Christmas may come early for those preparing to take the California bar exam. According to reports, the California Supreme Court may lower the passing score as early as September. Its decision could be retroactive to the exam set for July 25, 2017. The court has been reviewing whether California’s cut score is too high, and has taken over the issue from the Committee of Bar Examiners. In other words, Santa has a brand new bag....
Ralphs Grocery Co. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 8, C060413, concerned a grocery store’s request for injunctive relief against the picketing by a union in front of the store. In reversing the trial court’s denial of the relief, the court held that, because the area in front of the store is not a public forum, the union’s free speech rights, whether under the federal First Amendment or the state liberty of speech clause, are not infringed....
A man accused of intentionally causing a crash that killed a New York state trooper has blamed the incident on a “time warp.” Almond Upton, 60, of Melrose, Florida, allegedly hit two cars on Interstate 81 near Binghamton, New York, before crossing into the right shoulder and hitting Trooper Christopher G. Skinner, killing him instantly. According to The Post-Standard, Upton claims he was on his way to visit his mother in Connecticut when a “time warp (or) something” transported him to Binghamton....
Juvenile court order terminating mother’s parental rights and setting adoption as the permanent placement goal is affirmed where neither the Department of Health and Human Services nor the juvenile court was under a duty to comply with the notice provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the court declines to extend the Act to cover an allegation of membership in a tribe not recognized by the federal government. Read In re K....
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” – Coach John Wooden Those are the words that introduce Citi Private Bank’s 2014 Client Advisory on law firm revenue. Noting a 2.7 percent growth in revenue in the first three quarters of 2013, the study noted a “fundamental shift in the market for legal services,” which led to its disappointing prediction they “do not project a return to pre-2008 levels of performance....
Recent headlines are celebrating the news of former California House Representative Tony Coelho’s big $1 million donation and additional $3 million in fundraising for the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation at Loyola Law School. The center announced that its primary goal is to create a pipeline for disabled lawyers to make it to leadership roles and onto the judiciary. But that’s not all it’s focused on. The center strives to be a hub for discussion related to innovations, both through technology and policy, to help further integrate the disabled community into everyday society....
FAA Revocation of License Affirmed In Manin v. NTSB, No. 09-1157, a petition for review of a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) order affirming the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) emergency revocation of his airline transport pilot, flight instructor, flight engineer, and first class airman medical certificates for failure to provide correct information about his criminal history on a series of applications for renewal of his medical certificate, the court granted the petition where the NTSB’s decision departed from agency precedent without explanation....
A Los Angeles judge cleared the way for a lawsuit against California for failing to improve literacy in poor public schools. Parents of students from Los Angeles, Inglewood and Stockton areas say their schools have some of the worst test scores in the country. They allege the state has not given them the same opportunities as students from other schools. In Ella T. and Katie T. v State of California, a judge said the plaintiffs alleged sufficiently that the education system treats them differently because of their race and low-income status....
Stupid was the word a naked man in a cemetery used to describe his late night escapades. Illegal could have been an equally appropriate adjective. That’s because 47-year-old Robert Hurst was caught by motion-activated cameras in a Mississippi church cemetery completely naked. No, he was not trying to scare people or engage in otherwise sexually questionable behavior. H was just there to photograph spirits. He was naked because skin is the best canvas to capture the spirits, according to Hurst....
A Pennsylvania man faces charges in connection with allegedly walking naked around a Walmart store, putting on a stolen pair of socks, and spitting in a police officer’s face. Surveillance video shows Verdon Lamont Taylor, 32, of Downington, Pa., taking off his clothes in a Walmart parking lot about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 15, Philadelphia’s WCAU-TV reports. Taylor – who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 300 pounds – then walked naked into the Walmart, grabbed some socks from a customer-service counter, and put on the socks, video shows....
In an eminent domain proceeding, judgment against Caltrans on defendants’ goodwill claim and an order awarding litigation expenses to defendants are affirmed as the claim for goodwill damages is not preempted by the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, and the award of litigation expense is supported by substantial evidence. Read People ex rel. Dep’t of Transp. v. Acosta, No. C059064 [PDF] Read People ex rel. Dep’t of Transp. v. Acosta, No. C059064 [HTML]...
In plaintiffs’ petition for a writ of mandate to compel defendants to set aside certain design guidelines, denial of the request and entry of judgment of dismissal is affirmed where: 1) the design guidelines are not a zoning ordinance within the meaning of the government code; 2) plaintiffs have not demonstrated that the design guidelines are inconsistent with the general plan; 3) the design guidelines do not conflict with state density bonus law; 4) the design guidelines are authorized by state law; and 5) a CEQA claim is time-barred....
Many people move in the summer time, and that includes first-year law students – especially those who want to move up. Michael Matta, for example, was attending George Washington University Law School in 2015. But as he was completing his first year, he took a chance and applied for a transfer to UCLA School of Law. He succeeded, landing in a higher-ranked law school and paying less for tuition. It turned out to be the best move in his legal career, and it was easier than he expected....
Mark Herrmann, a veteran of BigLaw litigation, says that litigation financing makes no sense for rich companies. They can afford the attorneys fees to litigate, but they borrow the money and lose more even if they win. In a $20 million fee case, for example, they will pay twice that for borrowing. So even if they win $100 million, they will pay $40 million for financing when they could have paid only $20 million out-of-pocket....
Girl Scout Cookies – they make buyers bounce checks to afford them, grown men steal cash boxes from cookie stands (more than once!), troop leaders embezzle over $10,000 in cookie profits, and women attack roommates over a box of Thin Mints. Walmart parking lots – where apparently every crime in America is happening. So what happens when you combine the most crime-inducing sweet treat of all time and the physical nexus of hundreds of violent crimes a year?...
Note to all heroin producers out there: don’t anger your neighbors. Otherwise, you might find yourself the target of a mass-produced and widely distributed “Heroin for Sale” flier with your name and home address on it. At least that’s the lesson that several Portland drug dealers learned after their recent bust. Apparently, neighbors were so tired of the house’s drug activity that one cobbled together the makeshift flier. The flier was even handed off to the police....
Apple is in the middle of a high-profile fight with the FBI over iPhone encryption. And now Apple has a very high-profile lawyer leading their battle against the feds. The tech company has hired superstar lawyer and former Solicitor General Ted Olson to help defend against an order to undo its phone encryption and bypass security functions on the phone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. And while Olson has a stellar legal reputation, he also has a poignant connection to terrorism that makes him well-suited to lead Apple’s fight....
In plaintiff-Association of California Insurance Companies’ lawsuit disputing the validity of the 2006 amendments to regulations permitting consumer interest interveners to obtain compensation for participation in the administrative rate-setting process where an order or decision is issued by the Commissioner on an insurer’s rate-setting application without a formal rate hearing is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs have failed to establish that the amended regulations are inconsistent with the governing statutes, and the trial court properly rendered a judgment denying their petition for a peremptory writ of mandate; and 2) plaintiffs fail to show that the trial court erred in awarding Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights compensation payable by them....
Last year was good to Latham and Watkins. One of the biggest BigLaw firms, Latham recorded the highest law firm revenue ever last fiscal year, bringing in $2.823 billion. That puts Latham’s revenue per lawyer at $1.238 million and continues the firm’s growth streak, which has seen its revenue grow by 55 percent since the peak of the recession in 2009, according to Am Law Daily. Latham’s $2.823 billion in revenue marks an increase of 6....
For Charlotte School of Law, the funeral march started a year ago. It began when the American Bar Association suspended its accreditation. Then the Department of Education stopped its federal student loans. Now its license as an educational institution has expired. “[T]o ensure that CSL does not inadvertently run afoul of North Carolina law, we have taken down the school’s website to avoid any perception that we may be engaged in unauthorized conduct,” the law school president and dean told students in an email....
