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For those new associates and young lawyers just starting off in their career, it can be a little bit tricky deciding what advice is good, and what advice should just flat-out be ignored. And while you’ll likely read a few blogs or advice columns from time to time to find some specific guidance for your specific conundrum, sometimes a little bit of general advice can be just what’s needed. Below are the five most worthwhile tips courtesy of the ABA Journal (which, if you don’t read, you should)....

Why do Abercrombie & Fitch models have “that look” on their faces in their oft-racy photos? One male model’s lawsuit claims it’s because he was forced to take matters into his own hands by masturbating before a photo shoot. A&F model Benjamine Bowers is suing the retailer and a modeling agent for $1 million, gossip website TMZ reports. TMZ did not state the lawsuit’s cause of action. Bowers claims he worked retail at an A&F store until the company’s casting director referred him to a modeling agent in June 2011....

Michael Avenatti sued a president on behalf of a pornstar, and it made him famous in his own right. But then the spotlight got hot when he allegedly dragged his girlfriend across the floor of his apartment. His financial problems didn’t help his celebrity status either. Now Avenatti is back with another salacious, high-profile case. He says he got a tape of R. Kelly having sex with an underage girl....

For better or for worse, Hillary Clinton will forever be linked to the attack on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi. This week, it was better for the former secretary of state. A federal appeals court agreed to dismiss claims against her by parents whose sons died in the 2012 attacks. The U.S Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said Clinton was acting within her office at the time and was not a proper defendant....

A phony plastic surgeon has been busted again for illegal butt injections gone bad. The arrest of Lauretta M. Cheek – yes, that’s her real name – comes three years after she got spanked in court for performing, and botching, the same rump-rousing procedures in a separate case. Cheek, 42, of Greensboro, N.C., has no medical license, and never claimed she did, the News & Record reports. But that didn’t stop patients from trying to give their behinds a boost....

Glenn Hudson says that he is operating a religious group catering to the disadvantaged and youth - Dallas police say that Hudson is actually operating a sex club as a church in order to avoid taxes. City attorneys in Dallas have now handed down a lawsuit against Hudson, which are trying to force Hudson to shut down his two “churches,” called “The Playground” and “DarkSide,” reports ABC News. The suit is civil in nature, and no criminal charges have been filed against Hudson....

When faced with an allegation that you ineffectively represented your client, do you (a) vehemently deny it or (b) begrudgingly accept it? How about (c): Dress up as Thomas Jefferson and appear before the state Supreme Court to talk about how the First Amendment protects your terrible judgment? Wow, That’s Ineffective How ineffective? Glad you asked. According to the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2013 opinion – and relevant to his cosplay in court – Hawver couldn’t devote all his time to Cheatham’s case because he spent much of his time attending political events dressed as Thomas Jefferson in addition to running a full-time law firm....

Disneyland’s 59th Anniversary is today, which makes it a great time to reflect on all the joy (and pain) Disney has brought its fans. From injury suits to employee beard bans, the company has enjoyed a wide range of legal issues from its employees, intellectual properties, and customers. It really is a small legal world of Disney, but these 10 legally weird Disney incidents capture the magic of the iconic company:...

At 89, Beatrice Turner is packing heat. She fired a shot from her .22-caliber handgun to fend off an intruder who bashed in the front door of her Iowa home. Turner said she was aiming to shoot Nelson McAlpine, 37, in the head but missed. Turner said the man began pounding on her door early in the morning and despite being told he had the wrong house, the man used his fists to break through the wood door, the Des Moines Register reports....

When it comes to federal regulation, the D.C. Circuit is arguably the most important court in the nation. Not only does it see more cases challenging government rulemaking, it throws out those rules regularly – at a rate significantly higher than any other circuit. The EPA is no stranger to the less-than-deferential D.C. Circuit, with two recent EPA cases making the news over the past weeks. Last Wednesday, SCOTUS heard oral arguments over the EPA’s mercury and air toxics rules, which the D....

What is it with people and alligators? Seriously. There’s been another alligator arrest. This time, Alexander Springer of Citra, Fla., was hauled in and charged with illegal possession of an alligator – a second degree misdemeanor. He had no permit. What he did have was an angry wife. She’s the one who called police after he refused to remove the baby alligator from the spare bathtub. In fact, Springer’s wife called police reporting a domestic disturbance....

A Florida man’s streak has ended, at least for now. He was arrested after making 18 911 phone in two months. David Bouchard, 55, was arrested on a charge of misuse of 911 and made accusations about a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy making out with a prostitute who lived across the street from him, Bradenton.com reports. David Bouchard also made 911 phone calls to report the front and back doors of a home open, police said....

It was just another superhero Friday in the life of The Namby Pamby.Texas firms are definitely cutting the summer entertainment budget, notes Texas Lawyer.Good news for some laid-off associates at Mayer Brown, for whom, JD Journal reports, the firm found in-house placements with clients.Bad news, though, for some not-laid-off associates at Mayer Brown’s Chicago office, where Above the Law reported a swine flu appearance. (Not that we wish to fuel the swine-flu hysteria....

Halloween is one of those holidays that isn’t just fun for kids; it evolves and changes with you as you get older. And while adults should let loose too and have fun on All Hallows’ Eve, it’s probably best to leave the festivities out of the office. That said, we know some firms are a bit more festive than others so here’s a little primer on getting through Halloween, and keeping your job....

In an effort to protect minors, there are numerous laws enacted that criminalize adult interactions with youths, and sometimes these laws are not entirely consistent, creating strange situations. This is illustrated by a recent Houston, Texas case in which a 51-year-old math tutor is being charged for possession of child pornography for having images in his phone of a 17-year-old student with whom he had consensual sexual relations which are not illegal....

A Nebraska judge dismissed an inmate suit claiming religious discrimination in prison for failure to accommodate his Pastafarian faith. But the judge did not dismiss the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, noting that the Pastafarian faith plays an important role as “a parody, intended to advance an argument about science, the evolution of life, and the place of religion in public education.” Still “that does not mean that the trappings of the satire used to make that argument are entitled to protection as a religion,” wrote US District Court Judge John Gerrard....

Superior Court Judge Garrett Wong ruled Tuesday that embattled San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi can go back to his home for now. The Sheriff is still waiting for a court ruling on his job. Mirkarimi has been embroiled in legal battles stemming from a domestic violence incident that occurred on New Year’s Eve last year. Sheriff Mirkarimi and his wife, Eliana Lopez, had an argument on New Year’s Eve that turned into a physical altercation....

NFL legend Junior Seau was found dead in a shooting that police are investigating as a suicide, ESPN reports. A woman who said she was Seau’s girlfriend called 911 to report a possible suicide about 9:35 a.m., the police chief of Oceanside, Calif., told reporters. Officers found Seau in a bedroom at his home, with a gunshot wound to the chest. Seau, a 43-year-old former linebacker who spent most of his NFL career with the San Diego Chargers, didn’t seem depressed in recent weeks, entertainment website Zimbio reports....

When NFL legend Junior Seau fatally shot himself in the chest in 2012, his death had all the markings of other brain injury-related suicides by ex-football players, most notably that of Dave Duerson earlier the same year. Duerson had written down a request that his brain be examined for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a neurodegenerative disease found in people who have had multiple head injuries that can cause behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking, and, late in life, dementia....

Trial court’s judgment dismissing plaintiff’s petition for writ of mandate and complaint against the City of Los Angeles (city) involving city’s termination of its environmental review and rejection of a proposed development project is affirmed where: 1) the pleading fails to adequately allege due process and equal protection violations; 2) the sustaining of the demurrer was proper; and 3) plaintiff cannot seek leave to amend for the first time on appeal having expressly declined an opportunity to amend its pleading in the trial court....