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It’s that time when we taken inventory of our life, and give thanks for all the wonderful people and opportunities we have in our lives. Since we’re in a festive mood here at FindLaw, here are some of the reasons we are thankful this Thanksgiving … This Thanksgiving also marks the first day of Hanukkah, a very rare occurrence. An cleverly entitled article “Gobble Tov,” The Associated Press reports that the last time this happened was in 1888, and the next time it will happen in 79,043 years....

Once you’re done sitting for the bar, you’ll probably want to head to a real bar. You’ve dedicated years of your life and months of cramming to the bar exam – going out for a night of celebration is your right and obligation. But as a soon-to-be-lawyer, you don’t want to drink just any swill. Here are seven drinks to help you celebrate finishing the bar exam the right way....

This week, a Wyoming woman was arrested after she operated a forklift under the influence of alcohol. Late in the evening in Cheyenne, Wyoming, neighbors contacted local police to report that a woman was moving a large white van with a forklift, while drinking a beer. If the scene sounds like a sort of comedy of errors, the photo of the FUI in action confirms it. The 49-year-old forklift operator told police that she needed to move the van from one side of her driveway to the other, but she could not find the keys....

Ah, 3L. For the past two years you have seen the upperclassmen (and women) rule the law school roost with confidence and ease, and now they’ve passed the baton on to you. By now you may have much more focused idea of what you want out of the field of law. Or, you may honestly still have no idea. We’re not judging. But you will have to make some big decisions this year....

The Amish have always been portrayed as a serene, law-abiding community. But it seems their youth – and some of their wayward adults – are out to prove this stereotype wrong. Police in western New York encountered the latest of these rebels on Sunday, hauling four of them in after a buggy car crash. Officers collided with the horse-drawn vehicle while responding to reports of a buggy party near a rural Sherman farm....

Action Claiming Discrimination by Federal Reserve Board In Artis v. Bernanke, No. 09-5121, a putative class action by members of a putative class of secretaries employed by the Federal Reserve Board, claiming that the Board systematically discriminated against them on account of their race, the court vacated the dismissal of the complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies where plaintiffs completed informal counseling in a manner sufficient to give the Board an opportunity to investigate their claims....

A complaint filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination claims Twitter unfairly singled out the Salem-based Satanic Temple when it suspended two accounts associated with the religious organization, instead of an account that made a threat against the temple. While the two accounts have been restored, they have yet the be “verified” by Twitter, a choice that amounts to religious discrimination, the Satanic Temple claims. “The failure of Twitter to verify both accounts … clearly demonstrates a pattern of hostile discriminatory behavior engaged in by Twitter against The Satanic Temple,” according to cofounder Lucien Greaves....

Like finding an incomplete will, it’s really too late for succession planning if you’ve waited until the company president dies. Before the funeral is over, people are vying for control. Some distant relation will suddenly appear with a forgotten claim. And who invited the taxman? Dying is hard enough, but you can make it a little easier by planning ahead for succession in your company. It starts at the top....

People v. Sanders, B206569, concerned a challenge to the trial court’s imposition of a sentence of 64 years to life in prison, in a conviction of defendant for attempted murder, assault with a firearm and related offenses. In reversing, the court remanded the case in concluding that defendant is correct on invoking the provision of the Determinate Sentencing Act that mandates a subordinate term to consist of one-third of the middle term as the decisive point is that an indeterminate enhancement does not merge with the determinate offense to make the entire term encompassed by the indeterminate sentencing law....

Technology is like an unstoppable wave, rushing upon the shore and scattering countless grains of sand. In the same way, technology will wash away workers in the coming economic sea change. Smart machines will take their jobs, and they will need new ones. Darlene Damm, writing for the Harvard Business Review, says it’s time for companies to get creative. The Robots Are Coming “Robots have probably taken about 85% of the 5 million manufacturing jobs that have disappeared from the United States since 2000,” she writes....

Another place where Don Rickles can’t go anymore! Effective immediately, Delaware driver’s license applicants can show their pearly whites. Thanks to a software upgrade, drivers will once again be permitted to smile in driver’s license photos. The new policy ends five years of depressed and angry photographs caused by a facial recognition system that got confused by smiles. Delaware ran its driver’s license photos through facial recognition software in order to prevent identity theft, but the system – like many facial recognition systems – thought a person smiling and a person not smiling were two different people....

An Oklahoma woman has filed a driver’s license lawsuit, claiming that taking fingerprints and high-resolution photographs of people is the “the beginning stages of the [Biblical] mark of the beast.” Think along the lines of facial-recognition technology used in “Minority Report,” “Gattaca,” and [your favorite sci-fi movie]. Well, that’s how Kaye Beach apparently feels about the Department of Public Safety’s high-res photos and fingerprints. She claims requiring biometrics to get a license violates her religious rights, according to her complaint....

A titillating photographer is being sued by the Empire State Building’s management over some sky-high boobie photos. Allen Henson, 30, actually snapped the saucy pic of a model bearing her chest on the monument’s 86th-floor observation deck in August, but the pic has since gone viral, reports Reuters. The famous building’s owners are now seeking compensation for what they believe amounts to more than $1 million in damage to its reputation....

A man from St. Petersburg, Florida, appeared to be in trouble after he told his neighbors he was building a shooting range in his front yard. The neighbors were outraged and called police. But believe it or not, police said Joseph Carannante, 21, wasn’t breaking any laws. The local code enforcement authority also said building a shooting range in Carannante’s front yard didn’t violate any local zoning or building codes, WTSP-TV reports....

Some people are in denial about their drinking problems and others take denial to the next level. Stephen Allbritton is in the latter camp, and he is likely going to have to face facts. Allbritton, a 46-year-old Florida man, was arrested with a blood alcohol content of .604 percent, or eight times the legal limit of .08. His alcohol level was so high, he couldn’t be taken to jail – the police had to take him to the hospital....

It’s a new law school year. There’s a new class of 1L’s. And, to go with the theme, we have new thing or two to add to our advice to incoming law students on how to survive law school. Here’s a brief re-cap: Experiment with study techniques. Don’t worry too much about how others answer questions in class. Be careful about getting wrapped up in ’law school high’. Law school supplements are not like steroids, you are encouraged to use them to understand the material....

It’s going to happen sooner or later, if it hasn’t already: you’ve been asked to write a brief with other people. In a big law firm, this could mean multiple layers of associates, senior associates, partners, managing partners, senior partners – well, suffice it to say, there are a lot of people involved in the process. Don’t panic even if you are working with multiple people, each with different schedules, writing styles, writing habits, and different temperaments – we’re here to help....

Given the massive worldwide market share in the personal care products sector, Johnson and Johnson is no stranger to legal battles. Over the past couple years, the company has been facing hundreds of claims that their talcum powders, or baby powders, contain cancer causing agents. Recently, a California jury, hearing the evidence at the first trial over a woman claiming she contracted mesothelioma as a result of using talcum power, ruled in Johnson and Johnson’s favor....

All you lowly associates take note: you are getting poorer. That is, compared to what your firm’s partners are getting. A new survey reveals the gap between hourly associate rates and rates for partners is widening. So while partners become richer, those at the bottom aren’t. In 2011, the top 25 percent of law partners charged an average of $873 an hour, according to the survey conducted by analytics firm TyMetrix Inc....

Over the last year, some BigLaw firms have made headlines for dumping mandatory arbitration clauses from associate employment contracts, at least when it comes to claims involving sexual harassment. And while arbitration clauses don’t seem to be getting any weaker, top talent candidates are starting to think twice about whether they want to be subject to one, and one group of students at Harvard Law have banded together to tell employers just that....