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California’s highest court jumped into a surprisingly controversial area of the law yesterday: seating. The California Supreme Court provided guidance to the Ninth Circuit on Monday in a case brought by retail and banking employees trying to sue their bosses over lack of adequate seating – and trying to form a class action to do it. The row is over the proper interpretation of key California labor law requiring businesses to provide “suitable seats....

Trial court judgment is reversed and remanded where the court erred in failing to award plaintiffs attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure sec. 1021.5 as plaintiffs were the prevailing parties, their action resulted in the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest and conferred a significant benefit on the general public or a large class of persons, filing the action was necessary for plaintiffs to obtain access to the documents, and the fees will not be paid out of an award to plaintiff....

The NFL, along with most other major sports leagues, has been happy to distinguish between drugs it calls performance enhancing and those that are performance enabling. The former, like HGH, steroids, and masking agents, are strictly prohibited and will get you suspended. The latter, like cortisone, Toradol, and other anti-inflammatories and painkillers, are apparently tossed out like candy – anything to get you back on the field. Without those drugs, many players would be too hurt to play, something their coaches, trainers, doctors, and other team employees simply couldn’t abide....

Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey was subpoenaed by a Massachusetts grand jury on Sunday in a case involving former University of Florida teammate and alleged murderer Aaron Hernandez. According to Sports Illustrated, Pouncey was served the subpoena after the Dolphins lost to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, allowing the Massachusetts grand jury to legally deliver the court summons in its home state. What are Pouncey’s options now that he’s been pulled into Hernandez’s murder case?...

Decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board dismissing, for lack of jurisdiction, petitioner’s challenge to the General Services Administration’s refusal to hire him is affirmed where: 1) the record shows that the agency’s reason for not hiring petitioner had nothing to do with the Outstanding Scholar Program, but was based on the agency’s conclusion that he was not suitable for the position that he sought; and 2) the government’s motion to vacate and remand is denied as the case is not moot as there continues to be a live controversy between the parties over whether the Administration’s treatment of petitioner violated Part 300 of Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations and, if it did, what relief should be obtained....

A Florida whistleblower claimed he was fired for alleging his boss chose to favor certain political customers over others when it came to restoring power after Hurricane Hermine. But the District Court judge disagreed, claiming there were plenty of other reasons to terminate his employment other than being a whistleblower, and the judge implied even that status was debatable. Clinton Smith worked as an assistant manager for the City of Tallahassee’s utility company....

The cops are on social media. We repeat: the cops are on social media. They have access to your Facebook photos. They’re getting your info from Twitter. They can use fake social media accounts to gather intel, and can even call themselves “Sweet Cheeks” to lure you into giving up your address. Any self-respecting criminal should know the cops are all over social media these days. And yet. In 2015, Terrance Everett was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm, and as a habitual offender, was sentenced to 15 years in prison....

And One. Jayson Williams, Former all-star of the New Jersey Nets pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge stemming from a January crash. Williams was at nearly two and a half times the legal limit when he drove off the road and hit a tree. The judge sentenced Williams to an additional year behind bars for the charge. Williams was already serving five years behind bars in the fatal shooting of his chauffeur, Costas Christofi, in 2002, then going to extreme lengths to try to cover it up....

After stagnating for some time, attorney salaries have started to climb in recent years. And that trend should continue in 2017, according to a report by Robert Half Legal. The staffing agency recently released its 2017 Salary Guide and reports that legal professional salaries are expected to rise by an average of 3.6 percent in the coming years. But, while a rising tide lifts all boats, not every boat is lifted equally....

There may be a time and a place for everything, but when it comes to tripping acid and running around naked, perhaps 1:30 a.m. in Key West is not the time and Highway U.S. 1 not the place for such shenanigans. Especially if you want to avoid being tasered three times and arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. Unfortunately for a naked tourist by the name of Richard Gervasi, that lesson came far too late....

A California couple is living a nanny nightmare: Their live-in nanny quit doing any work, but refuses to leave the family’s home. The couple found the 64-year-old nanny on Craigslist in March, reports Los Angeles’ KCBS-TV. She agreed to move into the couple’s home in Upland, east of L.A., to take care of their three kids and do housework in exchange for rent. But after a few months, the couple says the nanny stopped working....

Earlier this week, my distinguished colleague Mr. Peacock noted that most of you law students will be spending your Thanksgiving break writing outlines. His adept observation inspired me to give you some tips on how to spend your time efficiently, writing the best legal study outlines ever. For those of you on the fence about the necessity of outlining, let me clear it up for you. Make. An. Outline. If you think it’s going to be a colossal waste of time, don’t worry, it’s not....

At a multi-national monster like Pfizer, good news and bad news happens daily. Last week, the good news came from government approval of its anemia treatment. The bad news came from a court invalidating one of its patents. In Anacor Pharmaceuticals v. Iancu, a federal appeals court said a process for using tavaborole was too obvious for patent protection. That’s a treatment for “toenail fungus,” if you wanted to know....

In a petition for review of an Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) regulation allowing subsidiaries of mutual holding companies to limit their minority shareholders to 10% of the subsidiary’s total minority stock, the petition is denied, where OTS has discretion to balance the power of majority and minority shareholders in order to achieve its regulatory objectives. Read Stilwell v. Office of Thrift Supervision, No. 08-1259 Appellate Information Argued April 23, 2009...

There’s an SEC headhunter in town, and he’s looking for excellent attorneys of all shapes, sizes, and luckily, experience. If you’ve ever been subjected to the federal government’s complicated system of online resumes, surveys, faxed paperwork and the bemoaned “knowledge, skills and abilities” statement, don’t worry. USAJobs is not part of the process. With a $70-million funding boost that must be used by the end of the fiscal year in September, the Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to fill a number of legal positions that range from entry-level attorney-advisor to an associate director and chief counsel, reports The Bond Buyer....

Law school debt. It’s what compels you to remain within the BigLaw ranks long after the job has destroyed your soul. It’s what requires you to choose between Top Ramen and a juicy steak. And for some, it’s what catapults you into the drudgery that is document review. In other words, law school debt sucks. But luckily, you are not alone. Law students graduated with an average debt of $100,585 in 2011, according to data compiled by U....

When Jesus Morales showed up to court in Redwood City, California, last week, he was probably considering the possibility of a long time in jail. He probably didn’t expect that his defense attorney would end up next to him, however. And that’s exactly what happened. Defense attorney Deron Kartoon was arrested and tossed in San Mateo County Jail when he appeared at court to represent Morales. Why? First, Kartoon had let his law license expire, a fairly big deal....

Could there be a link between incurable hiccups and a life of crime? You might think so after hearing that the girl known nationally as the “Hiccup Girl” has been charged with murder. Nineteen-year-old Jennifer Mee was charged with first degree murder for the robbery and shooting of Shannon Griffin, 22. Authorities say Griffin was robbed at gunpoint and fatally wounded when he was lured by Mee to a Florida house....

We live in a weird, weird world. Even our legal system, designed to makes things a little more predictable and a little less weird, is not immune from the strange. Many are tempted to call 2018 our weirdest year, but that may be the result of recency bias. There’s no doubt that things did get a little odd, legally speaking, over the past 12 months, so here are the five stories from our legal curiosities blog:...

The future of American legal education is, well, in the future. At least, that’s what the American Bar Association is saying for now. The ABA has approved a new Commission on the Future of Legal Education, but the commission will not be effective until August. Incoming president Hilarie Bass called for the new commission to restructure the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. She said the new entity will be responsible only for non-accreditation-related activities....