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In Rossa v. D.L. Falk Constr., Inc., No.A125567, the First District faced a challenge to the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion seeking recovery of interest paid on sums borrowed to fund a letter of credit used to secure the undertaking arising from a breach of contract suit. However, as Rule 8.278(d)(1)(F) of the California Rules of Court, in its current form, does not include interest as part of the cost to obtain a letter of credit, and thus trial court’s denial is affirmed....

In In re Marriage of Jill & Victor D., No. C062388, the Third District faced a challenge to the juvenile court’s judgment terminating a father’s parental rights so the minors could be adopted by their stepfather. In affirming the judgment, the court held that the court properly held that the circumstances by which the minors’ mother initially assumed sole physical custody of them was irrelevant to the determination whether the father left the minors within the meaning of the statutory scheme....

Over the past decade, law school enrollment by Asian-Americans has fallen off by 40 percent. While law school enrollments have declined steadily in recent years, according to a new study, far fewer Asian-American students are interested in legal careers today. It’s a troubling trend, the authors say, because Asian-Americans are already under-represented in the law. “This Is Worrisome” “It does mean that the growth of Asian-Americans going into the profession is going to be slower … so this is worrisome,” said California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Lin, who co-authored the study....

In the never-ending saga of the NFL players’ class action lawsuits against teams and the league, new information has surfaced about many teams’ alleged failure to comply with federal drug laws. The allegations include claims that several teams’ athletic trainers, doctors, and staff were administering and providing prescription drugs in clear violation of federal laws, even after the DEA cautioned teams against doing so. This class action suit involves close to 2,000 former players who suffered injury or damages as a result of these actions....

The D.C. Circuit axed annual fees for nuclear waste disposal on Tuesday, noting that the government had left the Court no option while Yucca Mountain is tied up in red tape. Politico reports that since the Obama administration has continuously demonstrated its resistance toward finishing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, it is ludicrous for the Department of Energy to collect its “0.1-cent charge from utilities and customers for each nuclear-generated kilowatt-hour of electricity....

Juvenile court’s order placing defendant on home probation for violation of County Code section 9.42.020, which makes it a misdemeanor for a person under age 21 to have a blood alcohol level of .01 percent or more while in a public place within the County, is affirmed and defendant’s claim that the ordinance is preempted by state law rejected where: 1) the field of underage drinking is not fully occupied; 2) the ordinance was enacted to prohibit consumption; 3) the ordinance does not duplicate state law; and 4) defendant’s argument that the potential adverse effects of the ordinance on transient citizens outweighs the possible benefits to the county is rejected....

Everybody wants a career that has a great work-life balance. Most attorneys fail to achieve this goal. After all, when you think high-paying jobs that have the most time off, does “lawyer” come to mind? Well, magistrates, judges, and law professors all make it onto a new list compiled by AOL Jobs. The list goes through the highest paying jobs where workers work the least amount of time. Surprised? Here are the statistics used to back up AOL Jobs’ claims:...

A warrantless airport seizure of a man’s laptop, followed by extensive searches of its contents, can’t be justified as a routine border search, the District Court of D.C. ruled last week. Contrary to government arguments, a computer isn’t just a container agents can pop open and look in to, as they might a suitcase or backpack. In 2012, DHS agents seized a foreign citizen’s computer as he was boarding a flight to Korea, after suspecting he was involved in illegal trading with Iran....

Mark Tetzlaff is an academic overachiever, but he just can’t pass the bar exam. He has a JD, an MBA, an MA, and a BBA, and is pursuing an LLM on scholarship. He has done nearly 200 research and writing projects in state and federal courts. But he has failed the bar exam four times because he has short-term memory loss, he says. So he is suing the Illinois state bar to allow him to take an open-book exam....

Maybe it was the 19-foot tall statue of Abraham Lincoln – a replica of the statue at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. – outside the Kentucky law office that got investigators’ attention. After all, attorney Eric Christopher Conn erected the tribute piece to attract people to his practice. But it was his payments to an administrative law judge that have brought Conn – and his statue – down. Conn, 56, has pleaded guilty in a $550 million fraud of the Social Security Administration....

Any lawyer can beat an illegal traffic stop, but a lawyer with a cell phone can stop an illegal beating. That’s what attorney Deborah Baker-Egozi did when she witnessed a police officer assaulting a motorist. She took out her phone, recorded the incident and then told them she was a lawyer. That stopped the cop, who quickly turned into your friendly neighborhood policeman. Baker-Egozi, however, was not done. Lawyer Intervention By the end of the day, Baker-Egozi was on her computer letting everybody know what happened....

A Montana man faces animal-cruelty and drug charges after he was caught with a different breed of “DUI”: a dog under the influence of alcohol. The drunk-dog tale began about 11:30 p.m. March 1, when patrons at a bar reported a small dog – a Pomeranian or Pomeranian cross – that was visibly intoxicated, Helena’s Independent Record reports. The 20-pound dog couldn’t walk in a straight line, and kept falling over when placed on the floor, police said....

Are you a Tennessean who loves ‘coons? If so, Mark “Coonrippy” Brown should be your pick for governor. Brown was inspired to enter the political fray when state wildlife officials took away his pet raccoon. Brown is running on a pretty narrow platform. Gun control? Nah. Abortion? Meh. Raccoons? Now we’re talkin’! “This is all about the raccoon,” Brown said. Since July, Brown’s been fighting to regain custody of his pet raccoon Rebekah after wildlife officials went to his home and confiscated her....

Conviction of defendant for carjacking and use of a firearm is affirmed as the controlling constitutional rule in Seibert is that set forth in Associate Justice M. Kennedy’s concurring opinion as it does not abrogate the implied waiver rule first articulated by the Supreme Court in Butler, and thus the implied waiver rule, which applies to this case, is not rescinded by Seibert. As a result, substantial evidence supports the trial court’s finding that defendant’s admissions were admissible....

Lecturing at Harvard Law School, Professor Kingsfield said it best: “You come into here with a skull full of mush and leave thinking like a lawyer.” It was a fictional account, but still good enough in 1973 for John Houseman to win an Oscar in the “Paper Chase.” It raises a real question, however: is thinking like a lawyer a good thing today? Redefining Thinking Mary Juetten, writing for the ABA Journal, says “thinking like a lawyer” is an outdated idea – particularly in legal education....

Sharks may not be nature’s cuddliest predator, but they’ve definitely got their fans. The fact that Discovery’s Shark Week extravaganza is in its 28th year is proof enough of that. Legal sharks, too, aren’t without their admirers. Though lawyers’ reputations as ruthless killing machines are much exaggerated, there are plenty of top litigators whose zealous advocacy, intimidating reputations, and killer instincts make them stand out – for better or worse. Here are three great whites of the legal world:...

A state appeals court overturned $1.43 million of a $2.85 million jury award that originally found the club as equally responsible as Mary Montgomery, the stripper who drank beer at the club before plowing into another car, severely injuring two people. Dram Right Eric Staeuble was driving the other car, and his passenger, Nichole Johnson, suffered brain injuries, multiple head fractures, broken teeth and ribs, several other broken bones, a collapsed lung, and a lacerated liver....

When it comes to gaming, not all the action is on the casino floor – nor is it all in Las Vegas. The domestic casino and gaming industry is highly regulated and massive, taking in more than $70 billion in revenues every year. That means plenty of opportunities for legal professionals who are as good at the law as they are at poker. (Unless you, like me, are terrible at poker....

A Connecticut man was cuffed this week for allegedly making Twitter threats against the New York Mets. Police say horror film enthusiast Aryn Leroux, 42, of West Haven, allegedly threatened Mets players and even tweeted plans to slash team managers in an attack reminiscent of “Friday the 13th.” Leroux was charged with second-degree threatening and breach of peace, which are both misdemeanors. Twitter offers fans a uniquely personal way to react and interact with professional athletes....

Marijuana tourism; it sounds like a business idea that pot-smokers dreamt up at a party. But this is serious business with the financial potential to attract attorneys with more than the munchies. In California, one company just bought an old ghost town. It could be part of the marijuana boom or a bust in more ways than one. In any case, here’s what you ought to consider if you become general counsel to a cannabusiness:...