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If you believe the Mayan calendar, then December 21, 2012, may just be the end of the world. Of course, not everyone agrees that existence will end or that a new “cosmic dawn” will rise. Even the Mayans don’t think the end of days is coming this year, according to CNN. But there are a fair number of people who are bracing for the end, or at least thinking about the things they’d want to do before existence as we know it is snuffed out....

Maybe the U.S. government should put a revolving door on the nearest federal courthouse specifically for use by the company formerly known as Blackwater. A report by the Washington Post today, reveals yet another suit against the embattled company (now known as Xe Services, LLC) by two former employees who filed a false claims lawsuit which allows the employees, acting as whistleblowers, to win a portion of any public money that the government recovers as a result of the information....

You’re a first-year associate, and after months of document review, you’ve been asked to attend a deposition. You’re thinking: “Yes, I’ve made it to the big leagues.” But in all actuality, you won’t actually do anything, besides sit and watch. In fact, the little chat Rashida Jones had with her client as a second-year associate in “The Social Network,” is almost pushing the bounds of reality. But still, it’s your first depo and you want to be prepared....

When it comes to alcohol in law school, times have changed. A few years ago, critics raged against university administrators who banned alcohol at student functions. But like tobacco use, it is not so cool to drink in law school anymore. It only took a few hazing incidents, sexual assaults, and deaths to change everything. For Florida State University, one alcohol-related tragedy was enough. Alcohol Ban Andrew Coffey, an FSU student, died at a fraternity party....

American Jurisprudence 2d is the epitome of legal reference materials, the sin qua non for legal research. If you’re not familiar with this legal encyclopedia, it’s one massive, indispensable collection of American law. Coming in at over 140 volumes, its breadth of coverage and depth of research is unparalleled, covering everything from state criminal laws to obscure points of federal civil procedure. Now, for the first time ever, portions of Am Jur 2d are available online, for free, right here on FindLaw....

What would you say if you were a first-year law student in 2011, and you were about to dump multiple additional year’s worth of tuition into a degree from an unaccredited school, but your Contracts professor “unilaterally and without notice” changed the syllabus, causing you to get a “D” and flunk out? You should say, “THANKS!” Instead, Martin Odemena told the Massachusetts School of Law: “I’ll see you in court!”...

For Kansas lawyers, it probably makes more sense to advertise legal services while riding a bull than it does to hack websites that publish critical information about them. But any lawyer that’s going to advertise in a non-traditional way needs to have a thick enough hide to weather the storm of criticism, because yes, your peers are watching (to see if you succeed or fail), and we do all enjoy a good laugh at another lawyer’s expense....

It seems we have a double standard operating in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but maybe not in the way one might think. The USPTO in all its wisdom, has granted trademark protection to everyone’s favorite repeat offender, Paris Hilton and her customized phrase, “That’s hot.” So simple, and yet speaking volumes about … everything. And yet, despite the genericity of that phrase, (new way to use that word, do you think it is worthy of a TM?...

Watsonville Pilots Ass’n v. City of Watsonville, No. H033097, concerned a plaintiffs’ mandamus petition challenging the City of Watsonville’s certification of a final environmental impact report (FEIR) and its approval of the 2030 General Plan (Plan), claiming that the Plan violated the State Aeronautics Act (SAA) and the city’s certification of the FEIR violated the CEQA. In affirming the trial court’s ruling, the court held that Plan violated the SAA as the city did not have the discretion to modify the criteria to suit itself based on its own determination that a particular runway is a low-activity runway....

Trials court’s imposition of discovery sanctions against plaintiffs for interposing objections to special interrogatories propounded by defendants is affirmed as sanctions were warranted where plaintiffs’ objection to the term “economic damages” was without substantial justification and their responses to those interrogatories were evasive. Read Clement v. Alegre, No. A123168 Appellate Information Filed September 23, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Kline Counsel For Appellant: Samuel Goldstein & Associates, Samuel Elliot Goldstein, Law Offices of Stephanie J....

Deputy Sheriff Rowell Quemuel noticed a car heading the wrong direction on a one-way street. He flicked on his lights, pursued, and pulled the driver over. As he opened his door to exit the car … BOOM. Mark Moreno saw the lights from two or three blocks away, yet was taken by surprise when a car door opened up immediately in front of his motorcycle. He is now suing for negligence and negligence per se, pursuant to Vehicle Code section 22517, which requires motorists to only open a traffic-facing car door when safe....

Done with OCI? Don’t forget to send a follow-up thank-you note. Even if you didn’t participate in OCI, a thank you note is crucial after any interview, really. But, how should you send it? When should you send it? Do you even send it? The answer to that last question is a resounding yes, by the way. As for the other concerns, here are 5 tips to consider for your thank-you note to the firm(s) you interviewed with at OCI (or, just in general):...

A story, at the moment probably falling under the category of weird, has surfaced about a possible extortion attempt made against Louisville coach Rick Pitino. The unlikely source of the attempt? His equipment manager’s wife, Karen Sypher, whom the AP reports is currently in the process of divorce from her husband Tim. Here’s the major portion of Pitino’s statement regarding the claims: Equipment manager Tim Sypher had the following to say, apparently backing up Rick Pitino:...

In Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins., Co. v. Transamerica Life Ins., Co., No. 09-1403, the Federal Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment as a matter of law that it does not infringe the claims at issue of the ‘201 patent in a suit for patent infringement, related to computerized methods for administering variable annuity plans. As stated in the decision: “[S]tep (e) recites making guaranteed payment regardless of the account value....

The paper sign said “Vote Satan” in red, white and blue, right next to an American flag. But a thief ripped down the sign, and the Satanist couple who made it are as mad as… well… H-E-double-L. “We are Satanists,” Luigi Bellaviste of Mountain View, Colo., told Denver’s KCNC-TV about his and his wife Angie’s religious beliefs. “I feel like we’re being treated unfairly because it’s not a so-called mainstream religion....

Jeff Gordon apparently intentionally crashed his car into Clint Bowyer during the Sunday Phoenix NASCAR race. With seven laps remaining, Bowyer reportedly clipped Gordon, causing Gordon to slide hard into the wall, reports Yahoo! Gordon was black-flagged by NASCAR which meant that he was ordered to take his car off the track and into pit row. But Gordon ignored NASCAR’s warning and waited for Bowyer to circle back. As Bowyer approached, Gordon reportedly rammed his car into Bowyer taking him out as well as an innocent Joey Logano....

How much interest can you get from campaign loans? Too much for Judge Tara Flanagan, who won her race for the Alameda County Superior Court in 2012 but is still paying for some campaign loans. Flanagan borrowed $25,000 from her campaign treasurer to run for the job, but it’s not the interest on the loans that is the problem. It’s the interest from the loans that is killing her. The state Fair Political Practices Commission fined Flanagan $4,500 in 2015 for improperly reporting the loans, and now the state Commission of Judicial Commission has publicly admonished her for the violations....

Some say that criminal court is where bad people are on their best behavior and civil court is where good people are on their worst behavior. So what are we to make of a criminal court judge who brawls with public defenders, forces defendants to appear without counsel, and totally loses his cool when an accused individual chooses to exercise his constitutional rights? The Florida Judicial Qualifications Committee and the state’s Supreme Court both considered the question, reviewing Brevard County Judge John C....

Justice Stephen Breyer’s Caribbean vacation took a scary turn last week. Breyer was robbed by a man armed with a machete, who took about $1,000 in cash, Reuters reports. No one was hurt in the Feb. 9 robbery at Breyer’s vacation home on the island of Nevis, and the robber is still on the loose, according to Reuters. An FBI agent arrived in Nevis on Friday, but his role in the investigation was not immediately clear, The St....

The allegations against former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar have been horrifying. Just going by what has been revealed through court documents, Nassar’s sexual abuse of athletes and other children in his care, some as young as six years old, continued for at least 20 years and could have involved over 200 victims. Now, the institutions that employed Nassar for decades are trying to distance themselves from his actions....