position, she reports to Bruce Campbell, chief development and legal officer. “Savalle is a strong leader, with an incredible legal mind and strategic approach that has served Discovery exceptionally well,” Campbell said in announcing her promotion. Wonder Woman Class Sims was promoted after managing the company’s litigation, compliance and securities matters....

For those who need a refresher, here’s a quick review. Lee’s first, and until now, only, novel told the tale of young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch coming of age in the segregated South and grappling with the dark realities and injustices of adult life. Much of the plot centered on the trial of Tom Robinson, a young black man who has been falsely accused of raping a white woman. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is a local lawyer assigned to defend Robinson when most of the town would prefer a quick judicial lynching....

You may have had your phone unsuspectedly searched by federal agents when coming into America. And the data on your phone may have been downloaded to scan for national security information. Odds are high no incriminating data was found on your phone. But as it turns out, odds aren’t so high that the border patrol deleted this data upon realizing you aren’t a security risk. This process of searching and keeping data is not illegal....

Petition for a writ of mandamus by the government to direct the Court of Federal Claims to vacate its orders requiring the US to produce documents that it asserts are protected by the attorney-client privilege is denied as the US cannot deny an Indian tribe’s request to discover communications between the US and its attorneys based on the attorney-client privilege when those communications concern management of an Indian trust and the US has not claimed that the government or its attorneys considered a specific competing interest in those communications....

Kellyanne Conway, the acerbic political adviser who calls herself a “fully recovered lawyer,” is no stranger to contradictions. In the Republican primaries not more than a year ago, Conway was attacking Donald Trump as an extremist “who seems to be offending his way to the nomination.” Criticizing his use of eminent domain, she said, “Donald Trump has literally bulldozed over the little guy to get his way.” Now, Conway is serving as a senior adviser in the Trump White House....

The University of Dayton School of Law is offering a master’s degree in government contracting and purchasing. It is a rare offering because apparently only one other law school has comparable programs. George Washington School of Law awards degrees in government procurement and contracts, the ABA Journal reported. For Dayton, a Catholic university, it is also a blessing for law school graduates who are struggling to find employment in a tough job market....

For using his government-paid Westlaw account after leaving his government job, Everett Walton received a reprimand from the Oregon Supreme Court. That’s not too surprising until we realized Walton wasn’t practicing in Oregon at the time. The Westlaw account was purchased for Walton when he worked as a special prosecutor for the Republic of Palau which is associated with the U.S. He left that job to work for a legal aid organization in Hawai’i....

It’s beginning to play out a lot like an episode of Reality TV, except with a legal twist. NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman is now suing his former girlfriend Reality TV star Tila Tequila, according to TMZ.com In his lawsuit filed in US District Court, Merriman who plays for the San Diego Chargers claims she lied about claims that he beat her up back in September in an attempt to ruin his career....

Students at Northwestern University received quite a surprise in psychology professor J. Michael Bailey’s human sexuality class. Students watched as Faith Kroll was brought to orgasm by a machine-powered saw converted into a sex toy. The sex toy show was seen by over 100 students at the $40,000-a-year university, the Daily Mail reports. The demonstration was conducted after class was over, and students were not required to attend. Of course that fact alone doesn’t mean that the university is pleased with the situation....

Trial court’s order of commitment of a defendant for an indeterminate terms that followed his waiver of a jury trial and submission upon documentary reports, plus the trial court’s finding that he was a sexually violent predator within the meaning of Welfare and Institutions Code section 6604, is affirmed where: 1) defendant’s due process claim is rejected as, even with the provision of an indeterminate term, the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA) as a whole continues to ensure that the duration of actual commitment under an order of commitment for an indeterminate term is consistent with constitutional due process limits; 2) defendant’s equal protection claim is rejected; 3) defendant’s indeterminate commitment does not violate the federal constitutional prohibitions against ex post facto laws and double jeopardy; and 4) the SVPA does not violate the federal first amendment right to petition the court for redress of grievances....

The Muslims are coming! That’s a fact and part of a new lecture series at the Center for Security, Race and Rights at Rutgers Law School. Along with a the Center for Immigration Law, Policy, and Justice, Rutgers is launching two new academic centers. Professor Sahar Azia, an expert in the Middle East, civil rights, and race issues, says people fear what they don’t know. That’s why she’s opening her program with a series on Islamophobia....

The Cliffs at High Carolina can get back to the business of creating Tiger Wood’s first US golf course. The developers of Tiger Wood’s golf course have agreed to reduce the environmental impact that the course would have on local trout streams after complaints were raised by environmental groups. The Southern Environmental Law Center, Western North Carolina Alliance and Trout Unlimited all opposed the original design and challenged the permits issued to the developers by the North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources....

It’s no secret that California’s prisons are unconstitutionally over-crowded. After a Supreme Court rebuke earlier this year, California must cut its prison population by 33,000 prisoners. One contributing factor to the state’s booming prison population is the 17-year-old “three-strikes” law, passed in 1994 after a repeat offender kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas. A proposed revision to the policy could free non-violent offenders, keep defense attorneys busy, and create further strain on the state court dockets....

You have a big corporate job, responsible for millions of dollars and accountable to thousands of shareholders. But it’s hard to breathe at the top because the air is thin and the pressure is intense. Or maybe your job is not so big, still you feel stressed as you put out the fires of even a small business. Life is hard on the street, too. Well it won’t get any easier if you have a headache, get sick or simply burn out....

In plaintiff-property owners’ suit against a town challenging its supplemental assessment to place overhead utility lines underground, trial court’s judgment in favor of the town is reversed as the supplemental assessment fails to satisfy the proportionality requirement imposed by article XIII D of the California Constitution which mandates that no assessment shall exceed the reasonable cost of the proportional special benefit conferred on a parcel. Read Town of Tiburon v. Bonander, No....

The wealthy owner of a sprawling New York mansion broke immigration laws by forcing a virtual house slave to overstay her visa, a federal complaint alleges. The illegal alien was also forced to sleep in a closet. Mansion owner Annie George, 39, of Rexford, N.Y., required her servant to work 17-hour days, seven days a week – and paid the woman an average of 85 cents an hour over a five-year span, according to the complaint obtained by the website The Smoking Gun....

Whoever said ’even bad publicity is good publicity’ was wrong. At least it didn’t work out so well for attorney Dawn Hassell. After she obtained a default judgment and an appeals court ruling in a defamation case, the California Supreme Court reversed. In Hassell v. Bird, the online review site won a split decision for freedom of speech. The state supreme court said Yelp could not be ordered to take down a user’s negative reviews....

What’s the best response to someone making fun of you on Twitter? Probably not to sue them for libel. One lawyer learned that lesson the hard way last week, after his case was tossed from court. Todd Levitt is a Michigan lawyer, former adjunct at Central Michigan University, and self-described “badass” who sued a former student for libel after he created a Levitt parody account on Twitter – telling the kid to “grab some Vaseline” and get ready for prison....

In a patent infringement action involving Internet-based educational support systems, district court judgment is affirmed in part, reversed in part and dismissed in part where: 1) the district court erred in its interpretation of the claim language in its denial of defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law as defendant did not waive its right to challenge the construction of claims 36-38 in the disputed patent; 2) under their proper construction, claims 36-38 of the patent are invalid for anticipation as a matter of law based on testimony, documentary evidence, and the absence of a “single login” requirement; and 2) the court properly ruled that claims 1-35 of the patent were invalid for indefiniteness....

Ex-NFL star Chad Johnson has an arrest warrant with his name on it for failing to report to his probation officer. Chad Johnson’s warrant was issued May 7 for violation of the probation he received for head-butting his ex-wife, “Basketball Wives” mainstay Evelyn Lozada, back in 2012, reports the Associated Press. With Johnson still MIA, he may face even more dire consequences if he continues to evade arrest. Probation is generally granted to first-time or low-risk offenders in lieu of jail time with the promise that they can serve their punishments by following the conditions of their probation....