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A California couple is suing the Church of Scientology, claiming that the church misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars they donated for the construction of a new building. The couple, Luis Garcia Saz and Maria Del Rocio Burgos Garcia, claim they donated $420,000 to the church to fund construction of a building in Florida and for other humanitarian purposes, reports The Tampa Tribune. But more than a decade after the project started, the building is nowhere near complete....

People v. Shockley, F058249, concerned a challenge to a conviction of defendant for committing a lewd act on a child under the age of 14. In affirming, the court held that battery is not a lesser included offense to a violation of section 288 because a defendant may violate section 288 without committing a battery, and thus, the trial court did not have a sua sponte obligation to instruct the jury that battery was a lesser included offense to lewd and lascivious conduct....

Diamen v. US, No. 09-5177, involved a motion for a “certificate of innocence” in order to pursue a damages claim in the Court of Federal Claims for unjust conviction and imprisonment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. section 1495. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the denial of the motion, holding that the district court had declined to issue a habeas corpus writ setting aside petitioner’s conviction, and was thus unable in the subsequent 28 U....

In 2011, John Daniel Mismas, an asbestos litigator, was seeking a clerk. He turned to a professor at the University of Akron School of Law, who gathered up three candidates for interviews. Mismas chose Ms. C. But it soon became clear that he was seeking more than a clerk, as he began to make inappropriate comments and sexual suggestions even before she even started. After two weeks of comments, escalating to propositions, and finally, ultimatums, she had enough....

Way back in the 1990s, Congress decided that they wanted to increase the availability and separate market of third party television navigation devices. Traditionally, these set-top converter boxes were leased or loaned from the cable company. This obviously restricted the market for other participants, presumably including TiVo and other DVR providers. Unfortunately, they forgot to invite those satellite companies. The FCC submitted the MOU as a rule via notice and comment procedures....

While one court drama played out in Washington, another one unfolded in Florida. No, we’re not talking about the hanging chads episode. That soap opera ended a decade ago. In the latest installment of Florida reality television, the Florida Supreme Court says the governor cannot choose the next justices of the court. Believe it, or not. Latest Episode Like the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, the Florida case is about a rush to replace outgoing judges....

WinslowTHall, of SeriousEats.com, is facing one of the most important decisions of his life: which law school should he attend. He has two choices: University of Oregon and Syracuse University. Mr. Hall, per his profile, is from Durham, North Carolina and is concerned with the foodie atmosphere of the two towns. Wait … the foodie atmosphere? Look, I’m a fat man. I get it. Food is tasty. After three years in Lexington, Virginia, which has such fine dining establishments as Waffle House (covered and chunked - what up?...

Depending on who you ask, a series of workouts imposed by then-new Oregon football coach Willie Taggart in January 2017 were either “a physically impossible exercise regimen of squats and told the student athletes that the workout ‘would demonstrate who wanted to be on the team,’” or “akin to military basic training, with one said to include up to an hour of continuous push-ups and up downs,” and not all that strenuous....

Here’s a question that is asked often: why are people still applying to law school? (Answer: likely a combination of lack of a better option and pre-lawyerly arrogance that they will succeed where tens of thousands of others have failed.) Here’s another one: knowing what they know about the legal job market, what are these applicants looking for in a school? After all, beating their heads against casebooks for three years isn’t going to help them when they have to hang shingles in 2017 or so....

When studying for law school exams, or even the bar exam, perhaps the best resource for law students and future lawyers are practice questions. However, simply running through as many as possible isn’t enough. After all, it’s highly unlikely you’ll see any of the same questions anyway, and there’s more to preparation than just practice. Below you can get a little advice on how to get the most out of law school and bar exam practice questions....

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, America’s self-styled “toughest sheriff,” isn’t taking “no” for an answer. Just two weeks after the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed his lawsuit against the Obama Administration and its nascent immigration policy, Arpaio is urging the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite the briefing schedule for this all-important appeal. What could possibly be so urgent that one of the nation’s most important appellate courts has to speed up the calendar for Arpaio’s lawsuit?...

He may like to feed women condom-filled acorns, but Judge Isaac Stoltzfus of Intercourse, Pa. is apparently still fit for the bench. Though he was cited for disorderly conduct for passing out the enriched acorns on state Capitol grounds, the state’s Court of Judicial Discipline agreed to dismiss misconduct charges brought earlier this year. He, however, is to refrain from posing as the safe-sex squirrel in the future. It’s unlikely that Stoltzfus will be able to suppress his urges, as the Intelligencer Journal reports that he’s made thousands of condom-filled acorns over the years....

Seabright Ins. Co. v. U.S. Airways, Inc., No. A123726, involved an insurer’s subrogation action against the city and county of San Francisco arising from injuries suffered by an employee of an independent contractor working with U.S. Airways to provide preventive maintenance and repair services at the Airport. In reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants, the court held that the hirer can be liable to the employee of a contractor if the hirer breaches a nondelegable duty imposed by statute or regulation and the breach affirmatively contributes to the employee’s injury....

Stanley Baker paid for a 35-year-old parking ticket. Baker, 89, paid the $1 fine as a joke according to his son, Fritz Baker, the Orlando Sentinel reports. In fact, the ticket wasn’t even his - he found it in a garage sale, according to the Orlando Sentinel. A lover of jokes, Baker sent the ticket in its original envelope with a note that said “So sorry for the delay! 36 years late!...

Connecticut man Philip Conran, 44, posted a Craigslist orgy ad. So wherein lays the problem? Conran didn’t post the ad for himself. Locked in a dispute with his next-door neighbor, Conran made her the target of the phony orgy. The ad read: “40 [year-old] married West Hartford soccer mom… looking for group sex!” Apparently, there’s a big audience out there for orgies. The Craigslist ad sent about a dozen men to Conran’s neighbor’s house, according to The Hartford Courant....

Whether you’ll get pinched for puttering around drunk in a wheelchair may depend on where you’re operating and whether the court considers you a pedestrian. In Ohio, for example, you can absolutely get a DUI in a wheelchair. But in Oregon, you might be considered a pedestrian if you slam your motorized wheelchair into the side of a truck while crossing the street, and thus, no DUI. Such was the case of one James Richard Greene of Lincoln County …...

You’d think that after making partner, you wouldn’t have to pretend to be working when another partner walks by. However, for one New York attorney facing public censure, he’s learning the hard lesson that there’s a big difference between juggling content around on a computer monitor and falsifying your billing logs, even if you’re not sending the padded bills on to your clients. The lawyer admitted to the fact that he falsified almost 95 hours in order to show his partners that he was busier than he actually was, but fortunately the court believe that he never intended to send, and never did send, those falsified hours on to any clients....

Defendant’s petition for writ relief from trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss is granted as the trial court erred by denying defendant’s motion as he was not brought to trial within 60 days of his arraignment and it is clear that he did not generally waive his speedy trial rights. Read Smith v. Sup. Ct., No. A124763 Filed October 13, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Bruiniers Counsel For Appellant: Jeff Adachi, Public Defender for the City and County of San Francisco, Teresa Caffese, Chief Attorney, Doug Welch and Charmaine Yu, Deputy Public Defenders...

For many, working as a summer associate at BigLaw may be the first time working in a corporate environment. Even if it isn’t an associate’s first time in a corporate environment, there’s an art to navigating your way through corporate hierarchy – and it doesn’t mean just looking to the top. If you really want to know what goes on in a company, look to support staff. Here are some tips for interacting with support staff....

Two Washington teens attacked a woman on her daily run, but suddenly found themselves over matched. You see, they weren’t expecting that Priscilla Dang was a kung fu expert. Dang was taking her morning jog when two teenagers accosted her. They rode up on their bikes and one distracted her while the other allegedly slapped her butt. Dang has taken kung fu for 18 years at her family’s Summit Wushu Academy so she wasn’t about to take the assault lying down....