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Nothing is ever really settled. It just seems that way. The Earth used to be the center of the universe, but Copernicus changed all that. That’s how the law works, too. One day a matter is settled; the next day it starts all over again. When it comes to California’s high-speed rail, one settlement agreement may not settle anything. Environmental Quality Shafter, a small Central Valley city, settled its suit against the state’s rail authority....

In a dispute involving a veteran’s service-connected disability claim, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims judgment is reversed where: 1) a veteran alleging a service-connected disability has a due process right to have his claim for veteran’s disability benefits decided according to fundamentally fair procedures; and 2) plaintiff’s due process right to a fair hearing was violated by the consideration of tainted medical evidence. Read Cushman v. Shinseki, No. 08-7129...

In plaintiffs’ suit against the defendant to enjoin it from enforcing noncompete and nonsolicitation clauses in employment agreements used in California, trial court’s ruling that the clauses were facially void under Business and Professions Code section 16600 and that their use violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and that defendant’s unclean hands defense and its cross-complaint for unfair competition failed as a matter of law is affirmed where: 1) the trial court properly determined that the clauses were void as a matter of law, that no defense applied and that the cross-complaint failed to state a cause of action; and 2) trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a permanent injunction and costs Read Dowell v....

A drunk man’s “dog operation” has led to an arrest and a charge of felony animal cruelty. Stewart Gibbs, 44, was arrested last weekend by Chicago police. Gibbs is the director of cardiovascular services at DuPage Medical Group. Police initially responded after a call from Gibbs’ landlord. The landlord had received some complaints about a leaking ceiling. The landlord let himself in after a knock had no response, and reportedly Gibbs ran towards him, naked, and covered in blood, reports the Daily Mail....

If you’ve graduated from law school in the last five years, chances are you spent many a class on Facebook. And you can deny it all you want, but we all know that class time was not spent catching up with far-flung friends. Nope. It was spent perfecting the art of Facebook stalking. As law students, job applicants and now (hopefully) associates, we all took on the role of Facebook stalker....

Welcome to “First Week at the Firm,” a FindLaw feature for beginning associates, focused on helping you navigate the transition into firm life. We hope you’ll enjoy this new series and come back regularly for more insider tips. Welcome to the firm! Mind doing my laundry, grabbing my kids from school, and bringing me a coffee? Yes, it is pretty unlikely you’ll be greeted with these questions (if you are, congratulations on being one of the world’s highest paid gophers)....

Every fearful conversation that I have heard from gun owners and conspiracy theorists has finally come true in California: The government can come seize your guns, though only if a family member claims that you are a danger to yourself or others. Still, that’s not going to assuage the fears of many gun owners out there. Assembly Bill 1014, drafted after the Santa Barbara shooting and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, creates the Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO), a set of procedures that piggybacks the current Domestic Violence Restraining Order (DVRO) system....

The people you meet in law school likely won’t disappear from your life after just three years of law school. Many of them could become your colleagues, lifelong friends, or opposing counsel. A few you may just see at the local bar, or local bar events. The opinions your law school peers make of you in law school will follow you for some time. And some of your law school classmates might kind of hate you....

Killing a man doesn’t necessarily violate his constitutional rights, and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) does not have to surrender evidence to prove otherwise. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to admit into evidence an internal MPD document finding that an MPD officer violated protocol by fatally wounding a man. That description was a bit of a mouthful, so let’s back up to the highlights, complete with names....

Yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a titillating published opinion that addressed the merits of adjustable height workstations with, wait for it … vertical beams. Wow. Morris Standard (1997) The Morris standard reaffirmed the prior “broadest reasonable interpretation” deferential standard towards the PTO’s interpretation of disputed claim language. “The question then is whether the PTO’s interpretation of the disputed claim language is ‘reasonable.’” Because the APA was later required to apply to review standards, Morris’ “reasonable,” combined with the APA, should mean “not arbitrary and capricious,” as under the APA, agency interpretations are given deference unless they fail the arbitrary and capricious standard....

Laura Lundquist is believed to be the oldest murder defendant in Massachusetts state history. The 98-year-old woman was indicted recently on a second-degree murder charge that alleges she strangled a 100-year-old woman who was her roommate at a nursing home the Associated Press reports. Prosecutors pursued second-degree murder charges because they didn’t believe that Lundquist had the cognitive ability to commit premeditated murder. The body of the 100 year-old woman, Elizabeth Barrow, was found in her bed on Sept....

It seems that law school admissions officers should be given a new title: Facebook stalker. Yes, the obvious has occurred. The workers in charge of admitting and denying potential applicants are now scouring social media platforms like Facebook in order to glean personal information from would-be attorneys. Maybe they just figure that looking at your Facebook page will provide a more truthful answer to some of the questions they’d like answered....

When video of snowboarder Christian Mares surviving a self-created avalanche came out last week, we thought, “Cool.” When it turned out he could face criminal charges for snowboarding in a restricted area of Tahoe’s Sugar Bowl Resort, we thought, “Less cool.” It also got us thinking about all the different legal liabilities snowboarders could face out on the mountain. Here are just a few of them: That’s what the Placer County Sheriff’s Department may charge Mares with....

While it may not necessarily be worse than selling real drugs, a man was arrested in Tennessee for selling fake drugs at the annual music festival Bonnaroo. Though that in and of itself is not very shocking, like that U2 album that keeps popping up on your iPhone, the man’s purpose and the size of his fake stash were rather peculiar. David E. Brady, a 45 year old from New York, was arrested holding over 1,000 doses of LSD, 22 bags of fake psychedelic mushrooms, 20 bags of fake cocaine, and 37 fake pills of molly, as well as some fake heroin....

Despite the conspicuous absence of any meddling kids, a Pennsylvania man failed to get away with allegedly breaking into a school to smoke synthetic marijuana “Scooby Snax.” Police in Lower Southampton, outside of Philadelphia, noticed a bike resting against the front door of the Tawanka Learning Center early Monday morning, reports the Bucks County Courier Times. When police investigated, they spotted 35-year-old John Paul Sabara lying on the floor inside the school....

Marshawn Lynch gave the same answer, “I’m just here so I won’t get fined,” in response to every question during his initial Super Bowl press conference. (He followed that up with a chorus of “You know why I’m here” the next day.) Now the Seattle Seahawks running back is trying to make sure no one else uses the phrase without his permission. Lynch filed an application last week to trademark the phrase, in an effort to secure exclusive rights to use it on shirts, hats, and other athletic apparel....

Try to Spell ‘Justice’ Without a ‘T’, Fool! When it comes to celebrities and the brushes with government that all citizens face, there are some things that are hard to picture, like Prince standing in line at the DMV. But the city of Chicago was robbed of a civic duty match made in heaven on Monday, when Mr. T reported for jury duty, only to be passed over by the judge....

Here’s a lawsuit that probably isn’t going to make it very far. Anthony Dingle, the New York Housing Authority Superintendent, sued his boss claiming that her voice made him vomit. Anthony Dingle, said that his boss, Demetrice Gadson, constantly dressed him down, and “every time I heard her voice, it triggered a sickening feeling in me,” reports the New York Post. Dingle claimed that he had to go to a doctor in order to “get his intestinal system properly functioning....

Qualified Patients Ass’n v. City of Anaheim, G040077, concerned a challenge to the trial court’s order sustaining the city’s demurrer to plaintiffs’ complaint without leave to amend, in plaintiffs’ action against the City of Anaheim, seeking a declaratory judgment that state’s medical marijuana laws preempted the city’s ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries within the city. People v. Schmitz, G040641, concerned a challenge to a conviction of defendant of four misdemeanors pursuant to a guilty plea, following the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia found on the floor in the rear passenger area of his car, based on a search premised on the parolee status of a passenger in defendant’s car....

Burglary 101: Don’t leave your unemployment check stub behind. A burglar was caught in the act by a resident who dropped his personal planner with the unemployment pay stub bearing his name and home address, the Union Leader reports. The homeowners tried to detain the suspect, but the suspect fled through a back window. The male resident told police the burglar was spotted in his daughter’s bedroom. Police said a daily planner belonging to Michael Noyer was found outside the window on the front porch....