In a petition for a writ of mandamus invalidating the trial court’s grant of defendant’s motion to compel arbitration, the petition is granted where plaintiff’s decedent’s death rendered it impossible to make any evidentiary finding regarding whether her alleged waiver of her right to a jury trial was knowing and voluntary. Read Rodriguez v. Superior Court, No. B212603 Appellate Information Filed August 25, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Jackson Counsel...
A San Francisco strip club is suing Oracle after one of its employees “racked” up $33,540 on a company credit card during a tech conference – and Oracle refused to foot the bill. It’s a shame Jose Manuel Gomez Sanchez, the Oracle employee and strip club aficionado, didn’t pay the $33,540 in $1 bills in lieu of his Oracle-issued American Express card. But can Oracle be liable for an employee’s, um, “extracurricular activities” during its Oracle OpenWorld fest in SF?...
Nagging litigation between the National Football League and retired players over treatment of concussions might finally be drawing to a close. The two sides first reached a settlement over three years ago, but the settlement itself has been contentious, with hundreds of former players opting out of the settlement to file their own lawsuits and a judge even saying that the initial settlement amount of $765 million wasn’t enough. But, finally, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the settlement, meaning it could go into effect as early as March, when the NFL will begin paying out around $1 billion over the next 65 years....
Let’s be real. A lot of students go to law school with dreams of big paydays. Elite schools advertise starting salaries for their graduates of $160,000. But only a tiny percentage of students ever get jobs in this pay stratosphere. So, which law schools set you up for the biggest salaries after graduation? Thankfully for us, Forbes looked at mid-career compensation of attorneys, when many lawyers are typically on a more lucrative career path....
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a naked old man! Herman Broadus, 70, was arrested in Mississippi on two counts of indecent exposure after he stood and waved, nude, to two young girls from his doorway. Broadus has learned the hard way that carelessness can get you arrested. “He claims he was headed to the shower, and got caught up in something on TV when he walked by it. He said he forgot he was naked, saw the girls and waved to them,” said Sheriff Mike Byrd, reports The Mississippi Press....
Two self-proclaimed witches arrested for an alleged extortion plot are in a ton of toil and trouble. The bewitching pair targeted public figures and a TV star who forked over nearly $600,000 in exchange for spells that didn’t work, the Associated Press reports. Who were these gullible victims? You’ve probably never heard of them because they live in Romania. Many Romanians continue to believe in witchcraft, the AP reports. That apparently included Romanian TV personality Oana Zavoranu, who paid the witches to protect her from an even more powerful, sinister force – her own mother....
Forget Atticus Finch, the Supreme Court, or BigLaw partner paychecks. We’ve got a new source of legal inspiration for you: Dolly Parton. And by inspiration, we’re not talking about humming along to ‘Jolene’ as you type up a memo, either. There’s actually a lot to learn from the endless career of one of country music’s most famous singers. Here are three lessons from Dolly Parton that we think plenty of attorneys can take to heart....
Yesterday, my Royals, against pretty overwhelming odds, made it to the World Series. A team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 29 years made the World Series. A team that seemed to ignore every advancement in baseball knowledge and statistics, somehow, made it to the World Series. It’s a Cinderella story. It’s a movie in the making. It’s every kid’s (or blogger’s) dream. It’s every sports cliche ever uttered – and I’m loving it....
Thinking about moving to Alaska? Sure you’ll have to deal with depressingly long winter nights and even a surprisingly high crime rate, but here’s one draw: the Alaska dividend. Eager Alaskans learned this week that this year’s Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) dividend will be $900. That’s lower than it’s been in years past (the record payout was $2,069 in 2008), but it’s still more than last year’s $878, The Associated Press reports....
In plaintiffs’ dispute over the sale of a house purchased from defendant, trial court’s decision to vacate the arbitrator’s award in favor of the plaintiffs is affirmed and plaintiffs’ petition for writ of mandate denied as the arbitrator excluded material evidence that substantially prejudiced defendant pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1286.2 Read Burlage v. Sup. Ct., No. B211431 Filed October 20, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Gilbert Counsel...
Two California attorneys were slapped with sanctions last month for filing a frivolous appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The attorneys, William Veale of Walnut Creek and Dennis Cunningham of San Francisco, along with Mustapha Ndanusa of New York, were representing April Gallop, the plaintiff in the 9/11 “Truther” Lawsuit. Gallop, an Army Specialist who suffered “head and brain” injuries in the Pentagon attack, claimed that a bomb planted by a coalition of senior U....
Whether you’re still trying to get your first trial or have done hundreds, it’s always good to learn new methods. The Rutter Group’s The Evidence and Trial Wheels: Two Dynamic Devices for Trial Lawyers program can help participants develop those automatic trial reflexes and the confidence to resolve evidentiary issues at trial. (Disclosure: The Rutter Group is FindLaw’s sister company.) Unlike other seminars where speakers talk at the classroom, participants will get first-hand experience spinning “The Wheels” and testing out methods as they are being taught....
In an appeal from an order striking plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that it converted to a Delaware corporation without complying with California’s corporate conversion requirements, the order is reversed where plaintiff had the capacity to maintain pending actions under Nevada and Delaware laws, plaintiff was duly qualified to transact intrastate business in California, and Corporations Code section 1157 did not apply to the conversion of a foreign corporation to another foreign business entity....
It turns out that one of the best ways to aggravate and intensify a penal sentence against you in California is to be carrying a concealed weapon while you commit a crime. This is demonstrated in the crime of People v. Aguilar. The legal issue at bar is whether “crimes of moral turpitude” include not just the more traditional crimes of dishonesty, but also other criminal acts that don’t quite so neatly fall into a clean category....
In a decision that will delay - or kill - a Cape Cod wind energy project, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently reminded us that a federal agency’s departure from its own handbook is arbitrary and capricious. Cape Wind Associates proposed building 130 wind turbines, each 440 feet tall, in a 25-square mile area of Nantucket Sound. If constructed, the project would be the nation’s first offshore wind farm....
The California Supreme Court upheld the death sentence in the killing of a police officer, reports the Los Angeles Times. The unanimous decision came down on Monday, where the court rejected the appeal of Enrique Parra Duenas. Duenas was behind the fatal shooting of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hoenig in 1997, according to Patch. Duenas’ appeal hinged on the dismissal of three prospective jurors and evidentiary issues involving the animated recreation of the crime scene....
The internet was abuzz recently when it was reported that Robert “Sandy” Vietze, an up and coming U.S. skier, peed on a girl while flying between Portland and New York City. Arrested for misdemeanor indecent exposure, it now appears as though the story wasn’t quite right. The family of his supposed 12-year-old victim has said that, while Vietze peed next to the girl’s seat, he did not pee on her seat while she happened to be in it....
Universal Pictures recently had to reach a settlement with a number of news outlets in Alaska over its promotional movie ads that used fake news archives in order to promote their movie entitled The Fourth Kind. LA Times reports that the movie studio planted fake news stories online that claimed to be from actual news outlets in Alaska. Some of the fake news stories that the movie studio planted were articles such as an obituary and news story about the death of the main character of the movie named Dr....
Having a pizza (or ten) delivered to someone unbeknownst to them can be a funny prank, if done in a lighthearted, giving, manner (meaning you pay for the pizza). However, more often than not when pranksters send unwanted deliveries, those deliveries go unpaid, the targets don’t really suffer as they don’t have to accept the delivery and just had to open a door, and the businesses and delivery drivers bear the brunt of the consequences....
Soccer star Hope Solo was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of domestic violence. Solo, the goalkeeper for the gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s National Team and the Seattle Reign professional team, is accused of assaulting both her sister and nephew, Reuters reports. Solo’s lawyer, however, claims that Solo was the one assaulted in the incident. What are police saying Solo did to get hit with this real-life red card? Police responded to a 911 call early Sunday from Solo’s home in Kirkland, Washington, just outside of Seattle....
