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In proceedings arising from the loss of insureds’ home from a fire, insureds’ petition for writ of mandate challenging a trial court’s grant of the California FAIR Plan Association’s (CFPA) motion to disqualify a party appraiser selected by insureds is granted and the order of the trial court vacated where: 1) party-selected appraisers may be disqualified when a substantial business relationship exists between the appraiser and a party; and 2) the disclosed relationship between the appraiser and the insureds’ counsel does not warrant his disqualification....

The busted taillight is a driving offense that has triggered thousands of arrests, maybe more, including that of James Meyers, 37, of North Carolina. It’s not the taillight that’s the problem, but getting pulled over is an opportunity for cops to run a name and find out if there are any warrants out for an arrest. There was one for Meyers – he failed to return a rented video 14 years ago....

The District of Columbia has some positions open for attorneys, so get your resumes ready. To start, the District of Columbia election for Attorney General has proven contentious with the public and politicians at odds about when the election should take place. And in less controversial job hunting, the D.C. Court of Appeals has announced that the application period for the Criminal Justice Act Panel is now open. D.C. Attorney General Elections Four years ago, the citizens of the District of Columbia passed a charter amendment that provided that elections for the D....

Trial court’s sentence and conviction of defendant for assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury is affirmed for the most part, but the sentence is reversed and remanded as the trial court erred in imposing two enhancements for defendant’s infliction of great bodily injury on the same victim in the commission of a single offense when it should have imposed only the greatest of those enhancements as required by section 1170....

Stand-alone schools enjoy a certain independence, but they also fall alone when they run out of money. Unlike law schools affiliated with larger institutions, stand-alone schools have nobody to fall back on. It’s part of the problem that put private schools out of business in recent years, as the stumbling economy pushed down enrollments. But that’s not the problem at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, where administrators have raised nearly $250 million to buoy the law school budget....

When employees go on vacation, there is often a sense that checking in is required. This is especially true for salaried employees who will find their workload stagnating and stinking upon their return. However, if it becomes part of the company culture that unplugging during vacation is unexpected, it shouldn’t be a surprise when a high turnover rate becomes the status quo. Surprisingly, it’s not just employees who often feel pressured into working on vacation, but managers do too, and are often the ones setting the bad precedent....

Relationships with lawyers aren’t always the easiest. We’ve got big personalities, demanding jobs, crippling student debt – and those are just the good parts. But being a lawyer (or law student) doesn’t need to mean being alone. To help you find someone to love – and to make it work once you’ve found them – here are our top relationship tips, from the FindLaw archives. Sure, you could look for love at a bar, or at work, or among friends....

Weed tourism seems to be a booming business for Colorado, where a new startup called AirTHC is providing pot enthusiasts with legal places to enjoy herb. The company launched in early April, just in time for the reefer reverie of 4/20. Denver’s KMGH-TV reports that AirTHC was inspired to “fill a void” between legal marijuana and a lack of places to legally smoke. So what’s the low-down on AirTHC’s high-ly anticipated rentals?...

Being the son of a big name former mayor should be good for a lot of perks, one would think. A spot on a college golf team … not one of them. Or at least that’s what a magistrate judge may be indicating in the lawsuit brought by Andrew Giuliani against Duke University. Another perk not flowing from his namesake appears to be respect, either, as U.S. magistrate Judge Wallace Dixon took Caddyshack-quote-pot-shots at the lawsuit which he indicated should be dismissed....

An Arby’s employee was fired from the fast food chain after fleeing from an armed robber. Ironically, the employee was fired for violating a restaurant safety policy following her escape from a knife-wielding robber, reports The Consmerist. The unidentified 56-year-old Arby’s assistant manager in Dayton, Ohio was alone in the restaurant last week when she heard the doorbell. The woman thought that it was a coworker who had come back to the restaurant to retrieve something....

Poor Bilbo Baggins. All he wanted was to be a good host when suddenly the hero of “The Hobbit” found himself bound to a long and complicated contract. Firstly, the movie version of Bilbo got a much worse deal than the one in the book. The contract on the screen in Peter Jackson’s newest film looks much longer than the one described in J.R.R. Tolkien’s original novel. But whether it’s long or short, the real question for legal enthusiasts is: Is the contract binding?...

The state of California is facing a very real lawsuit over the very questionable existence of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The lawsuit is seeking that the state acknowledge the existence of Sasquatch as it both causes Bigfoot researchers, like the plaintiff, to suffer reputational harm, as well as endangers the public. The plaintiff believes that the Sasquatch can be dangerous. Researchers claim one can weigh as much as 800 pounds, also, as we learned from Harry and the Hendersons, living with a Sasquatch can be fraught with risks....

Dylan, 14, didn’t plan to become the poster child for a lousy educational system. An eighth-grader in Central California, Dylan reads at an early second-grade level. He tested in the bottom one percent of students his age. That is now public knowledge, thanks to a lawsuit filed by his parents and others who complain the state has failed its students. For Dylan, it may be worse now if he reads the newspaper....

Let the public shaming continue. We have noted several instances of judges using public shaming as a way to punish those convicted of various crimes. One of the most startling was the thief in Texas sentenced to stand outside the local mall holding a sign detailing his crimes, every weekend, for six years. Our country used to use the public stockade to shame criminals. Now it’s billboards, police websites and everyone’s favorite: Facebook....

Every election is important, but this year’s midterms feel more meaningful than most. And if early voting totals are any indication, voter turnout could be at an all-time high. Young people, too, have been energized to get to the polls, even those who may be too young. You must be 18 years old to vote, and if you’re going to turn 18 before election day, you can register to vote while you’re still 17....

Women have gained more accommodations to breastfeed in public, and now one state supreme court has ordered those accommodations at the bar exam. The Montana Supreme Court has ordered bar administrators to accommodate breastfeeding mothers “in a manner consistent with public policy and law.” The interim order is effective for the July exam, as the examiners’ board considers public comments for a permanent order. The new rules include 15-minute breaks every three hours for the mothers, but do not answer one question: where will their babies be during the exam?...

The Federal Circuit dealt recently with one of its more nuanced patent infringement stipulations. In Sports Dimension, Inc. v. Coleman Company, Inc., the circuit court determined that the slight tapering angle and inclusion of flotation armbands were “functional” and not primarily ornamental in nature. A declaratory judgment of non-infringement in favor of rival petitioner was vacated. It verifies something that patent lawyers already understand: nothing is entirely functional or ornamental on a finished consumer product....

When grading teacher performance, school districts aren’t required to incorporate students’ standardized test scores, a judge in Northern California ruled last week. Contra County Superior Court Judge Barry Goode rejected arguments by the nonprofit group Students Matter that the school districts were required to make standardized test scores a central part of teacher evaluations. School districts have broad discretion in how to evaluate their teachers’ performance, Judge Goode ruled, and all of the 13 districts sued by Students Matter were complying with their legal obligations....

If you haven’t heard about the creepy trend of ‘upskirting,’ allow me to be the bearer of disgusting news. Armed with the latest in tiny camera technology, perverts in public places have been sneaking pictures from below of women wearing dresses and skirts. And, much to lawmakers’ and law enforcement’s dismay, efforts to criminalize the behavior have been met with mixed results. Fortunately, karma can intervene every now and then on the side of the good people....

Last week, the California Supreme Court threw out the death sentence of a convicted killer, John Riccardi. The reversal was the result of the trial judge’s dismissal of a potential juror, on the basis of her written responses regarding the death penalty, reports the Associated Press. Riccardi was convicted in the 1983 murder of musician Dave Navarro’s mother and friend. The victim, Connie Navarro, was Riccardi’s girlfriend, reports the LAist....