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In a wage and hour action against a taxicab company claiming that the company’s leases wrongfully classified lessees as independent contractors rather than employees, a denial of class certification is affirmed where the purported class would be unmanageable, and common questions did not predominate over individual issues, given differences among lessees’ situations. Read Ali v. U.S.A. Cab. Ltd., No. D052127 Appellate Information Filed August 24, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge McConnell...

While most butter knives may barely be able to qualify as knives, the California Supreme Court has just heard arguments on whether a butter knife should be considered a deadly weapon. The In Re: B.M. case may finally, definitively answer whether a butter knife, if poorly wielded by an angry teenage girl against her own sister, can be considered a “deadly weapon.” On appeal, it was held that the non-sharp butter knife, despite being used ineffectively, nevertheless qualified as deadly....

Forget about the Twinkie defense–there’s a new junk food defense in town. Its name? The Taco Bell burrito. When a San Antonio man ordered seven Beefy Crunch Burritos, he expected them to cost 99 cents apiece. But when he realized the Taco Bell burrito price had been raised to a whopping $1.49, all hell broke loose. He shot the place up. After the shock of an extra $3.50 wore off, the Taco Bell Burrito Bandit entered the establishment to speak to the manager, details the San Antonio Express-News....

Today is the most important day in college football. Live webcasts will be fixated on fax machines as the best high school football recruits turn in their National Letters of Intent on this National Signing Day. So you’ll see a run up of commitments and decommitments before the day is over. But what does all of this mean? If a kid with an Auburn tattoo ultimately decides to go to Alabama, can this same kid decide next week that he wants to stay true to his tattoo?...

In Braza v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., No. 08-3174, the court faced a challenge to the Merit Systems Protection Board affirming a denial by the Office of the Personnel Management of a widow’s claim for survivor annuity as the spouse of a deceased civil service employee. As stated in the decision: “Mrs. Braza does not deny on appeal that she consented to her husband’s election to provide her no survivor annuity....

Anyone else have Oscar fever? In the spirit of the Academy Awards, and our great anticipation of the red carpet awards ceremony, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the field of entertainment law. Like many who enter the legal profession, we’re guessing that there’s a secret desire in you to work in a creative field. Yeah, you’re not the only one, it’s a pretty common theme in the lawyer files....

How many lawyer jokes are there? Three. The rest are true stories. It’s an oldie but illustrates a point. Many of those jokes are based on a public perception that attorneys are elitists and must be put down or at least humbled. Like the U.S. election results seem to say, 323 million people can’t be wrong. Lawyer jokes are to the profession what gallows humor is to the condemned. Sad but true – which is what makes them funny....

That Half of a Ham Sandwich from 2008 Was Tired of Being Ignored Have you ever gripped the door handle of the office refrigerator and found yourself automatically breathing through your mouth, in Pavlovian preparation for another round of “Best If Used By”-Date Roulette? If so, be thankful that a hazmat team and dozens of emergency personnel weren’t sent to rescue you, as happened at an office complex this week in San Jose, California....

California’s Prop 65, the first and only consumer “right to know” law in the U.S., requires businesses to post warning labels about toxins that may be present that could cause reproductive harm or cancer. Many companies, rather than put warnings on products, reformulated products to remove the toxins. Since California is such a large market, these toxin-free products are now distributed nationally, with all states receiving the benefit of Prop 65, notes KQED....

Students saddled with school loans may get a break after a federal judge ruled in a case against the U.S. Department of Education. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had delayed a regulation that gave borrowers a defense against lenders if their schools engaged in misconduct. DeVos stalled the regulation, citing the potential for borrowers to abuse the law. But the students won a ruling that the department decision was “arbitrary and capricious” in Bauer v....

Can you imagine going to a used car lot and saying, “How much for that car over there? I’ve got 3 kilos of weed to trade for it.” As much as westerners sometimes miss the easy-living days of the Native American life, where trade and barter were the norms, those days are over, at least when it comes to bartering with weed. Marijuana may be legalized in Oregon, but the state law does have some limits....

Trial court’s order to pay victim restitution pursuant to Penal Code section 1202.4 including lost wages arising from a conviction for burglary is affirmed as, even though the victim did not testify as a witness, the wages that he lost while attending criminal court proceedings constituted economic loss attributable to defendant’s misconduct. Read People v. Moore, No. C060618 Filed September 23, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Scotland Counsel For Appellant: Richard L....

The polite burglar is a rare breed, with most of them shirking their manners in favor of dispossessing homeowners of their beloved belongings. But a woman in Vineland, New Jersey encountered a member of this endangered species last week, after coming home to find him looking for some guy named Greg. By all accounts, the specimen was as polite as the species is rumored to be. Awestruck by her meeting with the polite burglar, Maria Cardona shared her tale with local police, telling them that she entered her home only to find him standing inside, reports the Press of Atlantic City....

Rutgers University’s newest athletic director is facing many allegations of being an abusive coach, involving volleyball players she coached back in the 90s. Is there, though? What does this situation look like, legally? There are two main questions to address in terms of whether or not these volleyball players have an actionable injury — first, is it just coaching? Or, is it actually abuse? Here’s one way to look for a difference:...

In an action challenging an LAPD policy prohibiting officers from initiating police action to discover the immigration status of an individual, summary judgment for Defendant is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff failed to adduce evidence supporting an as-applied challenge; and 2) federal law did not preempt the policy on its face. Read the full decision in Sturgeon v. Bratton, No. B209913. [html] Read the full decision in Sturgeon v. Bratton, No. B209913....

The Super Bowl is just two days away, but before you get too caught up in the spectacle of the Falcons destroying the Patriots, take a moment to update your resume. This weekend isn’t just a chance to see who’ll win the big game, it’s a chance to do some winning career moves of your own. This week, as part of our affiliate relationship with Indeed, we’re bringing you the top three cool legal jobs we could find, three spots in three boutique firms in three unique practice areas....

Consider using a stripper pole next time you need to assault someone and nothing else is handy. Actually no, scratch that, pink stripper poles should not be used for evil. But when she ran out of other weapons that’s what Sarah Howell of Killeen, Texas allegedly used to beat her boyfriend on Sunday. Turns out assaulting someone with a stripper pole will still get you arrested. Howell was convicted for assaulting her boyfriend with garden tools in 2010, reports Huffington Post....

A St. Louis man has been arrested, after allegedly making a World Series-related bomb threat on Twitter. Robert Metzinger was charged on Saturday for making a terrorist threat, after taking to the social media site and implying that he would use an explosive device around Busch Stadium during the World Series, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. His Twitter account has been deleted since then, but one tweet stated: “Putting my loft up for a ridiculous ‘Boston-only’ rate for the #WorldSeries....

Some of us were ecstatic at the news that Showtime would resurrect “Twin Peaks,” the cult TV show that lasted only two seasons on ABC in the early 90s, yet influenced an entire generation of television, from “The X Files” to “Lost.” Even more good news: Series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost are set to write and direct each of the nine new episodes, scheduled to air in 2016....

In plaintiffs’ case against defendant automobile dealer and a credit union under the Automobile Sales Finance Act (ASFA) arising from plaintiffs’ purchase of a vehicle from defendant, judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed as the dealer’s slight overestimation of the vehicle license fees by $2 dollars and charging the plaintiffs $58.25 for a smog check and certificates but failing to submit the vehicle to a smog check until four months later, do not entitle the plaintiffs to remedies under the ASFA....