And they would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling aquarium goers, and staff, and surveillance video, and tips from the public… In a robbery so brazen and ill-conceived that only the most generous would call it a heist, three Texans lifted a 16-inch horn shark from a tank at the San Antonio Aquarium, transferred “Miss Helen” to a towel-covered bucket, then wheeled her away in a baby stroller....
Butler v. Shinseki, No. 09-7066, concerned a challenge to the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims denying petitioner’s request for earlier effective dates for various service-connected foot disabilities. Because factual findings of when a disability was claimed or service connection established are not subject to review by the Federal Circuit, the denial is affirmed. Furthermore, these unreviewable factual findings appear to provide an independent basis for the Veterans Court decision....
A Wendy’s drive-thru worker who served child porn to select customers will spend nearly 22 years behind bars. Juan Antonio Rosa, 36, had previously served five years in prison for possession of child pornography. But investigators caught Rosa in the act again, this time distributing porn from a Wendy’s drive-thru, San Antonio’s KENS-TV reports. Rosa’s ruse involved taking orders from people he met online via social media and giving them a choice of secret passwords to use in-person: “Scooby Doo” or “(Expletive) on a Stick,” prosecutors said....
A white supremacist sheriff candidate. It seems like an oxymoron, but Shaun Winkler is the real deal. The 33-year-old is running for sheriff in Bonner County, Idaho, despite his affiliation with the Aryan Nation and the Church of Jesus Christ-Christian. He calls himself a “concerned citizen,” and believes law enforcement isn’t doing enough to combat drugs and sex offenders. He also claims he won’t discriminate on the job. Wrong. There’s nothing illegal about a white supremacist sheriff candidate....
Bobbie J. Smith has given new meaning to the expression keep your nose out of it. The 27-year-old Jonesville woman faces felony charges for allegedly biting off her sister’s nose. According to the Jackson Citizen, Bobbie Smith bit Sandra Smith, 28, and one-third of her nose was gone. Police said the younger sister bit off “a significant portion” of Sandra Smith’s nose during a fight Sunday. Police recovered the detached piece....
Over the past few decades, women began entering the legal field in much higher numbers than ever before. More recently, the number of women becoming lawyers has begun to level off. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but hopefully it’s not an indication that progress in general is leveling off for women in the law. A glance at the male to female salary gap for lawyers will show that there is still a long way to go....
If you’re thinking to yourself, “Bridges? What bridges?” Then it may already be too late. Developing a strong career path involves cultivating relationships with all your professional connections from day one. You may also be thinking, “What’s the big deal? Will burning a bridge or two actually matter?” Like most industries, the legal field is surprisingly small. You know all the legal professionals that pop up on your LinkedIn account? Those are your potential bridges, and they exist as a finite number....
In a petition for compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, the denial of the petition is reversed where the special master erroneously: 1) determined that the testimony of Petitioner’s physicians was insufficient to establish “a logical sequence of cause and effect” leading to Petitioner’s vaccine-related injury; and 2) imposed upon Petitioner an elevated evidentiary burden, requiring conclusive proof in the medical literature linking Petitioner’s symptoms to the vaccine at issue....
California’s Supreme Court just potentially opened up a can of worms in its recent holding that certain non-judicial foreclosure borrowers have standing to bring suit on allegedly void deeds of trusts. Although the ruling is long past the time when many borrowers had defaulted on their home loans in droves, it could still set the tone for borrowers and lenders in the now profitable scheme of securitization of home interests....
There was a time when the California Judicial Council thought it was a good idea to unify the entire California court system’s computers and make sure every court was operating on the same platform. And apparently, the plan that got put in place some years ago has failed. Fortunately, the council’s technology committee seems to have recognized where it should be focusing and has announced a new technology and strategic development plan....
If you’ve gotten a paternity test or fetal DNA test in the last twenty years, you have probably benefited from the discovery of cell-free fetal DNA, or cffDNA. This DNA is non-cellular bits of DNA floating freely in the blood stream of a pregnant woman, which can be extracted from maternal plasma and serum and tested for paternity and other genetic information. After cffDNA was discovered, a method of detecting and interpreting it was commercialized by Sequenom and patented by Drs....
The most senior judge in our land had some critical words for his more junior federal counterparts and for lawyers in general. In Chief Justice Robert’s opinion, there’s just too much in the way of bad-faith tactics in the practice of law. Whatever happened, lamented the Chief Justice, to just, speedy, and efficient resolutions to civil disputes? It appears that Roberts is at the end of his tether waiting for lawyers to police themselves and has encouraged lower federal judges to assume a greater role in management and progression of the discovery process in civil disputes....
NBA star Chris Bosh’s contentious child-custody battle appears headed for a new venue, which means the Miami Heat power forward will stay in Orlando after Sunday’s All-Star Game. Bosh is set to appear in family court in Orlando on Monday morning, over a dispute with Allison Mathis, the mother of his 3-year-old daughter Trinity, the website TMZ reports. Bosh is supposed to see his daughter 12 days a month, Bosh asserts in a court filing, according to TMZ....
Dear Aspiring California Lawyers: Hi there! We hope your studies are progressing, your flashcards are finished, and your outlines are dog-eared and showing signs of love. In two weeks, the unpleasantness that is the California bar exam will be behind you. You’re probably getting nervous. That’s normal. The most important thing you can do between now and July 26 is focus. Tune out everything else around you, and study. Have you heard about some of the crazy stuff that happens across this great land of ours during the bar?...
The Federal Circuit decided a suit brought by two taxpayers claiming that the tax assessments against are invalid and a patent infringement suit. Bush v. US, No. 09-5008, involved taxpayers’ consolidated tax refund suits claiming that the IRS failed to issue deficiency notices as required by law and thus, claiming that the tax assessments against them are invalid. Although the court agreed with the plaintiffs that the deficiency notices were required, it ultimately affirmed the Tax Court’s dismissal of the claims as plaintiffs failed to establish that the failure to send the required notices was harmful....
Trackman v. Kenney, C061165, concerned a challenge to a trial court’s grant of defendant’s motion to vacate a default judgment entered in favor of plaintiff, finding that the evidence showed no actual service on defendant. In reversing, the court held that, because defendant’s motion was filed more than two years after entry of judgment, the trial court’s review was limited to the face of the record, and therefore, the trial court erred by considering the evidence attached to defendant’s motion....
The Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released her long-awaited proposed regulation regarding Title IX sexual harassment and sexual assault grievances, and how they must be handled in education administrative proceedings. Title IX is a federal rule, adopted in 1972, that bars sexual discrimination. It applies to all schools that receive federal funding, from pre-schools through graduate schools. However, Title IX is most closely associated with colleges and universities; all public and most private establishments of higher learning receive some level of federal funding....
The puns are so ripe for the picking on this one, that even the NBC News report leads off with a “Duke of Derrier” quip. So, in the spirit of perversity, this blog will give it to you straight on, so to speak, and keep the pun count in the low single digits for a change. Here it is: the originator of the “Original Butt Sketch” is taking what he says is a copycat artist to court to protect his good name....
When the Indianapolis Colts hired cheerleader Malori Wampler they said they had “no problem” with her former work for Playboy, Wampler said. Then the pictures surfaced. Wampler, 27, claims in a lawsuit recently filed in Indianapolis federal court that she got fired mid-season from her position as a Colts cheerleader. The firing, she says, resulted after a fan sent the Colts photographs of Wampler posing in a painted-on bikini. Her private parts were covered, reports the Indianapolis Star....
Introducing our Ex-Lawyer of the Week: Susan Hanover. A former corporate and labor-law attorney in her native South Africa, Hanover no longer crafts legal arguments for clients. Instead, she crafts a dazzling array of designer jewelry for customers and high-fashion retailers worldwide. Hanover launched her first collection in 2005 after years of designing jewelry as a hobby – and after moving with her husband to the United States, where she is not licensed to practice law....
