Most couples vow to stay married “’til death do us part.” Or at least, ’til a strange attack by one spouse, usually over alleged cheating, rips them apart. Divorce and family lawyers know a thing or two about strange spousal attacks. While some attacks can be justified in the “heat of passion” – when a person is provoked into an intensely emotional state of mind that causes impulsive behavior – others stand alone as flat-out crimes....
Note to client: “When pleading guilty, do not blame someone else for your crime.” Oliver Schmidt, a former Volkswagen executive, apparently didn’t get the memo. Not that one anyway. He was sentenced to the maximum term of seven years and ordered to pay $400,000 for his part in the auto company’s scandal. Volkswagen cheated emissions tests, and Schmidt covered it up. “A Key Conspirator” In his own memo to a colleague in April 2014, Schmidt recognized the problem....
Lawyers have been riding a public relations high for the past few months, spurred almost exclusively by legal challenges to President Trump’s initiatives. When Trump stunned liberals and won the elections, law professors promised us that the heretofore almost unknown Emoluments Clause was going to save us. When Kellyanne Conway coined the phrase “alternative facts” and hawked Ivanka Trump’s clothing on air, lawyers sought to get her license suspended. And when Trump abruptly banned travel and immigration from seven majority-Muslim nations, lawyers swarmed the airports, where they were greeted by cheering crowds....
Usually, it’s not a good thing when lawyers need lawyers. And if an attorney goes to the opposition, it’s worse. That’s Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, right now. Cohen has turned to Lanny Davis, President Clinton’s former attorney, for help. Who is he and what could possibly go wrong? Former Clinton Lawyer Davis, a Democrat, served as special counsel to former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. After leaving the White House, Davis defended Clinton as a commentator during the ex-president’s impeachment proceedings....
“Arrested Development” is the second-most-brilliant television show ever made. Though no one watched for the three years when it originally aired, it developed a cult following through web-streaming on Hulu and Netflix. And now, it’s being resurrected with 15 new episodes that will air exclusively on Netflix beginning May 26. If you’re one of the show’s many zealous fans, then you’ve come to know and love the zany attorneys who have graced the screen with the wackadoodle Bluth family....
There is just nothing like a theme to brighten your day. However, the theme developing now on Legally Weird and elsewhere is not a good one; so let’s drag it out into the light and take a good look. Bullying and cyberbullying are becoming a constant, and it is out of control. Last week, it was a grandmother flipping out over comments on Facebook which ended in a knife attack. Then, it was old school face-to-face bullying that led a Texas teenager to take his life....
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the legal profession is the one of the least (if not the least) racially diverse professions in the nation – 88 percent of lawyers are white. By contrast, 72 percent of surgeons and physicians are white. But it looks like these numbers might shift in time. There’s evidence to suggest that as law school applications fell in the last few years, the number of Latinos and Blacks rose by proportion....
In plaintiff’s action against an automobile maker for negligence and products liability for severe injuries when he lost control of his BMW Z3 roadster convertible on a freeway, judgment of the trial court granting plaintiff’s new trial motion but denying a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the trial court prejudicially erred by granting a new trial based on inadmissible statements in juror declarations; 2) the record does not justify a new trial on the grounds stated by the trial court; 3) the new trial order cannot be affirmed on other grounds; and 4) plaintiffs have shown no prejudicial error in the judgment....
Fans have long-complained about sports leagues’ TV blackout rules, which restrict certain games from certain broadcasters. But one group of fans who decided to sue Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League over their use of blackouts got a huge boost last week. U.S. District Court judge Shira Scheindlin granted the plaintiffs’ motion to certify class-action status, finding that all consumers in the market for MLB and NHL content have the same alleged injury and can therefore sue as a group....
An alleged serial burglar is behind bars in Tennessee, thanks to an angry 8-year-old boy and his iPad app. Someone broke into Landon Crabtree’s home earlier this month and stole two iPads along with other valuables including the boy’s PlayStation, Nashville’s WTVF-TV reports. “He was really mad, because a lot of the stuff was his,” Landon’s mother said. But then the third-grader figured out how to get even. “I was looking on YouTube … and I saw some videos about that app, how to retrieve lost iPads,” Landon told The Tennessean....
Last week, the California Supreme Court decided that Corporations Code Section 2010, which governs the winding-up and survival of dissolved corporations, does not apply to foreign corporations. The case stemmed from Walter and Karen Greb’s 2008 asbestos lawsuit against Diamond International Corporation and several other entities. Although Diamond had been dissolved for many years, the Grebs sought recovery from unexhausted liability insurance that covered Diamond during the decades when it did business in California....
Trial court order granting plaintiff’s petition for writ of mandate to require defendant to reinstate plaintiff with full back pay, interest and benefits and requiring its governing board to determine whether plaintiff should be terminated is affirmed where: 1) the court properly ruled that the Agreement between the parties was invalid and unenforceable, and violated Education Code sec. 87485 and plaintiff’s due process rights; and 2) the court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting defendant’s laches and unclean hands defense, and in finding that the exhaustion of remedies doctrine did not apply....
Have you prepared your plan for the zombie apocalypse yet? For those of us with firearms, when that inevitable day arrives, we’ll live our lives according to the immortal words of the late Charlton Heston: “From my cold, dead hands!” Of course, in times of emergency, one doesn’t want to have to deal with pesky laws. That’s why Florida’s legislature is considering a bill to allow its citizens to carry firearms on their person during evacuations, regardless of any other laws, concealed carry permits, or training....
Fire rousts Widener Law School students. No hurt law students. Casebook casualties uncertain. Boise’s first law school set to open in 2011. Law profs may have to modify the “forest for the trees” analogy in Boise, aka the City of Trees. Grade Inflation is the Rage in Law Schools. U.S. inflation said to be slowing. Law school grade inflation to make up the slack. Investing won’t get you to law school; saving will....
One tip for criminals who want to siphon gasoline – bring a gas mask. Cops found a criminal passed out in his van while trying to siphon gasoline. Three men in Phoenix, Arizona were arrested for the gas heist. Robert Jeter, Jarad Desanti and George Brabakos were all in their mid-30s and had allegedly siphoned gas from another Arizona gas station this month. Their plot went something like this: The three men would arrive near the gas station’s underground fuel reservoir with a white van and another car....
In plaintiff’s action against her former employer alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) trial court did not err in granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment because the acts of alleged harassment did not rise to the level of establishing a hostile work environment as a matter of law; 2) no evidence showed plaintiff suffered any adverse employment action because she complained about sexual harassment; 3) the trial court properly granted summary judgment as to plaintiff’s intentional infliction of emotional distress claim as the record does not contain any evidence showing plaintiff was subjected to extreme or outrageous conduct by defendants as a matter of law....
Bad news for Giggles the pig: her race for mayor in Flint, Michigan has come to an early end. The “Giggles for Flint Mayor” campaign on Facebook was led by Michael Ewing, a trial lawyer in Michigan. Ewing launched the campaign in response to a mistake by the city clerk that would have denied several candidates from being listed on the ballot. After a short-lived campaign, Giggles’ point was heard and it’s back to pig-free business as usual in local politics....
In a somewhat surprising decision, the Supreme Court postponed enforcement of a Louisiana law requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The law would effectively close all but one of the state’s abortion clinics, and is similar to one from Texas that the Court struck down in 2016, finding such restrictions an “undue burden” on woman’s access to abortion, in violation of the Constitution. But the case isn’t over yet....
Stealing a delivery car seems like the perfect way to make a quick getaway, but a Connecticut man who stole a delivery car on Friday got caught – for making deliveries. Keith Hinds was arrested for reportedly stealing a Chinese food delivery car when the driver left the car idling outside a middle school. The driver called his boss to report it stolen, since he was still on his delivery route, the Associated Press reports....
Trial court order denying plaintiff’s petition for writ of mandate is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff’s exclusion from the Medi-Cal program amounted to disbarment and he therefore has a liberty interest at stake; 2) plaintiff has not identified any aspect of the administrative appeal procedure in connection with his temporary suspension and denial of reenrollment which fell short of the demands of due process; and 3) there is no support for plaintiff’s allegation that the trial court lacked the complete administrative record....
