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I’ve noticed that it takes only a day of law school, or maybe just even an hour of orientation, for to-be attorneys to begin delighting in legal humor. The humor starts light…a pun or two about torts, you know the low-hanging fruit. And then it just ramps up from there…jokes about the “reasonable person” standard (who is that guy anyway), mockings on the overuse of “widgets” in virtually every Contract question, and afterborn children and unborn widows are just calling for witty comment....

The alleged case of a phony Facebook stalking victim raises an interesting philosophical question: What happens if Narcissus looks into the water and sees a catfish? We apparently have an answer, as the purported Facebook stalking “victim” – 52-year-old Cheryl Nelson of Grand Rapids, Michigan – has now been charged in the matter, after trying to pin the blame on her ex-boyfriend’s new love interest. But police say Nelson actually Facebook-stalked herself in a bizarre plot for revenge....

Make sure your clients get the memo: California employers and universities can no longer demand Facebook and Twitter passwords. Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills that make it illegal for companies or universities to ask for access to personal social media or email accounts, the San Jose Mercury News reports. “The Golden State is pioneering the social media revolution, and these laws will protect all Californians from unwarranted invasions of their personal social media accounts,” Brown said in a statement on Facebook....

Above the Law jumped all over a law student in New York who sought to make a little money handing out legal advice. ATL later reported that its readers had e-mailed the student en masse and enlightened him (no doubt with their typical sensitivity) about the unauthorized practice of law, spurring a rapid change of heart.The D.C. Madam’s lawyer earned himself a suspension in Florida. This week the D.C. Circuit noticed and suspended him there for three years....

A small-town North Carolina football coach hsa been told to stop baptizing players after receiving a letter from a Wisconsin-based non-profit. Patrick Elliott, a lawyer with the Freedom from Religion Foundation, sent a letter to the Mooresville Graded School District concerning Coach Hal Capps’ alleged custom of baptizing players. Elliott and others at the Foundation were concerned that Coach Capps was promoting religion in a public school, in violation of the First Amendment, the Charlotte Observer reports....

Your favorite hometown sports team may be planning more than just its next game plan or roster move. Tax reform is here, and everyone from the local sports bar to the hot dog vendor might be doing the math to figure out how it affects their bottom line. One target of the tax change is the college sports coach. According to athleticdirectu.com, the new law imposes a 21% excise tax on colleges and universities that have a certain number of highly paid employees....

Filed November 10, 2009 In plaintiffs’ malicious prosecution action against defendants involving an ealier case that arose from unsuccessful efforts to merge with businesses owned by defendants, trial court’s finding that defendants are liable for the malicious prosecution of a civil action and award of $700,000 in general damages for emotional distress and $2.41 million in punitive damages to plaintiffs is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the judgment as to defendant’s counsel who had represented them for part of the time the action was pending is affirmed in its entirety as the trial court did not err in concluding plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of proving counsel had acted with malice; 2) portion of the judgment awarding compensatory damages is reversed in part and remanded to determine the amount of attorney fees and costs properly recoverable as special damages by the plaintiffs as the trial court erred in precluding any recovery by the plaintiffs for attorney fees incurred in defending the underlying action; and 3) judgment of the trial court is affirmed in all other respects....

Defense attorney Matthew Newburg went beyond the call of duty in the case against his client, Dr. Larry Nassar. Nassar, who was convicted of sexually assaulting young Olympic gymnasts and other girls, has been sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. As victims gave statements against him, a father of three girls charged at the convicted child molester. The defense attorney and deputies blocked the attack, sparing Nassar a beating and the father from serious legal troubles....

A now former-lawyer based in San Diego, California, is agreeing to a disbarment for allowing a non-lawyer to engage in the unauthorized practice of law. Ernest George Georggin, who was placed on inactive status as of Monday this week, according to the California State Bar website, allowed a non-attorney, Eric Phillips to open up a law firm under his name, reports the American Bar Association (ABA). Georggin, 68, has agreed to surrender his law license and additionally to pay $90,000 in restitution fines, plus interest, to former clients who were scammed under this scheme....

Hopefully this isn’t taken as some kind of apocalyptic sign, but the AP reports that the New York Yankees and just over half of Major League Baseball (MLB) teams (16 out of 30), have cut their payroll. Specifically: The New York Yankees, who are not exactly known for their tight pursestrings, cut their payroll back $7.6 million but still lead the majors in payroll comfortably. Bob DuPuy, the league’s chief operating officer, explained to the AP that “[c]lubs were cautious all winter with regards to the economy and were concerned the economy might have an impact on club revenue…The spending reflected that for many clubs....

Dwight Pink Jr., a convicted murderer serving a 56-year sentence in Connecticut, is a man with taste. While others have sought to look at pornography in prison, and sued over their Playboys, he wants something more classy: “The Atlas of Foreshortening,” a book that uses nude models to show how to draw human bodies. It’s not porn – it’s an instructional book on art. And yet, it was ensnared in the prison’s porn ban (in place since 2012) and confiscated....

A lawsuit challenging the extension of Obamacare tax credits to federally run health insurance markets was struck down by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In Halbig v. Sebelius, plaintiffs sued the Obama administration regarding an IRS rule that states that enrollees of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in either state-operated or federally-run health insurance markets will be eligible for premium tax credits, The Washington Times reports. Plaintiffs argued that the law’s language limits tax credits to health exchanges in state-operated markets only....

People’s motion to vacate and reconsider an order granting defendant’s motion for constructive filing of an appeal is denied as, when a notice of appeal in a criminal case is received by the trial court after the jurisdictional deadline to perfect the appeal, the appellate court may deem the notice of appeal to have been constructively filed in a timely manner if, prior to the deadline, the defendant expressly relied on his trial counsel to file it, but trial counsel neglected to do so....

We can’t get enough of fee shifting in patent cases. Just on the heels of the Court’s decisions in Octane Fitness and Highmark, the Supreme Court granted cert in another case, also under Patent Act’s Section 285, which allows a “court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.” In one fell swoop, the Supreme Court, in a summary disposition, granted cert., vacated the decision of the Federal Circuit, and remanded the case in Kobe Properties Sarl, et al....

Imagine being so infamous that a Hollywood movie was made about your misdeeds? Well, Stephen Glass doesn’t have to imagine that – he lived it. Now, he’s trying start over in a new career and to gain membership to the California Bar. But the path for the putative lawyer ahead is anything but clear as … no, we won’t do it. Let’s just say it’s not looking very promising. Stephen Glass gained his infamy in the 1990s, when as a rising writing star, he fabricated (in whole or in part) 42 stories for magazines including Rolling Stone, and the New Republic, reports The Associated Press....

Who will win next weekend’s Super Bowl showdown, the New England Patriots or the Atlanta Falcons? Who cares! (It’s the Falcons.) What matters is that you win – win in the career game, that is. And, if you’re a lawyer with a passion for pig skin, you can. In honor of Super Bowl LI, and as part of our affiliate relationship with Indeed, we’re bringing you the three coolest, football-related legal jobs we could find this week....

Discovery’s Shark Week 2016 ended this weekend, taking with it hours of great white attacks, hammerhead attacks, and the rare bull shark-on-crocodile attack. And if you found yourself rooting for the shark in every attack, well, we understand you. But while our sea-bound friends might be gone for the summer (from TV at least), there are plenty of sharks still swimming proud in the legal industry. For those of you who’d like to join them, here are our top sharky tips, from the FindLaw archives....

If Uncle Sam and Scrooge had a child … It’s possible but hard to imagine the creature that would evolve from that union. Yet more than a few lawyers have conjured up the image in the form of the U.S. Department of Education, which has taken back the offer of loan forgiveness for their student debts. The American Bar Association and four public interest attorneys have sued the Department of Education and the Secretary of Education for reneging on the promise of the Public Interest Loan Forgiveness Program....

Fire the bum? Put him up for sale on the website? Issue an explanatory press release about the sale – of the information? The chips, and any prison sentences, will fall where they may. General counsel may want to pick up some pieces of the story for future reference. Stock Plot Investors gobbled up the stock in megabytes when the company went public a year later. Bezos is now neck-and-neck with Bill Gates for the richest-man-in-the-world prize....

For legal practitioners who are in Beverly Hills next Tuesday, the Beverly Hills Bar Association is hosting its 57th Annual California Supreme Court Luncheon. The luncheon will be held on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. It will take place at the Beverly Hills Hotel and will honor all six justices currently sitting on the California Supreme Court. This promises to be a great event for practitioners who want to meet the California justices, as five of the six Supreme Court judges will be in attendance, including the newly appointed Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye....