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It’s not a good sign when the judge interrupts your argument to call your client a liar. Shannon Liss-Riordan, suing Gubhub over how it pays drivers, was closing in the closely-watched case. If she wins, it could have deep impact on the gig economy. The lawyer will have to get past the judge, however, who jumped in to say her client was untruthful and the “decision would reflect that.” It’s not over ’till it’s over, but this seems like a pretty significant foreshadow....

There are some times when you might not need an attorney. Insurance companies take care of a large part of car accident claims these days. You can probably make your own argument about why you were or weren’t speeding that day (and, in any case, a speeding ticket is relatively cheap). Even some divorce filings can be filled out by the parties and submitted without legal representation. The immigration process is probably not one of those times....

When you think of law firms getting hacked, you usually don’t envision it coming from other law firms, especially in the family law industry. Maybe a jilted spouse, an angry teen in a divorce case, an unsatisfied client you couldn’t do anything for, sure … but another law firm, that just defies logic. However, a recent lawsuit out of Illinois makes some rather serious allegations of hacking and even employee espionage, the likes of which movie plots are based on....

Imagine trying to dig your way out of the mud without a shovel. Or stuck in an endless loop with no one to pull you out. That’s how indigent people feel when faced with mandatory court fees for criminal convictions. But one court is putting a stop to it, at least in its own jurisdiction in California. Velai Duenas was stuck in an endless loop. She is a homeless, disabled teenage mother of young children who had her driver’s license suspended because she couldn’t pay the mandatorily imposed court fees and heavy fines for losing her criminal case....

Most sports leagues might be excited to see a GIF or Vine of an awesome play go viral – after all, that’s like free advertising for your product, right? But most sports leagues aren’t the NFL, and last week the media behemoth took further steps to protect its trademark on even the smallest snippets of game action. Under the NFL’s new social media policy, its own teams can be fined for posting its own video of games on social media, and are barred from using streaming apps like Facebook Live and Periscope to stream in-stadium footage....

Daniel Avery took the law into his own hands when he smashed a local head shop with a baseball bat for selling bath salts to his son. The upstate New York man says that Tebb’s Head Shop sold the bath salts to young people knowing that the bath salts were being abused as drugs. Avery said that his 24-year-old son was one such customer and was hospitalized after overdosing on the synthetic drugs, reports WNYF....

You know what the worst time of my life was? Waiting for bar results. Waiting for bar results while unemployed, knowing that if I failed, it would all but guarantee ongoing unemployment until another testing cycle (February exam, plus a few months of waiting for results) had passed. So yes, waiting for bar results is stressful. And now, if that obvious assertion isn’t obvious enough, there is a study to back it up....

Drunken nights of debauchery are part of every good college experience, but they often lead to embarrassing situations. For some, this includes a trip to the pharmacy, where one whispers a request for the morning after pill. Enter the Plan B vending machine. No eye contact or hungover conversations necessary. For $25 cash, women – and men – can snag a bit of post-coital birth control. It exists, but only at Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania....

Police in Metal Township, Penn. arrested Patricia and Quentin Deshong for allegedly carrying out such an attack earlier this month. The pair reportedly ambushed a green Ford Fusion and broke the car’s windshield and windows; dented its body; and disconnected its hoses. They also left blood on the front passenger seat. Investigators believe the Deshongs removed the car’s gas and oil caps and inserted flaming tampons into the engine and gas tank, reports the Smoking Gun....

Facial lacerations, broken teeth, and fractured fingers. It wasn’t a fight; it was a scooter. But the injuries have turned into a legal battle against the scooter-makers. In a proposed class-action filed in Los Angeles, plaintiffs say the manufacturers are responsible for their injuries. They say electric scooter riders assaulted them. “Abetted Assault” Attorney Catherine Lerer told the Washington Post that she received calls from more than 100 people who have been injured by scooters....

Love hurts, especially when it costs attorneys their license to practice law. Tara Lenich knows this from personal experience. She even knew the pain was coming when she forged wiretap orders to spy on her ex-lover. “I knew my conduct was illegal,” Lenich told a federal judge. It was an ill-fated love triangle and fall for the former prosecutor, and it is a reminder that some love stories are tragedies....

People were crowding into the courthouse for the afternoon calendar when they heard gunfire just outside. When the shooter started to come inside, chaos broke out – people running, falling, yelling, crying. He shot four of them before police arrived, fired and killed him. In the confusion, the survivors tried to make sense of it. This is not the way justice is supposed to work. Courthouse Survivors Attorney David Kaiser was lucky, in a way....

As Anthem lawyers argued to save a proposed merger with Cigna in a federal appeals court, the words of the trial judge still hung in the air: “There’s an elephant in the room,” U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said, describing the tension between the health care giants. Noting that Cigna’s own lawyer had undermined Anthem’s forecasts for the acquisition, Jackson struck down the merger six weeks ago on the grounds it would hurt the competition....

One of the world’s greatest athletes passed away last weekend. Muhammad Ali, the three time world boxing champ, died on Saturday at the age of 74. Ali was more than just a thrilling boxer, he was an icon, a justifiably self-confident braggart, a war resister, and a civil rights advocate. And for a celebrity athlete, he had a closer connection to the law than many. His death came just shy of the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision overturning his conviction for draft evasion....

What great truths of human belief have been destroyed in the course of history? That the sun revolves around the earth? That you can’t actually catch a cold by getting cold? That Twinkies don’t really have a half life of 75 years? Well, brace yourselves for another one. According to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, Fruit Roll Ups aren’t really good for you. Yes, the great truth of whether or not the delicious fruit (if it is actually fruit) filled treat is a healthy and nutritious snack will be litigated in open court....

In a junior lien holder’s action against the defendant for conducting a nonjudicial foreclosure sale that resulted in excess sale proceeds, judgment of the trial court in favor of the lien holder is reversed as, the comprehensive statutory scheme regarding nonjudicial foreclosures clearly delineates the limited role and duties of a trustee in a nonjudicial foreclosure sale, and those duties do not include the responsibility for searching and finding all possible judgment creditors....

A jury convicted Gabriel Anthony Cardwell of grand theft and burglary by use of an acetylene torch, among other crimes, after Cardwell took over $24,000 in merchandise from a Murrieta Best Buy store. Cardwell appealed, arguing that the burglary by acetylene torch conviction should be reversed. The Fourth Appellate District agreed, and reversed the conviction this week. Here’s why this appeal is interesting. Cardwell used an acetylene torch to cut a large hole cut in a side steel door leading into the Best Buy store....

In plaintiff-police officers’ lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBRA) claiming that a perjured declaration submitted by the city deprived them of their statute of limitations defense in an administrative mandamus proceeding over their discharges, judgment on the pleadings in favor of defendant is affirmed as plaintiffs’ action under POBRA is barred because it constitutes an impermissible collateral attack on the mandate judgment....

Move over, Twinkie defense. A bus driver convicted of groping women and girls claims it wasn’t sugar, but too much caffeinated coffee that turned him from groggy to overly grabby. Kenneth Sands, 51, a school bus driver from Rainier, Wash., was convicted of groping three girls and two women at a high-school volleyball game in October, Seattle’s KOMO-TV reports. His convictions come with jail time. But at Sands’ sentencing Tuesday, he stirred up resentment when he came forth with his coffee defense....

This just in: Hold a cell phone, get a ticket. California’s new cell phone law makes it illegal to hold a cell phone while driving. It doesn’t matter whether you are just listening to music or checking the GPS for directions, it’s against the law. The fine for holding a cell phone is $20 for the first offense; $50 for subsequent tickets. It is the same for using a hand-held cell phone, but increases to $76 for the first offense, $190 thereafter, with penalties and assessments....