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Trial court’s issuance of writ of mandate holding that the internal policy memorandum regarding the enforcement of California Code of Regulations title 14, sec. 43 prohibiting nudity in California state parks constitutes a regulation is reversed, where the memorandum in question was adopted without substantially complying with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and is thus an unenforceable underground regulation. Read Naturist Action Comm. v. California State Dep’t of Parks and Rec....

Colorado legalized recreational marijuana use a few years ago and neighbors of the Rocky Mountain State lost their collective minds. Nebraska and Oklahoma sued Colorado, hoping the Supreme Court would clamp down on the state’s new pot laws. And apparently Kansas cops have just been pulling over every car with Colorado plates, claiming that just having license plates from a weed-legal state was grounds for detention and search. But the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals isn’t buying it, nor was it buying two Kansas Highway Patrol officers’ claims of immunity for calling drug-sniffing dogs to a traffic stop, just because the driver had Colorado plates....

Corporate purse tightening continues to impact how in-house legal departments work, a new study shows. Companies increased their total legal spend by just a single percentage point, according HRB Consulting’s 2016 Law Department Survey. But how that cash is being spent is changing. Corporate legal departments are reducing their spending on outside counsel, the survey found, while upping their investments in legal technology. Meanwhile, in-house salaries have shown only the most modest gains....

If you’re a bootlegger, you may have to get creative with your advertising. And we here at FindLaw have extolled the virtues of small businesses utilizing social media to get their message and product out there to the people. But there’s a flip side to that coin, one that we’ve also discussed around these parts: the cops have access to Facebook and probably your photos as well. Well three Florida moonshiners are learning that lesson the hard way, after deputies discovered they were selling moonshine through a Facebook page....

Apple must make some really good mobile phones. Two men who claimed their iPhones were stolen by prostitutes fired shots at a motel door to get their gadgets back. Cesar Salmeron, 28, and Jasiel Salmeron, 25, apparently tracked down the thieves to a motel room in California at around 8 a.m. They wanted to confront the people inside, Fox 40 reports. So naturally, they fired a gun at the door....

Move over Cruella de Vil, there’s a new puppy thief in town, and he likes to stealthily move those dogs by smuggling them out in his pants. A security camera in an Orlando, Florida, pet shop captured a man surreptitiously stuffing puppies, including a miniature Daschund and a pug, into his sweatpants and exiting the store, reports The Huffington Post. It’s a good thing he didn’t try to swipe a Great Dane....

In a first for the NFL, the league has agreed to allow a neutral arbitrator to rule on Ray Rice’s appeal of his indefinite suspension. NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said in an email that both the league and the players association had submitted candidates for a neutral arbitrator, ESPN reports. Rice was suspended from the league indefinitely after video footage surfaced of the former Baltimore Ravens running back punching his wife in an Atlantic City casino....

Cleveland is one of eight cities to tax visiting professional athletes who play games in the city. But their taxation scheme was unique, and, according to the Supreme Court, illegal. The United States Supreme Court declined to hear Cleveland’s appeal of an Ohio State Supreme Court ruling on the city’s so-called jock tax, effectively saying that the city could tax athletes, but it was taxing them on the wrong basis. Considering most of us didn’t even know there was a jock tax before now, let’s take a minute to unpack the Court’s ruling....

Though 2Ls and 3Ls are accustomed to the rigmarole, 1Ls may be surprised to see that peppered in with their fellow classmates’ armful of casebooks are a number of equally sizeable paperbacks with distinct names. Seeing “Gilbert’s”, “Emanuel’s”, “High Court Summaries” – can make you wonder…did you miss the memo? Worry not. First off, the books are popular law school study aids and supplements (i.e. hornbooks) that students use in addition to, and in conjunction with, their casebooks to grasp cases and key concepts better....

In a patent infringement action involving systems for monitoring the flow of automobile traffic on thoroughfares, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) defendant’s monitoring device does not practice the “defining traffic lanes” step of the disputed claim and therefore does not literally infringe plaintiff’s patent; and 2) plaintiff’s infringement by equivalents claim fails, as the manner in which defendant’s monitoring device defines lanes is much different than the patented invention....

Three years I spent in fair Lexington, Virginia, as a law student at the world’s greatest law school, Washington and Lee. And in three years, I never once saw a Confederate flag, at least on campus. Off-campus, sure. But never on campus. There are a few things you have to understand about old Dubyanel. It’s in the rural South. And the University is recognized as both one of the top liberal arts schools and law schools in large part because of two men: George Washington and Robert E....

If you’re licensed to practice in the state of California, you’ve probably received the email notice that you need to get fingerprinted again. And if you take a look at the State Bar’s announcement, you’ll probably just be frustrated as the apologetic note basically explains that the bar made a mistake. What worse than the frustration of knowing the bar goofed and now you have to waste your time is that it expects its members to bear the cost of its mistake (See California Rule of Court 9....

Generally speaking, having a cocktail or a beer or two won’t land you in trouble. After all, alcohol consumption is legal for those of us over the age of 21. But, there are exceptions to every rule. Drinking or being drunk in public, or driving after you’ve had too much to drink can lead to criminal penalties, including fines and significant prison time. And in the State of Virginia just being near booze can mean a year in jail....

Television loves lawyers. And lawyers love to watch other lawyers. At FindLaw, HTGAWM and Better Call Saul are mentioned frequently over cups of gourmet coffee. For those of you who’ve been too busy to keep up with the latest on your television (or device), here are few quick and dirty summaries of our favorite television attorneys. 1. How to Get Away With Murder How to Get Away With Murder, or HTGAWM, premiered on ABC in 2014 and follows Annalise Keating, a criminal defense attorney and law professor at a prominent Philadelphia university....

It’s late April. For many of you, celebration season is about to hit full swing. Finals are ending (party!), graduation is approaching (party), it’s Friday (“party and party and yeah!”), and if you’re a bit older, February bar results are probably trickling in. Basically, it’s drinking season, and a long season it’ll be, with summer approaching. What makes a good drinking night? Location, drinks, company, safety – and a lifeline, just in case....

He had us at “hello,” but now his creditors are demanding, “Show me the money!” The man who inspired the movie “Jerry Maguire,” superagent Leigh Steinberg, has filed for bankruptcy. Steinberg filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Orange County, Calif., on Jan. 11, the Associated Press reports. Steinberg’s debts include $1.4 million in unpaid rent for an office he leased in Newport Beach. The famous sports agent blamed his financial problems on a long battle with alcoholism....

When it comes to attorneys’ fees, some good deeds go unpaid. Counsel for Henry Simmons, who suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, learned that lesson the hard way. After the attorney filed a last-minute claim under a federal statute, the client disappeared and the case was dismissed. The lawyer filed a petition for attorneys’ fees, which were allowed under the law. But a federal appeals court said the claim was not reasonable – even though the attorney had to file the case if only to preserve the statute of limitations....

“No one who graduates from an ABA-accredited law school with a strong GPA should have to take the bar exam.” At least this is the opinion of the president of Brooklyn Law School, Nicholas Allard. “The test is “expensive, and not a great measure of competence to actually practice law.” Allard’s opinion echoes those of many frustrated law students who regard the exam as an outmoded relic of law school mythos and are calling for it to be abolished....

The first week of the Supreme Court’s October 2011 term was not a pretty one for lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell or the Office of the Alabama Attorney General. On Tuesday, the Court heard oral arguments in the case of death row inmate Cory Maples. Maples missed his appeal deadline as a result of an S&C mailroom mix-up and a lazy clerk of the court. Alabama doesn’t care, and still wants to put him to death....

If your coffee didn’t perk you up in the morning already, a new warning label may do it: “This product contains ingredients known to the State of California to cause cancer.” That’s what a Los Angeles judge wants Starbucks to put on its coffee cups, or something like that. In any case, the decision in Council for Education and Research on Toxics v. Starbucks Corporation definitely opened the eyes of coffee retailers....