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Like a bad year for wine, 2015 was not a good year for Appalachian School of Law. Enrollment dropped to 32 first-year students that year. It was bad enough for a law school with barely 100 students, but it was even worse because of one student. The student allegedly raped a staff member, bullied a student who committed suicide, and harassed a professor so severely that she quit. These problems, now the subject of a federal lawsuit, have not gotten better with age....

If TV has taught us anything, when lawyers date or marry each other, it rarely doesn’t entail sensational drama. One real life case out of Chicago is a stark, but surprisingly gentle, reminder of that fact. Married attorneys maintained a joint practice, however, when one got disbarred as a result of embezzling over $2 million from clients, trouble for the other was not far behind. Though the name of the practice changed, the disbarred wife continued to maintain a presence in the office....

It all started with a Wall Street Journal sidebar. In an article about employers asking for SAT scores, the Journal states: The Legal Watchdog blog thinks this is stupid advice, and points out that class rank, GPA, and other means of dividing up a homogenous group are the things that matter. “Law-school graduates generally have near-identical transcripts and little work experience. Quirky interests, such as 19th century French poetry or a stint as a sports team mascot, can differentiate candidates for law firms....

After 17,000 lewd phone calls, the law has finally caught up with Robert Glass. The women of Pennsylvania will now be safe from harassing phone calls, at least from this guy. Glass, a 51-year old resident of Myerstown, Pennsylvania, was arraigned last week and charged with multiple counts of harassment and stalking. So far at least 30 women have been identified as victims of unwanted phone calls from Glass. Silly prank calls are one thing, but Glass did more than just ask if the refrigerator was running....

A cocky flasher is facing charges for allegedly “swinging” his junk at two women who were walking down the street. The genital swingin’ suspect, Shawn Harvell, 34, of Indianapolis, is facing public indecency, resisting law enforcement, criminal confinement, and battery charges stemming from an incident in which he allegedly dangled his doodle in public, “swinging it about in a rotary helicopter motion,” reports Indianapolis’ WRTV. Aside from the ball-scrambling mechanics of such a move, what kind of consequences could Harvell face?...

Imprisoned ex-dictator Manuel Noriega is suing the makers of “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” for allegedly harming his reputation and using his name and likeness without permission. The Activision Blizzard Inc. game, which has made more than $1 billion in worldwide sales, includes a mission in which the protagonists must track down Noriega and capture him, reports Gamespot. Noriega’s lawsuit claims the game portrays him as a “kidnapper, murderer, and enemy of the state” and used that virtual vilification to profit....

How do you get rid of zombies? Pay them cold, hard cash. At least that is what the city of Minneapolis did to make a suit by seven zombies lay down and die, for good. The story of the undead, zero probable cause and one scary appellate court decision begins in the summer of 2006, according to the Wall Street Journal. Seven citizens, dressed up like zombies, lurched down the streets of downtown Minneapolis allegedly to protest “mindless consumerism....

It’s not easy to strip parents of their rights. But when dad is in prison and mom takes the tykes to an exorcism, states may step in. A New Jersey appellate court did just that, confirming a lower court’s decision to strip parental rights and allow adoption of two children whose mom and dad are alive, if not well. The mother of the children, a boy and girl who are now 6 and 7, has a history of mental illness, NBC News reports....

No JD required? Apparently, there are some states that have adopted this rule when it comes to admission to the bar. We all are well aware of the general requirements, that it usually takes if we want to be lawyers at this point (let’s hope). That most often entails the traditional route of attending law school, graduating with a JD, passing the MPRE, being of sound moral character, and, of course, let’s not forget (because how could it ever let us, really): passing the bar....

A Pennsylvania judge dismissed her own parking tickets. Now she’s in trouble with the law. Magisterial District Judge Kelly Ballentine faces several criminal charges. She’s accused of conflict of interest, tampering with public records, and obstruction of charges. Police ticketed her car in front of her home several times in November of 2010. They also sent her a ticket for an expired registration. The summonses were issued in her name....

In a petition for a writ of mandamus to overturn trial court’s order compelling petitioners to arbitrate their claims against respondents, the petition is granted where the paragraphs in the account agreements at issue requiring arbitration before a panel of three arbitrators and prohibiting consolidation or joinder of claims were unconscionable and therefore unenforceable. Read Parada v. Superior Court, No. G041339 Appellate Information Filed August 26, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Fybel...

In a putative class action lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles and its registrar-recorder claiming failure to fulfill the statutory duties under Civil Code section 2941(c) to stamp and record reconveyances within two business days as required, trial court’s judgment in favor of the defendants is affirmed as the indexing is a distinct function, separate from recording a document, and is not part of section 2941(c)’s stamp-and-record requirement. Read Ricketts v....

Chad wonders whether he should mention his years at Choate when interviewing for a 2L summer associate position at Kirkland & Ellis. Bronwyn wants to include her water polo championship on her resume for K&L Gates, next to that alternative spring break work in Honduras, of course. Should they? Yes, Chad should. But no, Bronwyn should not. Turns out that class signifiers, like boarding schools and blue-blood sports, make firms more likely to hire wealthy men for summer associates spots, while harming the chances of female applicants....

Law school career services offices have a reputation for only offering assistance to the top 10, or 20, or 30 percent of each class. Let’s put that frightening idea in perspective. Imagine if doctors only attempted to save the patients with the best chances of survival. The top 10, or 20, or 30 percent. Sure, the success rate would be high – when they actually intervened – but would we tolerate such a cavalier attitude toward the weaker segment of the population?...

Brian Cuban started to figure it out in law school – he was an alcoholic. It happened outside the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, after he stumbled out of a bar and puked somewhere near Forbes Field. He didn’t really know where he was, but he knew he didn’t want to be there. Cuban eventually made it out, passed the other bar, and went on to help others confront their addictions....

In our ongoing series of Top 3 Cool Legal Jobs of the Week, we scanned the pages of Indeed to bring you the theme of the week: Academia. Every job opportunity listed below is courtesy of an institution of higher education. Even schools need schooling in the law. Take a glance at the job descriptions and polish up your resume and cover letter. We’re already a quarter a way through the year – and aren’t you in the same position that you were in last year?...

Las Vegas lawyer Curtis Cannon may have thought he’d hit the jackpot in an alleged jailhouse sex act with his client. But the consequences may be hard to swallow. Police arrested Cannon, 58, on suspicion of voluntary sexual conduct with a prisoner, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. His client, Crystal Wallis, 23, was also charged. A hidden camera in a jailhouse interview room allegedly caught Wallis performing oral sex on Cannon last Friday, police allege....

Who is John Scott? That’s the handle of one of the oldest alleged graffiti vandals ever caught in Los Angeles county, authorities said. The Los Angeles Times reports that a 73-year-old tagging suspect, John Scott was arrested recently on suspicion of felony vandalism. Until his arrest, the oldest street vandal caught by police was 36. Scott turns 74 next month. “Who is John Scott?” stickers began popping up around L.A. on buses, light poles and street signs – sometimes even with their own hand-drawn monikers....

German relics have made their way to a federal appeals court, and we’re not talking about old lawyers. The Guelph Treasure, dating back to the 11th Century, is a collection of medieval art that ended up in the hands of Nazi Germany. Jewish art dealers sold it to the government in 1935, right after Adolf Hitler rose to power. Their descendants sued to reclaim the treasure, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is thinking about it....

‘Anonymous’ doesn’t mean what it used to mean in the media. Back in the day, a news reporter might go to the grave with a source’s true identity. Today, with everybody publishing something online, it’s not so easy to hide. Yelp, the online review site, tried to keep one reviewer’s identity a secret. But a California appeals court said the company must disclose documents that may reveal the person’s identity in Montagna v....