After Swedish prosecutors watched video of former Toronto Maple Leafs player Andre Deveaux viciously slash an opponent in pregame warm ups, they decided to file criminal charges and issued a warrant for his arrest. Which, for hockey fans, may have brought to mind an infamous incident in 2000 when Marty McSorley bashed Donald Brashear in the head with his stick (2:50 into the video), giving him a grade 3 concussion....
There was a not so distant time when few U.S. attorneys went abroad. Overseas firms were so desperate for talent that American associates could choose from multiple offers. But things have changed. More attorneys – and law students – are leaving the country. And they’re not just going to London, either. Why? What is driving American lawyers abroad? There’s no question that many experienced associates are fleeing the U.S. in order to flee the stagnant economy....
There’s a lot of speculation out there about how President Donald Trump’s new tax plan, signed into law in 2017, will affect people’s tax returns this year. Millions of us might watch our tax refunds shrink or disappear completely. Some of us, apparently, will be buying a private jet. Of course, how the law might affect your return specifically will depend on dozens of distinct factors, and you might see big changes or no changes at all....
First-year contracts class is where some of the most classic law school cases can be found. Hairy hands? Chicken? You’ll remember these wacky situations years later. 1. Hawkins v. McGee (New Hampshire 1929) The “hairy hand” case is known even among non-law students because it appears in The Paper Chase, which you watched to prepare for school, right? Hawkins’ hand was scarred nine years earlier. He went to Dr. McGee to fix it; McGee promised “a one hundred percent good hand....
My buddy thinks New Year’s Resolutions are a stupid, arbitrary way of setting goals. He may be right. After all, two years ago, when I set 10 resolutions, I barely cleared six of them. Then again, last year, I set none. How many did I achieve? None. This year, I’m going back to goal setting. If you wish to do the same, here are five types of resolutions to get you started:...
Naked attorney Terry Lee Locy challenged his girlfriend to a sword duel. Yes, you read that correctly. Locy, a Floridian and graduate of the University of Miami’s law school, challenged his girlfriend to the duel after a particularly heated argument. Locy’s now presumably ex-girlfriend was arguing with him about his drinking habits. The argument escalated when Locy threatened to hurt her with a mirror. The woman then chucked a hook off the wall and threw it at his head....
The firm of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe announced last Friday something we’re hoping will become more standard in the legal community: an extra $100 per month toward student debt. Like anything, however, there’s a catch – the perk will continue for new associates until they become eligible for their first bonus. Still, who’s gonna say no? Tackling Student Debt Many changes have recently passed through the BigLaw community. Some firms, including the Jackson Lewis, have done away with using the billable hour as the base assessment of associate review....
If Tennessee congressman Steve Cohen gets his way, the NBA’s player age limit rule will be a thing of the past. The New York Times reports that Cohen has written a letter to the NBA asking and the players union asking them to rescind their rule barring anyone under the age of 19 from playing in the league. There wasn’t much holding back, as far as rhetoric is concerned, per the NYT article:...
Shaw v. Sec’y of Human & Health Serv., No. 09-5117, concerned a challenge to the Court of Federal Claims’ dismissal for lack of jurisdiction in an appeal of Special Master’s decision to award plaintiff’s undisputed portion of his request for interim attorneys’ fees and costs and deferring consideration of the remaining amount until submission of a final petition for fees and costs in a case under the Vaccine Act. As stated in the decision: “The Special Master’s grant or denial of interim attorneys’ fees is a decision on compensation and as such it is reviewable by the Court of Federal Claims under section 12(e)....
If you’ve got six figures in cash, where would you stash it? If you’re anything like disbarred Houston attorney John B. Kennedy, your hiding place of choice would be a storage facility. And your own car. Police discovered Kennedy’s stash when they arrested him on outstanding warrants of felony fraud. He was found with $12,000 in his car and $838,000 in a storage facility. The storage facility also contained some guns....
Cruising down the HOV lane of the Long Island Expressway can definitely cut down on commute time. That is, except for when a 61-year-old Long Island driver was busted for using a life-size mannequin as her plus one in the passenger’s seat. According to the Associated Press, a sheriff’s deputy noticed a “passenger” wearing sunglasses and a visor on a cloudy morning. After a closer look he saw that it was a life-size mannequin dressed in a long dark wig, blazer, shirt, scarf and sunglasses....
Have you ever had a tension headache? It’s not fun. Have you ever had a tension headache for five days? It will make you rethink your life choices. The quick fix for an epic tension headache is a muscle relaxer. But if the thought of popping muscle relaxers to deal with career stress results in even more stress, hit the gym. According to the Mayo Clinic “virtually any form of exercise, from aerobics to yoga, can act as a stress reliever....
My big brother got a bit of a surprise last night. His LSAT score, which was supposed to arrive later in the week, appeared in his inbox while we were watching “The Avengers.” Of course, prioritizing correctly, we finished the movie before checking his (pretty dang good) score and discussing his future options. There are thousands of you pre-law LSAT score recipients out there today. What should you be doing with your new numbers?...
Incident Raises Cable News Hyperbole Threat Level to Orange We’ve all been there. One little awkward pause in a conversation and suddenly you’re talking about how you wouldn’t mind being waterboarded. But when Sean Hannity made that claim on his Fox News show last week, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann jumped on it like, well, like Keith Olbermann jumping on a claim made on a Fox News show. The issue came up last week when Charles Grodin was a guest on Fox’s “Hannity” program, discussing interrogation of suspected terrorists and the controversy over the waterboarding technique....
Crazy like a fox. Former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, who famously exited an airplane by way of the emergency escape chute, will receive a mental health evaluation from a psychologist. The findings of the mental health evaluation will impact the plea bargain that his attorneys are currently working on with prosecutors in New York. Slater has been charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. The maximum penalty for his alleged offenses is seven years in prison....
Would you ever adopt your girlfriend, making her legally your daughter? Most people wouldn’t. Then again, most people aren’t John Goodman. Goodman, a Florida businessman, adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend Heather Laruso Hutchins as his daughter last year. The motive seemed clearly financial. Goodman faced a lawsuit brought by the parents of 23-year-old Scott Patrick Wilson. Wilson died in a car crash after Goodman ran a red light. It was later determined that Goodman had an elevated blood-alcohol level....
As a 2L on a journal, your entire year will be consumed by writing your note – classes are secondary – especially if you are determined to get published. But, before you get caught up in the note writing process, you have to settle on a note topic. It may come as a surprise, but the most difficult aspect of writing a note is finding a topic. Since you’ll be devoting a year to this topic, we’ve decided to let you in on what topics make a note publication worthy....
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia likes same-sex dorms. Or at least he thinks that universities shouldn’t so easily abandon their religious and moral convictions. While speaking at Duquesne University Law School over the weekend, the Catholic Justice weighed in on religion in public life . This included criticizing a lawsuit against Catholic University’s newly imposed co-ed dorm ban. He also lamented his colleagues’ decision in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. Recall that the majority gave U....
Sometimes, it’s OK to text while you drive. Like if you’ve just been kidnapped. That’s what recently happened in New Haven, Conn., after a woman was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to make ATM withdrawals around town. Somehow, the kidnapper didn’t notice the 26-year-old woman was texting their every move to her boyfriend, who then told the cops, the New Haven Register reports. The woman refused the kidnapper’s sexual demands, but drove to several ATMs where she withdrew cash and then took the man to a nearby housing complex to buy drugs, the Register reports....
A new study in Florida shows that for every dollar spent on legal aid, the state gets back nearly seven dollars. Commissioned by the Florida Bar Foundation, the study that said legal aid turned $83 million in funding into about $600 million in economic impact in 2015. The foundation said that legal aid organizations captured $264.3 million in benefits and income for residents, with $274.8 million going back to Florida businesses....
