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Ah, the business lunch. Whether you are interviewing, a new or summer associate, or a mentor to a summer associate, the business lunch is inevitable. And, while the thought of eating at some of the best restaurants in town is appealing, the idea of the business lunch may strike fear in the hearts of many young attorneys. Don’t worry, the business lunch doesn’t need to be scary. It can be quite fun (and tasty); it’s a great way to learn more about the people you work with, and an opportunity for your amazing personality to shine through....

When you’re drunk, you’re already not thinking clearly. And if you’re trying to drive drunk, you’re really making some bad life choices. The combo of drinking and driving often produces some comedic results (as long as everyone involved is uninjured), including intoxicated people operating some weird vehicles to concocting some odd excuses for driving drunk. And these are three of the funniest DUI arrests in the past few months: Norman Boiselle of Old Mystic, Connecticut took Good Samaritan to the next level by calling police and admitting that he drove drunk....

Summer vacation requests aren’t normally handled by in-house counsel, but there may be rare times when your input is sought on a vacation request denial. While you can still make HR be the bad guys, if the request is being denied outside normal policy, or there is no policy, then you might have your work cut out for you. Regardless, if a manager or a member of human resources is bringing you a vacation request to deny, you may want to take a closer look at the true motivation....

William Adams, also known as will.i.am and the frontman for the hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas, has lost his appeal challenging the denial of the “I AM” trademark registration. Adams’ company, i.am.symbollic, llc already holds the I AM mark for some goods and services, and was seeking to expand intro product categories where the mark has already been used. Sadly for the artist and entrepreneur, his attorneys were not able to convince the appellate court that the trademark examiners made a mistake....

“Black Ink Crew” is a VH1 show about a tattoo parlor and the tattoo artists working there. The show’s website describes the show as a “docu-series [that] follows the lives of Ceaser, Dutchess, Sassy, Puma, and O’ S–t.” Well, they’re probably all having an O’ S–t moment now. They’re being sued by Loni Tate, a repeat customer, whose rose tattoo turned into a festering infection more reminiscent of fungus than flowers....

Last week, “HTGAWM” taught us all about jury selection, jury tampering, and jury nullification. This week, we left the juries behind to get a crash course in appellate litigation and what Wait List Wes looks like just after he’s showered. So, you know, the important things. (As always: Spoiler alert!) Instead of a trial, this week, the Keating Five – which sounds like a group of people being prosecuted for taking bribes (because they were) – handled an appeal....

1L year starts in August. That means, between now and then, you’ve got a couple months to burn. Some will say that you should take an expensive pre-law boot camp course. (Hah!). The gunner from 1L hell is already memorizing black letter outlines. And the social butterfly is Pinterest-ing party ideas, student groups to lead, and pubs to crawl. What should you, the sane one, do? 10. Relax As Much as Possible This is your life: study, take finals, study, take finals, find a summer gig, study, take finals, study, take finals, find a summer gig, fake studying during 3L, take the bar exam, and then start a job (hopefully)....

Halloween isn’t just about candy and celebrating the undead. It’s about showing everyone else that you’re better than them when it comes to dressing up. Much better. After all, no one wants to be the guy with a store-bought Pizza Rat costume at the office party. You’re smarter and funnier than that. So, if you’re still looking for Halloween inspiration, here are four suggestions that we think will help you win Halloween....

You were inspired to pursue the law by Atticus Finch – before the rewrite. You always wanted a career helping others. Or you just want to get out of debt sooner. Either way, public interest law is for you. And while public interest law might not make you the richest lawyer ever, odds are that it will make you happier. So, to help you break into a career helping others, here our FindLaw’s 6 top tips for lawyers who want to work in the public interest....

If you’re a law student or a recent grad, the job hunt can be daunting. Sure, you’ve got your legal smarts. You can go head to head on civil procedure with the best of them. You were at the top of your class on complex litigation. (Or, if not top, you at least passed.) But do you have the qualities (besides just a J.D. behind your name) that law firms or prospective clients are looking for when hiring new lawyers?...

The Bachelor/Bachelorette series is a money-making machine for ABC. It’s also been lucrative for the Reality Steve spoilers website, which publishes the outcome of each Bachelor/Bachelorette season based on insider intelligence long before the final rose is bestowed upon the lucky winner. If you enjoy The Bachelor, Reality Steve spoilers, and litigation, you’ll love The Bachelor lawsuit. NZK Productions and Alternative Television Inc, the production companies behind the hit series, are suing Stephen Carbone, aka Reality Steve, for tortious interference, according to The Hollywood Reporter....

Governor Jerry Brown is poised to make California the second state in the nation to require “kill switches” in cell phones, reported The Washington Post. Apple’s iPhone and some Android devices already have technology built in that allow a user to mark a phone as stolen, preventing it from ever connecting to a cell phone network until it’s unlocked. Previously, thieves could wipe the phone and re-sell it as a functional phone; a kill switch would block the phone from connecting to a cell phone network even after being wiped, providing a disincentive to steal phones in the first place....

In a petition for review of FERC’s modification of the amount of a bulk power system’s Installed Capacity Requirement (ICR), the petition is denied where FERC was not directly regulating electrical generation in its review of the ICR, and thus FERC was not exceeding its authority under the Federal Power Act. Read Connecticut Dept. of Pub. Util. Control v. FERC, No. 07-1375 Appellate Information Argued May 12, 2009 Decided June 23, 2009...

Gov. Jerry Brown is going to need to adjust his plan to cure overcrowding in California prisons. Last week, a federal court denied the state’s request for a three-year extension to cure overcrowding woes, granting it a four-week extension instead. The court also ordered the state to cease contracting with out-of-state prisons to transfer the excess inmates. What’s the plan now? Though some private in-state prisons may have rooms for rent, it’s looking more and more like prisoner releases will be forthcoming....

Let’s file this one under: that’s why there is a law against it. Although some rush to the “that’s creepy” side of the following story, as usual, there is more to it. Part of the complication though, is that it is also just plain illegal. A ninety-one year old widow living in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, kept both her husband and twin sister around for company. The difficulty is they had both been dead for some time....

Apparently, when the sex is bad, you get even. At least when you paid for it. A drug-fueled party in Volusia County, Fla. reportedly ended in a kidnapping this past weekend when Carlos Rivera took his anger out on 1-year-old Lupita Gonzales. Rivera had allegedly paid Lupita’s mother, Leah Wiley, for sex early Friday morning. At some point during the encounter, Wiley was called to another room, leaving Rivera unsatisfied. So he grabbed the prostitute’s baby and walked out of the house....

It’s been a long and winding road for the NFL’s concussion settlement with former players: It was a done deal. And then it wasn’t enough. And then it was increased, so it was OK. But players still tried to block it, and then a bunch opted out. Now, ten former players are asking a court to quash the settlement on behalf of players yet to be diagnosed with a brain injury....

Most of us are familiar with the story of Koko, a female gorilla known for adopting a pet kitten and learning quite a few sign language hand signs. Koko lived most of her life at a California preserve run by the Gorilla Foundation, along with male gorillas Michael, who died in 2000, and Ndume, who had been moved from the Cincinnati Zoo in 1991 to be Koko’s companion. Koko died in June of this year, and, as part of his loan agreement, Ndume was expected to return to Cincinnati “as soon as possible....

These days, it can be hard to distinguish between patent trolls and legitimate responses to patent infringement. And while golf giant Titleist might not fit your standard definition of a patent troll, its lawsuits against ten small golf ball companies doesn’t feel all that legitimate. Well five of those companies are firing back at Acushnet (parent company of Titleist), the leading golf ball manufacturer in the country, claiming that their balls don’t infringe on any of Acushnet’s patents....

Ever want a reason to argue with your neighbors? Just cruise through your hood around election time. All of a sudden you’ll discover where they all stand, politically speaking, thanks to all the yard signs declaring their favored candidate. And perhaps it’s neighborhood strife that Bel-Nor, Missouri was trying to avoid by limiting all residential premises to a single “political advertising” sign and prohibiting the display of political signs more than 15 days after an election....