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If a court ever cites your case for authority, you could feel legally legit – unless it’s a bad case. That’s what happened to a couple of attorneys when the Florida Supreme Court cited the “hot potato doctrine.” Based on a case the lawyers had litigated years ago, the high court suspended them for violating ethics rules on client conflicts. The 30-day suspension was embarrassing for the prominent litigators. But in the end, they literally had themselves to blame....

Using a ride sharing service is already filled with enough unpleasant surprises that some riders are saying enough is enough. But rather than the ride share services facing the wrath of the riders, this time it’s TD Bank, Bank of America, and Bank of the West. The banks are being sued, in separate lawsuits, due to overdraft charges the banks hit ride share users with, despite the users not agreeing to the banks’ overdraft protection services....

An AFL-CIO transit union cannot be held responsible for disparaging comments made by its members on Facebook, the D.C. Circuit has ruled. The case involved comments about picket line crossers made on the Union’s private Facebook page during a strike. The comments, which predictably called non-union workers scabs and rhetorically asked about Molotov cocktails, were not union-organized coercion which would violate the National Labor Relations Act, the Circuit held. Are Facebook Posts Coercion?...

California is ahead of the curve, and because of its leftward leanings, is often highlighted in the news. And where California leads, other states follow. We’ve seen this when it comes to gay marriage, medicinal marijuana and revenge porn. That said, it’s kind of funny that lawyers (who can be lawyers, and how the job is defined) can be such hot topics in California. California Lawyers California has a pretty bad rep when it comes to its bar passage rate, and 2013 was no different....

Easton Pennsylvania police are being criticized after they arrested an Occupy protester who was holding signs inside a Bank of America. In their defense, one sign said “You are being robbed” while the other referenced armed bank robbery. Police were defending their actions before robbery charges against David Gorczynski were dropped. “We can’t allow the perceived idea of protesting to be a defense to criminality,” said police Chief Carl Scalzo....

Mike Shanahan rode an obviously injured Robert Griffin III way too long, until Griffin’s knee eventually gave out in gruesome fashion on national television. Griffin suffered an injury to his right knee about a month ago. As a result, the rookie quarterback wore a heavy knee brace and even had noted doctor James Andrews on the Redskins’ sideline to attend to him in Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. However, none of that mattered....

The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is an online database of criminal justice information available to law enforcement agencies nationwide. Colorado has its own database, the Colorado Crime Information Center (CCIC). These databases are intended to assist law enforcement officers with criminal investigations. Instead, some Denver cops were using the NCIC and CCIC to get phone numbers for romantic reasons, and to retrieve and hand out personal information to friends, tow truck drivers, and stalkers....

The Florida Supreme Court suspended Brevard County Judge John C. Murphy on Monday, sending a strong message to the state’s magistrates: stop trying to beat up public defenders. Last June, Judge Murphy got into a bit of a spat with public defender Andrew Weinstock, telling him “You know, if I had a rock I’d throw it at you right now,” inviting him outside to fight, and, well, actually fighting with the attorney....

One more battle over student hairstyles has sprouted up, this time in the state of Ohio. A mother of an 11 year-old student filed suit last week in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, over the alleged humiliation of her son based on his hair. It might be safe to assume teachers have more important things to focus on in the classroom, but according to the facts of this suit, maybe not....

Law school exams tend to be all or nothing. You sit down, pound the keyboard for a few hours, walk out and a few weeks to a few months later, you’ve got your entire grade for that course. With everything riding on one test, it’s no wonder stress levels are off the charts during exam time. Even worse, law school exams aren’t like anything else you’ve done in law school and they can vary significantly between professors and courses....

The vote is in for the Federal Circuit’s recipient of the Professionalism Award by the American Inns of Court. The American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for 2012 goes to Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Timothy B. Dyk. The Award is given each year across the federal circuits to judges or lawyers whose lives and practices display “sterling character” and “unquestioned integrity,” along with a dedication to high standards of the legal profession and the rule of law....

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has given civilians access to troves of historically secret information, even the location of the famed Area 51. But the D.C. Circuit confirmed on Friday that there are still some areas that are off-limits even through FOIA, and Secret Service records of the President’s schedule and visitors are still on a need-to-know basis. In a week with absolutely no other decisions, the D.C. Circuit decided to tackle a case spearheaded by the superheroic sounding plaintiff, Justice Watch, Inc....

A few days ago we wondered whether a county court clerk could defy a court order, and now we have our answer: Yes, as long as you don’t mind going to jail for it. Rowan County Court Clerk Kim Davis was held in contempt of court and jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis stopped issuing any marriage licenses after the Supreme Court decided same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry....

A convicted kidnapper is suing his former hostages, saying they breached an “oral contract” to hide him from police in exchange for money. Jesse Dimmick, 25, of Aurora, Colo., is serving an 11-year sentence for kidnapping newlyweds Jared and Lindsay Rowley in 2009, when Dimmick was a fugitive, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports. Dimmick was wanted for questioning in a man’s beating death in Colorado. He led police on a chase, then took the Rowleys hostage at knifepoint in their Topeka, Kan....

The Comic Strip, a legendary New York City Comedy Club that launched the careers of such famous comedians as Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Adam Sandler, has fallen on hard times. One of the co-owners, Tess Wachs, is suing the other, Richie Tienken. She claims that he has mismanaged the club and misappropriated company funds for his own personal pleasures. The Comic Strip was co-founded back in 1975 by Bob Wachs, Tess’s now-deceased husband, and Richie Tienken....

The former president of the Jacksonville Bar Association in Florida will get a new trial over his role in an alleged racketeering and illegal lottery scheme. In 2013, Kelly Mathis was convicted of 103 charges, stemming from his work with the Allied Veterans of the World. The St. Augustine-based charity ran dozens of gaming centers which, it argued, offered legitimate sweepstakes. Prosecutors considered those “storefront casinos” to be part of an illegal gambling, racketeering, and money-laundering scheme that raised $300 million, little of which was used for charitable causes....

When last we left this story of the naked city, the Naked Cowboy had sent the Naked Cowgirl a cease and desist letter claiming her naked actions were tarnishing his brand. Now, the sequel. On Wednesday, July 21, the Cowboy filed suit in New York federal court against said Cowgirl claiming she is “devaluing a real American brand and Icon.” Yup, an icon, right up there with Roy Rogers. And his horse Trigger, or at least the back part of it....

If you’re a naked man, TV theft is probably something you wouldn’t usually consider until after you’ve put on some clothes. That is, unless you’re Willie Hayes. Hayes, 35, was caught stealing a TV from a residence in Connecticut by the home owner’s granddaughter - and he was in the buff, according to Patch. The granddaughter, only 15, arrived at her grandmother’s house at around 9 a.m. She saw Hayes, naked, standing on top of the stairway....

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart has been accused of running over and killing a fellow competitor during a race Saturday in upstate New York. Kevin Ward Jr., 20, was pronounced dead shortly after being allegedly struck by Stewart’s car and dragged a short distance at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park. Deadspin reports that among the many eyewitnesses who took to the Internet, some felt that the crash was retaliation and not an accident....

Patent troll lawsuits seem to be hitting everyone these days. Fortunately, Nintendo secured a win against patent troll company UltimatePointer. The suit against Nintendo seemed to come back from the dead after already being denied at least once in 2014. This was not the first time UltimatePointer LLC found itself before the same federal court in Seattle. Back in 2014, the same court found that Nintendo did not infringe on UltimatePointer’s patent with the now iconic Wii remote....