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Are your diamonds and pearls a bit too showy for the court room? Does your gold watch and designer suit bling too brightly for that criminal deposition? If you’re leaning towards, “yeah, I guess,” then you’re not alone. The newest lawyer fashion trend is to hide the glitz and gold – and it’s being led by Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer who landed George Clooney. She’s looking to downsize her $750,00 engagement ring, worried that it will clash with her more serious case work....

This is not the kind of story that makes our boys and girls in uniform look too good. Three active duty soldiers broke into a medical marijuana dispensary near Fort Carson, Colorado, and were accidentally trapped when the door slammed and locked behind them. The trio was neatly arrested by police, who happened to be right next door on another call, on charges of second-degree burglary. They are now awaiting arraignment on the charges....

The Veterans Administration limits a veteran’s challenges to the disposition of a disability claim “issue.” But how is “issue” defined? The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals considered a single legal question in this case: What does the term “issue” mean for the purpose of VA regulations related to appealability? Is it a disability claim, or is it a theory supporting a disability claim? Joseph Hillyard served in the United States Army....

President Donald Trump signed a ‘Buy American and Hire American’ executive order yesterday, which could lead to significant changes to the H-1B temporary visa program. H-1B visas allow highly skilled, foreign workers to work in the United States for three years, extendable up to six, with 85,000 such visas issued every year. Here’s what you can expect following the president’s “Hire American” EO. The H-1B program is meant to allow employers to hire temporary foreign workers to fill highly-skilled positions which they cannot fill domestically....

In plaintiff-estate’s suit against the defendant health care providers and health care benefits providers alleging that the events resulting in the death happened because of the financial pressures and incentive that arose from the care providers’ contracts with the defendants, trial court’s order sustaining defendants’ demurrer is affirmed as the federal statute expressly preempts applications of state laws where standards for Medicare Advantage plans are established pursuant to the Medicare law, and to the extent the plaintiff seeks to allege causes of action based on state common law concepts of duty independent of the Health and Safety Code provisions cited, those common law causes of action are preempted....

Practice-ready, for the most part, is a myth. Yeah, you may do some clinical work, but it’s a whole different game when you don’t have a professor double-checking all of your work, and when you have to handle everything, from intake to trial to appeal, all on your own. So how do you go solo out of school without crashing, burning, and ending up as the defendant in a malpractice suit?...

About 160 Jay Elementary students received a surprise “gift” from Florida administrators this week: X-rated slap-bracelets. The bracelets were given to the students for their fundraising efforts. The offending items are made out of recycled metal tape measures that are then covered with a colorful cloth. They are meant to be “slapped” onto a student’s wrist. Unfortunately, one student became a little curious and removed the cloth covering. The school principal said that he wouldn’t necessarily call the photos X-rated....

There’s nothing wrong with a good natured rivalry. But poisoning trees is just bush league. Auburn University was stunned after someone apparently poisoned the university’s 130-year-old Toomer’s Oaks. The beautiful Toomer’s Corner trees are a post-game gathering place for victory celebrations. According to investigators, the oaks were dosed with “lethal amounts” of herbicide. Police have now arrested Harvey Almorn Updyke Jr., 62, who stands accused of poisoning the oaks. Updyke is a former Texas state trooper....

It’s the land of frivolous lawsuits, shady sole practitioners, Googling legal research, and dropping clients because they refuse to settle a baseless suit. It is ambulance chasing, angry phone calls, and threatening letters. It is everything you never wanted to be. But how do you avoid becoming another drone at another crappy law firm? Look for the warning signs Have you ever interned for a well-run law office? They tend to have files in filing cabinets, a busy calendar, and permanent support staff....

Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson must pay $15,000 in fines for using his office’s account to pay for some of his meals in violation of applicable conflict-of-interest laws, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fine is essentially punitive, as sources indicate that Thompson has already reimbursed the city for expensing his meals from January 2014 to February 2015. The amount billed to the city totaled approximately $3,500. Conflict of Interest Brooklyn’s Conflict of Interest Board concluded that Mr....

It’s not only award season for actors, but also for attorneys. Earlier this week we announced that InsideCounsel’s Transformative Leadership Awards are accepting nominations, and now we want to let you know that the State Bar of California is now accepting nominations for outstanding lawyers. The purpose of the awards is to “honor[] members of the legal community who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the profession.” Here is a breakdown of some of the awards that are open for nominations....

Catharine Pierce has won a fight to continue topless gardening work, wearing only a yellow thong and pink gloves. The Colorado woman had been feuding with her landlords, who wanted her to cover up. But now Boulder Housing Partners officials are backing off their plans to change the rules in the Foothills Community, prohibiting residents from being topless when they’re outside their homes, DailyCamera.com reports. Catherine was seen topless tending to her garden down the street from a school and in front of a busy road wearing only a yellow thong and pink gloves....

Here’s a case out of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals involving union activity and handbill-passing by non-employees. It’s settled law that a property owner can’t bar its employees from distributing union-related handbills. It’s also well settled that the same law does not apply to non-employees. Here’s where the D.C. Court offered some clarity. The employees passing out the handbills in this case were not employees of the hotel, but employees of an onsite restaurant....

Two tours of duty in Iraq didn’t kill Thomas Towers, Jr., but a reckless driver did. On March 14, 2008, Towers’ car was hit by another, driven by Andrew Gaudioso, who was found to have drugs in his system. After 4 months in a coma, Gaudioso was charged with vehicular homicide. Before the case could go to trial, the defense, prosecution and family of Thomas Towers reached an unusual plea deal....

After a judge dismissed domestic violence charges against Hope Solo in January, an appeals court reinstated the charges today. The American goalkeeper that lead the national team to World Cup glory this past summer is accused of attacking her half-sister and nephew last year. There is no timetable set for her trial yet, and Solo’s attorney says he will appeal the decision. No, Hope Solo was initially charged with two counts of fourth degree domestic violence....

If you’re going to pull off a robbery you’ll likely be seen by a security camera. Most people opt for a mask to hide their faces but a California man decided the perfect disguise would be to dress in drag instead. That plan didn’t work out so well for Leonard Brown, Jr. who allegedly robbed a Bank of America in Ceres, California in September. He was identified as the robber on Wednesday and a warrant was put out for his arrest....

Although Kerry Haggard was selling fake movie posters, the horror was real. The Georgia-based dealer, accused of selling $1 million worth of fake vintage horror movie posters over the Internet, has been arrested by federal authorities on mail fraud charges, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors say the Georgia man sold fake movie posters for vintage horror movies including “Frankenstein,” “Son of Frankenstein,” “Mummy’s Hand” and “Murder in the Rue Morgue....

Another day, another Google Glass legal run-in. This time, an Ohio man who wore Google Glass into a movie theater was in a dramatic plotline of his own when he was detained and questioned by special agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This legal snafu sounds way more exciting than the Google Glass-related distracted driving ticket that was recently dismissed. What the heck happened? An Ohio man wore Google Glass into an AMC theater, apparently because they’re fitted with his prescription lenses, a blogger at The Gadgeteer reports....

Plaintiff’s petition for writ of mandate is granted as the trial court erred in issuing a stay of the declaratory relief action as there are no issues which would overlap with the issues to be litigated in the underlying action, and that it is premature to consider any issues which may be raised in a bad faith counterclaim which has not yet been filed Read Great Am. Ins. Co. v. Sup....

In an action brought by doctors who were former shareholders of a medical corporation, trial court’s dismissal of the complaint is reversed and remanded where: 1) the second amended complaint states a cause of action; and 2) equitable circumstances alleged in the case warrant an exception to the requirement that plaintiffs maintain continuous ownership of the shares in order to bring a shareholder derivative action. Read Haro v. Ibarra, No. B213499 [HTML]...