Lawyers make a lot of money, and just maybe, California law firms are part of the problem instead of the solution. In the ’90s, Silicon Valley powerhouse Gunderson Dettmer kicked off the salary shift in the Bay Area by offering new associates $125,000 salaries, which prompted competitors to match the blockbuster salaries. The cost of the salaries was passed along to the consumer as an increase in legal fees, reports Forbes....
If you’re facing minor drug charges in California, your outcome may be fairly predictable. The pattern typically goes something like this: get busted, plead guilty and undergo drug treatment. If successful, your charges will be dropped. Except if you’re a noncitizen. Pleading guilty to a drug charge could trigger your deportation. Even if the state wipes away your minor drug conviction, federal immigration law does not forget it. A proposed California law is seeking to change that, however, offering relief to noncitizens charged with minor drug crimes....
A delivered package mysteriously going missing from your doorstep is a real problem. CNBC reports that 10 percent of us will be victims of package theft, which will only increase during the holiday season. And while we could take precautionary measures like having packages delivered to our workplaces or requiring signatures for delivery, where’s the fun in that? Instead, let’s rig an empty box with some fishing wire and a 12-gauge shotgun blank that goes off when someone tries to steal the box....
When most people hear of a defendant ‘getting off on a technicality,’ they think of it in a pejorative sense, assuming a criminal is going unpunished because of some fancy lawyering or a quirk in the law. But those technicalities are there for a reason. “It’s really important for us to be fair,” Jeffrey Shear, New York City’s Deputy Department of Finance Commissioner for Treasury and Payment Service told 1010 WINS....
A recently filed lawsuit alleges that the Oakland Police Department’s racial bias led to a neighborhood being repeatedly shot up by one of its own residents. The case was filed by one neighbor who stood up to try to stop the shootings, which everyone in the neighborhood knew were being committed by the same resident. In one incident, the neighbor shot at a homeless man sleeping in his car on the street....
A new year brings new opportunities. And for Oregon residents, 2019 brings the opportunity to salvage deer, elk, and other animals slaughtered by automobiles, as long as that animal was hit on accident and as long as you intend to eat the meat. Oh, and you’ll need a permit as well. Lest you think Oregonians can now drive about willy-nilly, scooping up roadkill left and right, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission (ODFW) set some pretty strict salvaging standards:...
Conviction for first degree murder and other crimes and sentence to death is affirmed where: 1) a decision to excuse a prospective juror for cause was supported by substantial evidence; 2) the court did not err in its instruction to the jury on premeditated murder and felony murder; 3) the court did not err in admitting evidence of defendant’s prior violent juvenile misconduct; 3) the court did not err in the admission of testimony from the victims’ and testimony from victims of defendant’s uncharged bank robberies; 4) the defendant failed to prove prosecutorial misconduct; 5) a jury instruction on victim impact evidence was proper and the court had no sua sponte duty to give defendant’s requested instructions on the matter; and 6) the court did not err in its instruction on the governor’s commutation power and in two pattern instructions it gave regarding the penalty decision....
Conviction of defendant for embezzlement for taking almost $30,000 from his employer’s safe is affirmed where: 1) Penal Code section 512 does not provide a defense to embezzlement; and 2) trial court’s evidentiary ruling was proper as even if the proffered evidence shows defendant took the money for another purpose, it does not prove he lacked fraudulent intent. Read People v. Sisuphan, No. A122351 [HTML] Read People v. Sisuphan, No. A122351 [PDF]...
How do law schools compete with the heavy hitters like Harvard and Yale? Oh yes, they get wealthy alumni to donate millions of dollars to fund scholarships which lure top prospects, and hopefully boost law school rankings. One University of Chicago Law School alum is testing this theory out first hand after donating a record $10 million to the University Chicago Law School, according to the Wall Street Journal. Carlyle co-founder, and University of Chicago Law School class of ‘73, David Rubenstein graduated from law school debt free, and now sees his sizeable contribution as an opportunity to repay his debt....
In plaintiff’s wrongful discharge, harassment and discrimination suit against her former employer and supervisor, court of appeal’s judgment is reversed where: 1) the Court of Appeal erred in allocating the evidence between the harassment claim and the discrimination claim, and as such, basing on that allocation, it erred in finding insufficient evidence to support the harassment verdict; and 2) although the court of appeal was correct in holding that the $15 million punitive damages award exceeds the federal constitutional limit, it erred in concluding that in this case the appropriate limit is $2 million as, under the test set forth in State Farm, a one-to-one ratio between compensatory and punitive damages is the federal constitutional limit in this case....
California cheerleaders have a new reason to cheer today after Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill guaranteeing basic employee rights for cheerleaders. The bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, herself a former cheerleader, comes after a series of lawsuits by professional cheerleaders who alleged they often worked without pay or even simple employment protections. It’s not just cheerleaders who will benefit. In a nod to team spirit, the legislation will also protect professional mascots, from the Giant’s Lou Seal to the L....
In a petition for review of the Copyright Royalty Judges’ decision setting the royalty rate satellite radio services must pay to copyright owners to use sound recordings during certain years, the petition is granted in part, where there was insufficient evidence to support the rate the agency set for ephemeral copies. Petition is denied in part, however, where the agency was under no obligation to choose a rate derived from a market-based approach....
Texting can get people in a lot of trouble. We have heard about so many cases of sexting getting students into trouble in school and even getting criminal charges brought against them. Then there is the more mundane problems of texting while driving. Even texting while walking can get a bit dicey. But please, if you are going to text to perpetrate any kind of illegal activity, try to get the number right....
Judge Howard Sturim of the Nassau County court has a cute little secret that he hides under the bench in his courtroom. That secret is a diabetic service dog named Barney. Judge Sturim has type 2 diabetes, and Barney has been specially trained to smell when the judge needs to take his insulin. Barney (like all dogs) is a good dog, and in the last 20 jury trials, has only been found out once due to a sneeze that caused his collar to jingle, which raised some curious eyebrows in the courtroom....
While most Court-watchers are waiting for a Supreme Court announcement regarding a grant or denial of cert in Fisher v. Texas, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is taking up the university affirmative action issue on its own. Monday, the court heard arguments in Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Brown, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 209. Proposition 209 is the 1996 voter initiative that banned racial, ethnic and gender preferences in public education, employment and contracting....
We try not to be too judgmental about potential criminal defendants, but you have to wonder about an “artist” who decides it’s a good idea to paint graffiti on National Park landmarks all across the western United States. Need more proof before you pass judgment? Not only did the accused vandal tag majestic rock formations (allegedly using acrylic paint), but she also posted pictures of her “artwork” on Instagram and Tumblr – including a picture of herself in the act....
Criminal penguins are the worst of their kind, and now there’s evidence to prove it. A crew filming a colony of Adelie penguins on Ross Island, Antarctica captured fascinating footage of penguin theft in action. The video depicts a male penguin stealing stones from a neighbor’s nest. On an island with approximately 250,000 males, it’s the best nest that ultimately nets the best mate. Spurred into action by such harrowing odds, the criminal penguin is shown stealing a single rock each time his compatriot turns away....
Cue the deep voice: In a world … where a rabid Twilight fan gets ditched by her date, there’s one way to make reality bite even more: Crash a car, and get arrested for DUI. Olivia Ornelas, 18, of Aurora, Ill., was “extemely upset” when sheriff’s deputies nabbed her Nov. 18 – all because her dopey BF didn’t take her on a movie date. But getting ditched by her beau was just the opening act in Ornelas’ action-adventure that fateful Friday night, WMAQ-TV reports....
In an action arising out of a lawsuit filed by a city attorney against a health insurer and others concerning coverage rescission practices, defendants’ petition for a writ of mandate to reverse trial court’s ruling denying their demurrer to the complaint is denied as the California Department of Managed Health Care’s regulatory and enforcement authority does not preclude the city attorney form pursuing the unfair competition and false advertising claims. Read Blue Cross of Ca....
Brett Favre is one of those people that just won’t go away. He has contemplated retiring every summer since 2002, and has been a PR nightmare for the NFL . Now, despite the fact that he is allegedly retired (again), a Brett Favre scandal is back in the news again. This time, it’s because Favre and the New York Jets are being sued by two former Jets massage therapists who said he sexually harassed them....
