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When a lawyer is sexually attracted to a client, it’s time for an ethics check. Rule of Professional Conduct 1.8(j) says a “lawyer shall not have sexual relations with a client” unless the intimate relationship started before the attorney-client relationship. So yeah, check the date on that retainer agreement. Seriously, it is so lawyer-like to look for exceptions to the rules. That’s what got one prosecutor into trouble. Sexual Relations Mignonne Griffing was happily prosecuting white collar criminals for the U....

The LSAT doesn’t predict much, does it? We all know somebody who bombed the LSAT, then proceeded to dominate their classes after barely being let in off the wait-list. Sure, someone who scores in the 120s probably will fail miserably at law school, and at the bar exam, but can you really blame a school for looking for a different measuring stick? Rutgers School of Law at Camden did just that, and now, it’ll cost them $25,000....

Ryan Lochte may have gotten a lot more than he bargained for with his “Jeah” trademark claim. The Olympic gold medal swimmer went from a relative unknown to a household name in the past few months. The swimmer is now everywhere with commercial and television appearances. But Lochte may have completely jumped the shark with his “Jeah” trademark claim. And he may have also inadvertently started beef with “Compton’s O.G.” MC Eiht....

Here is a case of life imitates art, but on an ever bigger, badder platform. Begin, for instance with the Audrey Hepburn move Wait Until Dark about thieves trying to steal back a heroin stuffed doll from a blind woman. Move on to the drug stuffed Teddies at a Build-a-Bear operation in the Bronx in 2009. And now we have Angel Toy Company co-owners Meichun Cheng Huang and Ling Yu, arrested, along with chief executive officer Xiaoxin Ju on Friday, July 2 and charged with money laundering through the multi-million dollar sales of their cute little stuffed animals....

Gunning for that corner office with the views? Well, you better act fast as lavish corner offices are quickly being replaced by cubicles and shared workplaces As an industry, law firms move at a conservative pace. And the law firm office environment is no exception. Over a decade ago, tech companies began adopting open work spaces where a CEO’s office would be almost indistinguishable from a secretary’s. Other companies quickly followed suit as knocking down walls saved money (more space was used) and encouraged collaborative working environments....

There’s a common syndrome that sets in after you take the bar exam and before you get results. It starts with a question that you can’t answer, and that’s the problem. Did you pass? Here’s the good news: you can actually do something about the Post Bar Exam Syndrome. Let’s forget about the bad news; that’s something you don’t have to worry about for now. Take a Vacation First, a disclaimer: the “Post Bar Exam Syndrome” is just a made-up-here thing....

K-2 is not good for K-9s, it turns out. In Texas, a 22-year-old man smoked synthetic marijuana popularly known as K-2 and then went on another bizarre “zombie attack”. Michael Daniel allegedly became enraged after smoking the synthetic pot and attacked family members before deciding to eat the family dog, killing it, reports the New York Daily News. Daniel was smoking the substance at home when he suddenly started attacking his family members and neighbors....

We won’t be able to top this story for the display of an unusual skill set or for sheer idiocy. On September 24, 28 year-old Candace Broussard was arrested on the campus of Lamar State College in Port Arthur, Texas. Not so bad really, nor very weird. What happened next is. Broussard was handcuffed and sitting in the police cruiser when she gets into the front seat, steals the police the car and takes off down Highway 69 at about 100mph....

We’ve all heard that it’s not what you say, but how you say it, but do you ever consider that advice in your work life? Sometimes we’re concentrating so much on getting the facts and legal analysis right, and meeting a deadline, that we neglect common communication. One of those times when you really need to be aware of your body language is in meetings. We do so much work sitting alone at our desks that we forget that when we are in a meeting, we need to watch our body language, as well as what we say....

With the widely-publicized block of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Caitlin Halligan, opposition to President Barack Obama’s judicial picks have come under scrutiny. Looking at his confirmation rate over the past three years, a recent report released from the Brookings Institute reveals that there may be more similarities in his circuit court confirmation rates than dramatic differences, compared to his predecessors. Confirmation rates for circuit nominees have reportedly been declining steadily since Jimmy Carter’s administration....

Winans v. Timar, No. A124263, involved plaintiffs’ challenge to the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant in their challenge of their uncle’s new will claiming undue influence and lack of testamentary capacity. In reversing the grant of summary judgment, the court held that there are triable issues of fact with respect to the validity of the certificate of independent review, and as such, it was an error to grant summary judgment with respect to this issue....

In an affidavit in support of her request for a restraining order, Colleen Crowley alleges that Johnny Manziel restrained her, forced her into her car, and said, “Shut up or I’ll kill us both.” The document outlines a terrifying night in January when the Cleveland Browns quarterback hit her and she was forced to defend herself with a knife. A restraining order has been issued, ordering Manziel to stay away from Crowley for two years, and Dallas police are investigating the incident....

You may have friends who are intellectual property attorneys. They’re super-smart, enjoy their jobs, and make bank. We don’t know how they do it. For those of us with liberal arts backgrounds, reviewing a 50-page patent opinion necessitates full brainpower, two cups of coffee, and (legally obtained) Ritalin. At least it did before we learned about patent trolls. Judicially reprehensible patent trolls. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals recently slapped a patent troll with over $600,000 in sanctions and fees for extorting settlements through baseless lawsuits....

A Federal judge ruled on Friday that the NCAA can no longer prevent college football and basketball players from sharing in proceeds generated by use of their likenesses. The ruling by U.S. District Court judge Claudia Wilken found that NCAA rules prohibiting athletes from being paid for use of their names, images, and likenesses violate federal antitrust laws, reports CBS Sports. The judge issued an injunction prohibiting the NCAA from enforcing its current rules, but he did not grant proposals by the plaintiffs – former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon and 19 other former NCAA athletes – to allow athletes to enter into paid endorsement deals or individual licensing agreements....

There are many ways to handle being fired. You can discuss the termination with your contacts, hoping that someone can push for reconsideration. You can take your experience, plaster it on your resume, and mass-mail thousands of other firms. You can deface on the partners’ offices. Or, you can send an exceptionally-long, grammatical mistake-laden email to the entire BigLaw firm. As always, Above the Law has the goods, passed along from a Winston & Strawn tipster....

If you want to see Major League Baseball and deer antler velvet talked about in the same sentence, you should read about the former MLB player who is suing ESPN, The AP, and USA Today for defamation. Neiman Nix, who once played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers, filed a complaint against the news organizations for reporting that he and his company marketed and sold banned performance enhancing substances to baseball players....

In an action by a hospital to recover costs from a city based on the hospital’s treatment of an arrestee, judgment for plaintiff is reversed where, under the nature of the offense rule, the county, not the city, was responsible under Cal. Penal Code section 4011 for the costs at issue because the arrestee was hospitalized while incarcerated for violations of probation and parole under state law. Read Hospital Comm. for Livermore-Pleasanton Areas v....

Pancakes and prayer. It would be insulting and unpleasant on several different levels to get those two elements of a traditional Sunday morning mixed up. That is just what the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) has gone to a California federal court to prevent. According to the famous purveyor of delightful and overly-caloric breakfast treats, a church in Kansas City which has christened itself IHOP (International House of Prayer) will do just that, confuse us all....

Poop typically doesn’t arrive via delivery or in your mailbox, but when it does, it can be breaking news. For example, an Iowa woman is facing criminal charges for allegedly mailing cow feces to her neighbors in response to their complaints about her dog barking. According to United Press International, the woman is now facing third-degree harassment charges, and must appear in court on Tuesday. So is it illegal to mail poop to someone?...

In Russia, slapping your spouse might not get you much more than a slap on the wrist, if even that. Russian President Vladimir Putin enacted the country’s “slapping law,” under which a first-time domestic abuse incident that doesn’t result in serious injury is more of an administrative offense rather than a crime. The law, intended to promote “traditional family values,” has received stark criticism from human rights groups and staunch support from Russian politicians....