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In the case of Hard Rock Holdings v. NLRB, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the National Labor Relations Board in the Board’s request to seek enforcement of a court order directing Hard Rock Holdings, LLC., to bargain in good faith with a labor union. Hard Rock Holdings owns the famous Hard Rock Cafe. The quick facts of the case are as follows: The NLRB certified an election where a bargaining unit was named to represent the valet parking employees of the company....

For those who can’t get enough appellate court action, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has announced that, starting this fall term, it will begin live-streaming the audio of all non-sealed, non-classified, matters. Currently, the court only live-streams the audio upon request. But, it still uploads the audio for every case on the same day as arguments. Additionally, the court already provides an impressive online archive of audio recordings dating back to 2007....

Mayor Bloomberg is a stickler for healthy living! In a city that never sleeps and is known for an excess of anything and everything, it will soon be known as a place with less… less salt that is. The New York Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg’s administration has announced a broad new health initiative that aims to encourage salt reduction. The salt reduction initiative is not a salt law, but it would encourage food manufacturers and food chains to reduce the amount of salt in their offerings....

Twenty-year-olds: Do you have 15 luxury sports cars, but want one more? Who doesn’t! Are you in the difficult position of having a Ferrari 458 Italia but wanting a brand, spanking new Ferrari 458 Italia? We’ve all been there! Worried your Swiss millionaire dad won’t buy it for you? Ugh, parents! But as hard as it may seem, just ask your pops for that new $300,000 car – don’t hire two goons to set it on fire....

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s finding that Bose Corporation (BOSE) committed fraud on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in renewing the registration for the trademark WAVE, and its resultant order cancelling the registration entirely, is reversed as there was no substantial evidence that Bose intended to deceive the PTO in the renewal process. Read In re Bose Corp., No. 08-1448 Appellate Information Appeal from: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board...

When Justice Scalia passed away last Saturday, politicians and pundits immediately set about remembering the conservative jurist and his legacy. But one voice stands out among the rest: that of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose relationship with Antonin Scalia proved that friendship knew no boundaries. Their camaraderie spanned boroughs (he’s from Queens, she’s from Brooklyn), backgrounds (he attended Harvard, she’s the only Columbia grad on the High Court), and, of course, politics....

Ja Rule once crooned romantically, “Where would I be without you?” Though one should (almost) never become romantically involved with the support staff, lawyers, associates especially, often maintain a dependent and (almost) intimate relationship with that person. You rely upon your administrative professional –that’s a P.C. term for secretary or paralegal – for everything from proofreading to research to remembering to send flowers on your mother’s birthday. Editor’s note, April 26, 2016: This post was first published in April, 2013....

The California’s Voter Guide is set to be printed on August 15th. But supporters of Prop 64, the marijuana legalization initiative, have filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to take the bite out of various anti-marijuana ads. With only days left before the law to legalize marijuana is brought before the people of California, both sides are gnashing their teeth. Lawsuit Against No Campaign The pro Prop 64 group, known as “Yes on 64,” has filed a lawsuit against “No on 64” with the goal of removing or amending language on an informational pamphlet that will be sent to voters, according to the Sacramento Bee....

For the second time in a week, an apparently irate airline passenger stripped naked in front of TSA agents in protest – and promptly received a one-way ticket to jail. John E. Brennan, 49, of Portland, Ore., disrobed upon arrival at the TSA security checkpoint at Portland International Airport about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, The Oregonian reports. He did so “as a form of protest against TSA screeners who he felt were harassing him,” according to police....

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has never been particularly quiet in his protection of the state’s consumers. Schneiderman has sued FedEx for shipping untaxed contraband, J. Crew and other retailers for on-call scheduling, Barney’s for frisking minority shoppers, Bank of America and Wells Fargo for mortgage foreclosure abuses, UPS for falsifying delivery times, and even Donald Trump for his sham university. And now the busiest AG in the country is setting his prosecutorial sights on daily fantasy sports sites....

David E. McCraw, newly appointed deputy general counsel for the New York Times, isn’t one to shy away from confronting powerful people. At least, that’s the reputation he earned for himself when he stood up against Donald Trump’s lawyers during the presidential campaign last year. They demanded that the Times apologize and retract an article about two women who alleged Trump had groped them. Showing that the pen may be mightier than the sword, McCraw virtually stared them down and said: “Go ahead....

In plaintiff’s challenge to the Board’s new policy of charging established monthly base rates to parcels with existing utility connections, regardless of whether the owner was actually using the district’s services, trial court’s judgment in favor of the water district is affirmed as, a minimum charge imposed on parcels with connections to a water district’s utility systems for the basic cost of providing water or sewer service, regardless of actual use, is a charge for an immediately available property-related water or sewer service as defined in article XIII D section 6(b)(4), and consequently does not require ballot approval by affected owners....

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is being sued by the parents of two young women who blame Kraft for their drunken driving deaths. In 2008, three friends – 20-year-old Debra Davis, 19-year-old Alexa Latteo, and 20-year-old Nina Houlihan – took part in tailgating festivities outside the New England Country Music Festival held at Gillette Stadium. The tailgating event was allegedly well-known to be a haven for underage drinking and partying, and the three underage women got hammered as they partied, Boston’s WBUR radio reports....

Fireamr enhancement stricken from defendant’s sentence in gang-related murder conviction People v. Yang, C062816, involved a prosecution of defendant for voluntary manslaughter and for participating in a criminal street gang. In striking the jury’s finding true a firearm enhancement on the voluntary manslaughter conviction in sentencing defendant to 25-years-to-life, the court imposed a previously stayed 10-year enhancement for a gang-committed violent felony as the enhancement for firearm discharge by a co-principal that caused death in a gang-committed felony does not apply to him because defendant was not convicted of one of the qualifying offenses enumerated in section 12022....

Christopher Crego helped make police work a whole lot easier. Instead of wearing out shoe leather trying to track down the 39-year-old fugitive, police simply read the information Crego posted on Facebook and MySpace making clear where he worked. Lockport police posted a thank-you note on Crego’s Facebook page saying: “It was due to your diligence in keeping us informed that now you are under arrest.” Lockport police passed on information about Crego to U....

Texas Supreme Court Justice Don R. Willett could be the most famous justice on Twitter. With more than 60,000 followers, and a near-constant stream of jokes, trivia, and personal insight, Justice Willett has earned the title of “Tweeter Laureate of Texas.” He’s also gained the attention of another Twitter enthusiast, President-elect Donald Trump. The justice was included on Trump’s original shortlist of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees and has a fair shot of making it to the High Court in the near future....

A jury has awarded more than $16 million in damages in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of California users of an STD-positive dating site accused of leaking confidential information. The jury awarded users of the site Positivesingles.com, which catered to those living with sexually transmitted infections, $1.5 million dollars in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages, reports the New York Daily News. The lawsuit was filed after users of the site discovered that their profiles were being displayed on other websites owned by the PostiveSingles....

Judge Hilary Green of Houston, Texas, was recently suspended after confirming allegations of illegal drug use, sexting with her bailiff, and illicitly taking prescription drugs. While the suspension is temporary, pending the final outcome of her case before the Texas Supreme Court, her own admissions are rather damning. In her responses to written questions from the state’s judicial council, Judge Green admits to taking marijuana, ecstasy, and cough syrup. In a deposition of her former “boyfriend,” Claude Barnes, he details that Green also used cocaine and hired prostitutes....

Because lawyers and law students don’t spend enough time learning and practicing their chosen profession, there are three new lawyer shows scheduled to debut for the fall season TV lineup. The success of Law and Order, Judge Judy, and law-themed movies is a testament to the popularity of the drama inherent in our profession. So here is a run down of the latest lawyer shows to hit TV …. 1. Outlaw, starring Jimmy Smits, is about a Supreme Court Justice turned born-again social crusader....

As lawyers, we can’t advise our clients on the best way to break the law. We also aren’t supposed to break the law ourselves. It’s that ethics stuff that you slept through in law school. In Washington (and Colorado), it is perfectly legal to toke up. Recreational use of marijuana, thanks to state initiatives, does not violate state law. It does, however, violate federal law to buy, sell, smoke, snort, chew, or to do pretty much anything with weed....