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A strange and provocative taxicab interaction has landed a Louisiana lawyer with a misdemeanor battery conviction. And the cabbie who captured the incident on cell phone video is now suing the police. Jennifer Gaubert, 33, is a New Orleans attorney and ex-host of a legal call-in radio show called “Law Out Loud.” She’s alleged to have filed false accusations against cab driver Hervey Farrell, claiming that he was trying to blackmail her with the video....

If you are reading this article about signs of a cheap boss, you already know it doesn’t end well. It’s like looking in the obituaries to see if someone died. It’s the same thing that makes us slow down to look at car accidents. We just want to see what we know is already there. So if you are reading this to confirm the sad truth of what you already know, enjoy a little spin....

Attention New York attorneys. The judges you practice in front of are getting a raise. But they’re not all that thrilled about it. However, many New York judges aren’t too happy with the changes. Many state judges see it as “too little too late,” the ABA Journal reports. As of April 1, the annual salary for New York trial-level Supreme Court judges will increase from $136,700 to $160,000. In 2013, pay will be raised again to $167,000....

Order sustaining defendant’s demurrer to plaintiff’s action for a tax refund is affirmed where writing or reforming Revenue and Taxation Code sec. 24402 to sever its invalid portion would not be consistent with the enacting legislature’s intent and would contradict the purpose of its enactment, and therefore would be inappropriate for the present court to rewrite or reform. Read Abbott Laboratories v. Franchise Tax Board, No. B204210 in PDF Read Abbott Laboratories v....

In a petition for review of the denial of Petitioner radio station’s request for reconsideration of the mutually exclusive designation of the application filed by a competitor to operate an AM station, the petition is denied where the FCC may establish standards of acceptability for filing an application that differ from the standards for granting a license or permit. Read Alvin Lou Media, Inc. v. FCC, No. 08-1067 Appellate Information...

A good chunk of the Americans with Disabilities Act cases have nothing to do with tangible physical barriers. Often, it is simply a business’s policies, practices, rules, or lack thereof, that leads to an ADA claim. Many ADA claims can be easily avoided by general counsel or outside counsel reviewing a business’s ADA policy compliance and ensuring proper employee training on those ADA policies. A recent lawsuit against a chain retailer involves an amputee that was left with no other option but to crawl out of a retail establishment due to an employee and manager’s misunderstanding of store policy on use of the store’s motorized wheelchair shopping carts....

A traffic jam in Los Angeles is nothing new. A traffic jam in Los Angeles because a rock band decided to play an impromptu concert atop a truck … now that’s giving a new meaning to a jam. The Los Angeles section of the 101 freeway was blocked up for over a mile early Tuesday morning as a result of the three-man band’s illegal antics. It took police over an hour to reach the site of the concert....

Last week I read an article about lawyers being the most sleep-deprived in CorporateCounsel and had one thought: tell me something I don’t know. While I didn’t pull all-nighters in law school, there were definitely some long nights. It starts in law school and only gets worse when you begin practicing. Between the 12+ hour days, and being on call all weekend, I never had bags and dark circles under my eyes that compared to the ones I had while a second-year associate at BigLaw in New York....

A California appellate court case is illustrative of the state’s rather rigid doctrines against compensation to landowners for alleged injury to their property. The City of Beverly Hills prevailed against in a demurrer involving homeowners who claimed injury against the city for planting some redwood trees in a park some ways from their home. The injury? Spoiling their lovely view. Eminent domain and inverse condemnation are closely related theories but differ in who brings the suit....

California woman Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, has been arrested for cutting off her husband’s penis. After she sliced it off, she then threw the penis in the garbage disposal. Police are still trying to figure out why Becker cut off her husband’s penis, but reports are that told officers that he “deserved” it, reports the Los Angeles Times. Slicing off her husband’s penis? Putting it into the garbage disposal? Becker must have been upset about something....

“Honey? Are you ready for your shower and bedtime?” “No! I don’t wanna!” “You better, or I’ll call the police and have them arrest you and taze you.” “…. ummm, what?” An Arkansas woman called the police on her 10-year-old daughter who was throwing a tantrum and refused to take a shower. Not only did the police come and attempt to bring order to the screaming pre-teen, but when the mother allegedly told the officer that he could taze the girl if he needed to, he obliged....

GameFly and Netflix are both in the business of mailing DVDs to customers. GameFly rents and sells video games. Netflix rents movies. Netflix, however, has been getting better rates for postal service from the Postal Service. GameFly sued, arguing that the preferential treatment wasn’t fair. Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with GameFly, and ordered the USPS to either level the playing field, or offer a darn good reason for continued discrimination, Reuters reports....

The federal circuit appellate court for the District of Columbia will soon be getting a replacement for the seat recently vacated by rookie SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh. President Donald Trump, on the holiday of Diwali, announced that he has nominated the Administrator for the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Neomi Rao, for the open seat on the D.C. circuit bench. Rao may not have prior experience as a federal judge, but she did clerk for the Supreme Court under Justice Thomas, and on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals....

Facing 30 years for financial crimes, a disbarred attorney allegedly broke free of his ankle monitor, murdered his mother, and fled. Richard Merritt, 44, was scheduled to report to prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly clients. Now police are looking for him because he allegedly stabbed his mother to death. Family members said they never thought Merritt was capable of such violence. Police said he is “extremely dangerous....

Baseball is a game known for keeping its numbers sacred. And after the statistical revolution of the past couple decades, teams hold the data they keep on players with the utmost secrecy. The FBI is now investigating members of the St. Louis Cardinals organization for hacking into a proprietary player database kept by the Houston Astros. As details emerge, this was hack was more 8th grade prankster than sophisticated IRS data thieves, so let’s take a look at some of the highlights:...

True story: A colleague interviewed a candidate who had all the right stuff: right grades, right credentials, and the right experience. The candidate didn’t get the job though. Why? She, um, like, said “you know” after like, every sentence, you know what I mean? Filler phrases might be OK for chatting it up with your roommate. But if you want to make a good impression in a job interview, then you need to learn how to talk the talk – and that talk doesn’t include “um,” “like,” and “you know....

Court observers saw Spanski Enterprises v. Polska as a copyright stand-off. In one corner of Poland, Telewizja Polska was broadcasting television episodes on the internet for on-demand users. In another corner of New York City, lawyers discovered by downloading the episodes that the programs violated U.S. copyright law. The controversy made it to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where the judges resolved it. TV Polska owes the copyright holders more than $3 million....

This is the runaway bride, in reverse. A trouble-making “bride” was found guilty of more than just a bad fashion sense for breaking into a house half naked. Melissa Wagaman, the bridal burglar, broke into a neighbor’s house while dressed in a wedding skirt (mind you, not the whole gown) and veil. She faces up to 10 years in prison on assault charges, and more time on a host of other charges....

Joe Arpaio – the sheriff most famous for being convicted and then pardoned – is suing the New York Times for libel. The former Arizona sheriff says the newspaper has ruined his chances of winning political office. The suit is based on a Times opinion piece about Arpaio’s failed run for the U.S. Senate. The headline said his loss was “a fitting end to the public life of a truly sadistic man....

Sam Lufti claims he was Britney Spears’ manager during some of Brit’s darkest hours. We’re talking about the head-shaving, beating-an-SUV-with-an-umbrella days that made Kevin Federline look like a model of parental stability. The problem with Lufti’s claim is that he doesn’t have a signed contract. Maybe Lufti’s the kind of manager who engages in gentlemen’s agreements: handshakes over drinks, my-word-is-my-bond deals. If so, he learned a very expensive lesson in Los Angeles Superior Court this week....