Clorox’s cat litter ad smells – at least according to federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff. The company has been ordered to stop showing commercials for its Fresh Step cat litter. Judge Rakoff says the “smell test” used to support the ad’s claim is unreliable. The disputed commercial depicts the effectiveness of carbon versus baking soda. Clorox uses carbon in its litter. Two beakers are shown in the TV spot. One has baking soda, the other has carbon....
Few fighters know how to put their face into the media spotlight better than Conor McGregor. But today he’s getting attention for all the wrong reasons, and probably a mugshot to boot. McGregor and his entourage crashed a UFC media event in Brooklyn last night and attacked a bus carrying other UFC fighters. This morning, he was arraigned on assault and criminal mischief charges. McGregor had been banned from the event, promoting Saturday’s UFC 223 card, though employees of his website were credentialed to attend and allegedly let the fighter and several others into the Barclays Center in Brooklyn....
Facebook’s “People You May Know” feature can at times be obnoxious. But other than suggesting high school classmates you never want to see again, it remains pretty harmless, right? Wrong. Alan O’Neill is probably wishing he never signed up for the social networking service. The Washington state corrections officer faces felony bigamy charges after Facebook suggested his first wife friend his second wife. He apparently forgot to divorce the first one....
Why does a cop use a rubber penis? To bust prostitutes, of course. A Florida undercover cop caught 31-year-old Christina Hope Vavra using the “flaccid” plastic prosthetic decoy. He wrote a surprisingly detailed police report about the incident, including the appearance of a possum. Here is a timeline of the actual event: Vavra got into the vehicle, and directed the undercover cop to drive. She then got down to business and asked the cop to expose his private parts....
Manny Pacquiao scored a victory over Floyd Mayweather in his defamation lawsuit. Pacquiao brought suit against Mayweather claiming that Mayweather defamed him. A court did not rule on the underlying defamation claims, but did order Mayweather to pay Pacquiao more than $113,000 to cover the legal fees of a missed deposition last year, reports Reuters. Pacquiao accused Mayweather of falsely telling reporters and others that Pacquiao was using performance enhancing drugs....
Some say the economy is rebounding but we all know it’s still tough to land a law firm gig. If you took a document review job to pay the bills after taking the bar, you’re not alone. Law school graduates from the last few years face a tough market and doc review is one way to keep the student loans at bay. It can be hard to make the jump from document reviewer to associate and many don’t make it....
With job prospects still fairly grim for recent law graduates, you might be asking yourself, “Should I move somewhere else?” 1. Is Your Degree Portable? Graduates from T14 schools are in luck: Theirs are considered “national” degrees that can go anywhere and be meaningful. Outside T14 – or, roughly, the T30s – the degrees are considered more “regional.” If you went to Florida State University, for example, your degree isn’t as portable as if you went to Georgetown....
People v. Minor, C057609, concerned a challenge to an order granting a probation officer’s request to extend by two years a three-year period of probation imposed following defendant’s no contest plea to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. In affirming, the court held that defendant’s rights of procedural due process were not violated in any respect as he was provided adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to the extension of his probation, and that there is adequate support in the record for the court’s order extending probation....
Hyder Simpson said it best when he pondered a heaven without his dog Rip. “Anyplace that’s too highfalutin for Rip is too fancy for me,” the old hillbilly told the gatekeeper in the Twilight Zone. “How thoroughbred does a dog have to be before you let him in there, anyway?” Well, at one London law firm, you don’t need a pedigree to take your dog to work. Eversheds Sutherland has opened an entire floor for staff members and their dogs....
There is nothing good to report when lawyers drive drunk. To put it in perspective, losing your license to drive and practice law are minor consequences compared to what can result. This time, a lawyer was driving drunk – four times the legal limit – when she hit a motorcyclist and killed him. She was doing 84 miles per hour when she ran down the man, who was stopped at a red light....
In a very bizarre story, an Illinois man was arrested Friday night after he slapped Devin Hester on the back of the head. The incident occurred at the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines while the Chicago Bears wide receiver was waiting in line. Daniel G. Rago, 52, claims he attacked Hester in defense of two elderly patrons. Hester had allegedly cut in line. Once released from prison, Daniel Rago realized he had slapped Devin Hester....
Marriage proposals can be elaborate or simple. Pretty much the only key to their success is the couple’s happiness. Whether the big question is popped in person or via a skywriter, on an island paradise or a busy freeway, it’s an event many people dream about. The point, theoretically, is not the place or the ring, but the two people promising their lives to each other. So when a Michigan man requested that his proposal be read over the loudspeaker and a couple got engaged at a Bay City Wal-Mart on New Year’s Eve, employees and customers cheered and congratulated, according to Michigan Live....
Major League Baseball was all set to have the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins play in Puerto Rico on May 30 and 31, but enough players were concerned about contracting and transmitting the Zika virus that the league will move the series to Miami instead. The Centers for Disease Control had listed Puerto Rico as an area with active mosquito-borne transmission of the Zika virus. So what does this mean for the league, legal liability, and future games in the Caribbean?...
An apparently angry mom’s anger-management session was recently cut short, after she allegedly punched her 10-year-old son in the face. The mom also punched her kid in the “body area” while an anger-management counselor looked on, a police report alleges. Misty Lawson, 30, of Louisville, Ky., was arrested in connection with assault (child abuse), the website The Smoking Gun reports. Child Protective Services placed her kids in foster care. It wasn’t the first time the anger-management mom’s questionable child-rearing skills have landed her in legal trouble....
The University of North Texas Dallas College of Law tries to help students with lower admission credentials. The college should be applauded, but the bar pass rate was 20 percent lower than the state average. Specifically, 59 percent of its recent graduates passed the bar. The law school’s pass rate continues the debate about whether law schools should lower admission requirements. “Dead Last” “Although UNT is to be commended for keeping the cost of law school as low as possible, if over 40 percent of its graduates fail the bar, it’s no bargain,” posted Florida lawyer David Frakt....
As the NFL’s concussion settlement with former players was filed in court earlier this week, the public and the ex-players may have a few questions about the deal. Here are five illuminating questions and answers about the NFL’s settlement agreement: Since the deal was proposed in August, there has been only a slight clarification of the $765 million offered by the National Football League to settle claims by ex-players and their families for concussions those players suffered while playing for the NFL....
Trial court’s conviction of defendant for second degree murder of his ex-girlfriend is affirmed where: 1) under Giles II, defendant’s out of court statements to police during prior domestic violence investigations were admissible under the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception to the confrontation clause because the defendant killed the witness for the purpose of making her unavailable as a witness at trial; and 2) that defendant may have also had other motives for the killing does not preclude application of the exception....
American tennis player Madison Brengle had her first antidoping test in 2009, before Wimbledon. “I hit the floor,” Brengle said, regarding the experience. “I passed out from the pain.” As it turns out, the phlebotomist performing the test missed her vein on the first two tries, and her vein collapsed on the third try, causing her to lose consciousness. It also turns out Brengle suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, “a rare medically-diagnosed physical condition which results in both temporary and permanent physical injury....
In plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim against the U.S. government arising from the savings and loan crisis of the early 1980s, the decision of the Court of Federal Claims summarily awarding plaintiffs restitution damages is affirmed in part, reversed in part, vacated and remanded where: 1) government’s challenge to the restitution award of $17 million for plaintiffs’ capital contribution is rejected; 2) trial court erred in including, as part of the restitution award, the sale premium; 3) trial court erred by not reducing the award by $4....
In a petition for review of an FLRA order requiring the SEC to provide back pay for unilaterally ending within-grade pay increases, the petition is denied, where: 1) the FLRA’s credibility determinations were supported by substantial evidence; and 2) back pay was appropriate because the within-grade increases were virtually automatic and non-competitive. Securities and Exchange Comm. v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, No. 08-1256. Appeal Information: Argued May 5, 2009. Decided June 12, 2009....
