Residencies for lawyers may be the wave of the future, according to the California bar. Don’t worry too much yet. The idea is still in that ethereal initial stage. A task force has simply been assembled to analyze the issue. So it will take some time. After all, the legal profession is a lumbering beast. It’s not exactly prone to changing its old habits. The Socratic method? It’s still there. The lack of teaching practical skills?...
Margaret Howell, a gallery owner in California has sued Todd White, a former lead animator on SpongeBob Squarepants, accusing him of orchestrating an attack on her Huntington Beach gallery in an attempt to take over her business. The lawsuit seeks $5.5 million from the SpongeBob artist, who allegedly hired four “martial arts experts” to physically assault, rob, and threaten Howell, even though she has been a supporter of his artwork, selling his paintings and drawings in her gallery....
When people ask me what first year of law school is like, I answer without hesitation: boot camp. I haven’t been in the military, but I’ve heard enough about it (and seen enough movies) to know that it’s no fun – and neither is being a 1L. Though preparing for what are two different objectives, here are five reasons why being a 1L is like being in boot camp …...
There’s nothing new about nakedness. It’s been around since the dawn of time. But 2011 was a very special year for our natural state – it saw the rise of the naked criminal. Yes, 2011 saw dozens of criminals stripping down and illegally strutting their stuff. There were women who nakedly hung from cliffs, and others who shook it for the court. There was even a naked runner and an attorney looking for a naked sword fight....
There’s a new sheriff in town, but there’s a catch: it’s a robot. K5 is a security robot that works for less than minimum wage, doesn’t take breaks, and won’t sue for discrimination if you misassign its gender. With laser reflexes and hi-tech cameras for surveillance, the thing can take pictures faster than a teenager with an iPhone at the mall. So if you need a modern crime-fighter to patrol your parking lot or other business, K5 is ready for work....
Attorney Stanton Levenson gives new meaning to the saying, “you snooze, you lose.” After James Nassida was convicted of mortgage fraud, a federal judge ordered a new trial because the attorney kept falling asleep during the proceedings. How bad was it? It was so bad the client said he had to nudge the attorney awake every day during the weeks-long trial. It was so bad the opposing counsel had to tell the judge about it in the middle of the trial....
A former California stripper is set to get more than $1 million in cash returned to her after Nebraska state troopers seized the bills during a traffic stop in 2012. Former exotic dancer Tara Mishra won her case in federal court to have the $1,074,900 returned, reports the Lincoln Journal Star. Mishra claims she’d earned the money while working as an exotic dancer. Why did the judge decide to give Mishra back her stripper cash?...
1L hell is in the books. Ten percent of you were in the top 10 percent of the class. Ninety percent of you weren’t. Over the next two years, it will be difficult to improve your class standing (though oddly enough, it’s quite easy to fall into complacency and let your standing drop). What should your priorities be during this upcoming year? GPA and the job hunt, with networking and a social life set aside for that ever-so-rare spare time....
A while ago, we offered some advice on typography and typesetting, much of which we learned from reading Matthew Butterick’s excellent book Typography for Lawyers. But we’d be remiss if we focused exclusively on the lawyer-end of readability. What about the courts? As the Seventh Circuit has made clear, it’s thinking about typography and readability – even as others aren’t. Here are some good (and not so good) alternatives to Times New Roman (TNR) we’ve seen in court opinions....
Hey, 3Ls (or, maybe 2Ls if you actually have time): it’s definitely not too early to be thinking about your character and fitness application. While you may be biting your nails about the summer from hell (aka bar-study) that awaits you, don’t forget that passing the bar is not all that it takes to be a licensed attorney. It is absolutely required that you be of good moral character and fitness to become licensed....
When my editor tossed out the idea of a “Legal Shark Week” playlist, I jumped on it, like a shark on a bleeding dolphin. Why? Not only is the Grouplove song “Shark Attack” one of my current favorites, but music is how I get pumped. About to head to court? Working out? Fighting writer’s block? In any of these scenarios, I’m probably listening to loud, loud music. The real challenge, however, is creating a playlist that appeals to all sorts of folks – an especially large challenge for me, due to my narrow and unique musical tastes....
The software ID’d 28 current congressmembers as criminals. And if you’re cynically thinking, “I bet they were all people of color,” well … you’re not entirely wrong. (To be fair, Lewis has been arrested for peaceful protests 45 times, according to his own count, most recently in 2013, but his mugshots weren’t included in the comparison set.) The false matches were disproportionately of people of color, including six members of the Congressional Black Caucus, among them civil rights legend Rep....
The California Supreme Court has unanimously sided with a group of investigative journalists over the Department of Public Health (DPH) in a dispute over public access to regulatory records. In an investigation into abuse at state-owned and -operated treatment facilities for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled, the Center for Investigative Reporting (the Center) requested from DPH copies of all citations issued to the seven largest state faculties. DPH responded to the request with 55 aggressively redacted citations, giving scant information about the actual violations....
A Texas woman was arrested by Odessa police and charged with theft from a human corpse after video from a funeral home showed her reaching into an open casket and removing something from a female corpse. That something turned out to be a ring, valued at just $10, and could land the woman in state jail for two years. Beyond the lack of respect for the dead, and the general creepiness, this woman displayed an apparent lack of concern for the legal consequences of messing with a dead body....
Notice regarding an application for an administrative law judge position is not an employment action Chadwell v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 09-3302, concerned a plaintiff’s challenge to the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM’s) notice that it would not review or process his 2008 application for an administrative law judge (ALJ) position because one year had not passed since the date he received a Notice of Results from his successful 2007 application for an ALJ position....
A state appellate court released a decision Monday allowing a plaintiff to proceed with a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim that is tied to an arbitrable elder abuse claim. If the California Supreme Court doesn’t reverse this decision, the case could provide inspiration to other litigants who do not want to be limited to arbitration in their claims against nursing homes. Rebecca Bush sued Sierra Health Care Center, a skilled nursing facility, claiming that the facility engaged in elder abuse based on their alleged neglect in providing her care and treatment....
Back in August, we couldn’t help but wonder: is this the end of the California High Speed Rail? The “train to nowhere” project, which plans to build its first section of track between Bakersfield and Madera, has faced increasing scrutiny as the price tag has exploded to $68 billion, while the authorizing legislation, Proposition 1A, only provides for $9.95 billion. In August, Judge Michael Kenny held that the state had broken its promises to voters by failing to have a viable financing plan, with actual (rather than theoretical) sources of money, and by failing to complete the required environmental reports....
What is it with lawyers who can’t keep client information confidential? Are some secrets so compelling they just have to be disclosed, a la Eric Snowden revealing how the federal government was snooping on Americans’ email? Or is it because some confidentiality agreements violate public policy, like settlements in products liability cases that conceal dangers to consumers? In the case of another BigLaw attorney, not so much. Walter “Chet” Little, a former partner at Foley & Lardner, allegedly used confidential information to make money....
A former Florida prosecutor is set to serve three years in prison, after he accepted more than 200 oxycodone pills as payment for legal services from an undercover informant. Aaron Slavin, 34, pleaded guilty to trafficking oxycodone, a narcotic painkiller. His wife and office manager, Eryn, agreed to enter a pretrial diversion program to avoid drug-possession charges, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Aaron Slavin’s oxycodone conviction is ironic for the former state’s attorney who touted himself as an expert on prescription-drug trafficking....
Word on the street says that courts nationwide are turning to Urban Dictionary to fill the gaps in their knowledge of slang, leaving some of us to wonder: Is Urban Dictionary a real thing now? If actual adult judges – the professional ones charged with interpreting the laws that govern our society – are treating this website like it’s Webster’s, then maybe it is a real deal. What’s behind this trend?...
