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This is a case for why McDonald’s should never offer alcohol or host a happy hour. It’s also an awful lesson about not drinking and fighting because Patrick Casey died outside a McDonald’s in a drunken brawl. His parents sued the fast-food restaurant and the bars that allegedly served the brawlers too much booze. In Casey v. McDonalds Corporation, a trial judge threw out their case. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, however, said the plaintiffs have a case – but not against McDonald’s....

California has long been a diverse state, with many ethnicities comprising its population. For California employment lawyers, however, this means a prevalence of national-origin based employment discrimination claims. In fact, California Lawyer Magazine reports that California has more national-origin based employment discrimination lawsuits than other states. The EEOC reports that the number of race and gender discrimination lawsuits across the nation has generally decreased. But despite the decrease in numbers of racial discrimination claims, there have been increasing complaints filed in related types of employment discrimination claims, such as those based on ethnic background, language or even accent....

Do you want some fries with your marijuana? Floridian Shawn Porter and his unidentified passenger probably would. Porter probably thought he’d get a few chuckles out of the cashier when he ordered pot at a local drive-thru. Unfortunately for Porter, the Burger King employee decided to report him to the police instead. Essentially, it appears that the joke is on him. Porter was arrested after police traced the license plate on his car to a residence a few miles away from the fast food restaurant....

In re Giacomini, 09-1400, concerned a challenge to the decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Inferences rejecting certain claims as anticipated under 35 U.S.C. section 102 by another patent, in petitioner’s patent application involving a technique for selectively storing electronic data in a readily accessible memory called a “cache.” is affirmed as the Trans patent has a patent-defeating effect as of the filing date of the provisional application to which it claims priority and which was filed before petitioner’s application....

A Florida man refused to have sex with his girlfriend, and then said something that wasn’t too nice, according to police. So the girlfriend, 18-year-old Inez Nunez, got all up in his face. Nunez, of Coral Springs, faces a domestic battery charge after she allegedly smacked her boyfriend hard and started a brawl, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Nunez’s boyfriend called police about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to report the attack, which was allegedly triggered not just by his refusal to copulate, but also by some fightin’ words:...

Giovanni Ramirez’s alibi is out, and it involves his 10-year-old daughter and a group of 8 family members and friends. If these people are to be believed, Ramirez, arrested over the weekend for his suspected involvement in the March 31st Dodger beating that left Giants fan Bryan Stow in a coma, was actually in an East Hollywood apartment on game day, babysitting the little girl. The news of Giovanni Ramirez’s alibi comes from Chip Matthews, who the Los Angeles Times reports is an attorney representing Ramirez’s daughter....

A Pittsburgh man was arrested in an extortion attempt of former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward. Joshua Van Auker allegedly reached out to Ward’s personal assistant and threatened that unless Ward paid him $15,000, the man would release information tying Ward to soliciting prostitutes, reports The Associated Press. The 26-year-old suspect reportedly told Ward that the $15,000 was the price for silence. After retiring from professional football, Ward has remained in the spotlight as a television commentator and also through his appearances on Dancing With the Stars....

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board judgment is affirmed where: 1) the board properly affirmed the rejection of petitioner’s trademark application, as the Shinnecock Indian Nation is an institution and thus falls within the protection of 15 U.S.C. sec. 1052(a); 2) the USPTO’s refusal to register his marks was not a violation of the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, as the petitioner was provided a full opportunity to prosecute his applications and to appeal the examining attorney’s final rejections to the Board; 3) the refusal did not violate petitioner’s equal protection rights, as the Board and the examining attorney had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for denying registration; and 4) the refusal to register the mark was not racial discrimination in violation of the United Nations’ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as petitioner failed to establish any racial discrimination, and he has no private right of action under the treaty....

A federal judge upheld a ban on bump stocks, which turn guns into rapid-fire weapons. The Trump administration moved to ban them after a single shooter used bump stocks to kill 58 people in Las Vegas in 2017. Judge Dabney Friedrich said the ban was reasonable because bump-stocked guns are effectively machine guns. In Guedes v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and a companion case, the plaintiffs sued to stop the ban from taking effect....

Law school enrollments are up nearly 12 percent nationally, with some schools reporting increases of 40 percent or more. The number of applicants for the fall 2018 could reach 63,000 – the highest in five years – according to reports. After a precipitous drop seven years ago, enrollments are still at their lowest in decades. But it looks like law school is the hot ticket now. Law School Is Back The Wall Street Journal says “law school is hot again,” and attributes the big rebound to an interest in politics....

Courtesy of the University of Baltimore law school, here’s a good old-fashioned embezzlement story. Twenty-nine-year-old Margaret Oyler was given a 5-year suspended prison sentence and a 3-year probation last week, after she pleaded guilty to having stolen $33,000 from the school’s Student Bar Association (SBA). Oyler, who was elected as the SBA’s spring treasurer in 2010 and remained in that position until 2012, allegedly used the organization’s credit card to write checks for herself and falsified financial statements....

You thought you’d go to school, graduate, pay off your debts, buy a Maserati, and life would basically be perfect. Instead, you’re hustling cases out of your bedroom, hoping that clients pay their bills, or better yet, that some firm will scoop you up for $40k per year. Like we said, it ain’t working out. How about becoming a musician? Either way, you’ll be broke. At least as a musician, you’ll be a “struggling artist” instead of an “unemployed attorney....

In every major disaster, heroes are needed. Some will save lives; many will be unnamed. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, a mother drowned while saving her toddler – found clinging to her body. Their identities were withheld from reports until the child’s father could be notified. Meanwhile, the Texas Bar Association has sent out a call for lawyers to help. It’s not about public recognition; it’s about public service. For lawyers both in Texas and out of state, this is the time to step up and provide volunteer services....

Pat Summitt, the winningest college basketball coach ever, died today at the age of 64. Over 38 seasons coaching college basketball, Summitt lead the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team to 1,098 victories, more than any other coach in NCAA basketball history. In doing so, Summitt transformed the role of women’s sports and women coaches, turning women’s college basketball into a sport people paid attention to, one which could see its most successful coaches could earn more than $1 million a year....

A South Carolina mother who shaved her son’s head, wrote bad on it, and paraded her son around Walmart in women’s clothing is under investigation. She said the public shaming was punishment for making homophobic remarks and fighting at school. Claiming that corporal punishment was not working, the mom opted for the public display. Police were called to the Walmart on Sunday and the Department of Social Services is investigating the mother....

With the help of Craigslist, diaper fan Eric Carrier was able to live out his sick, sick fantasies. Via an elaborate scheme that involved an internet ad, a faked brain injury, and a non-existent interview, the 23-year-old from Hooksett, New Hampshire tricked an unsuspecting in-home nurse into changing his adult diaper. He’s now being charged with indecent exposure. According to the victim, Eric Carrier posted an ad on Craigslist pretending to be the father of an adult son who, after a car accident, was left with a debilitating brain injury....

Selling things on Craigslist is generally a good way to get rid of unwanted objects – unless of course that object is your neighbor’s dog. Then it’s a kind of theft. Scott and Roxanne Duff initially tipped their hand when they called police to say they’d found two dogs on their property, a golden retriever mix and a Rottweiler. Police told them to contact a shelter or dog kennel while investigators looked for their owners....

The Federal Circuit decided two patent infringement cases yesterday. The first case involved a patent for a memorabilia card and the second case involved a patent directed to a cooling device designed to mount within the drive bay of a computer. In Comaper Corp. v. Antec, Inc., No. 09-1248, the court faced a challenge to the jury’s finding that the defendant had willfully infringed certain of plaintiff’s patented claims, that certain independent claims were not invalid as obvious, but that certain dependent claims were obvious....

When Netflix’s ‘Making a Murderer’ took over pop culture this winter, Dean Strang was one of the few lawyers featured who ended up looking not awful. Indeed, Strang, the defense attorney fighting on behalf of accused (falsely?) killer Steven Avery, became a bit of a cult hero, to lawyers and the public alike. Now, the soft-spoken but strong-willed attorney is getting his own reality T.V. show, focused on exposing failings in the criminal justice system, Deadline reports....

The movement to legalize gay marriage has found its way back into the closet. And this time everyone can join in. Designers Marc Jacobs and American Apparel have unveiled their line of t-shirts to help equal-rights-for-all enthusiasts make a statement without saying a word. “I pay taxes, I want my rights” can be yours with the choice of an American Flag and dollar sign backdrop or a lesbian couple and child on tshirts designs and sold by Marc Jacobs....