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California water officials have filed a suit against Tom Selleck, claiming the “Quigley Down Under” star has been pilfering water from a neighborhood hydrant and trucking it to his out-of-town ranch. The lawsuit, filed by the Calleguas Municfipal Water District, claims that, in the midst of a historic drought, the actor best known for roles as upstanding lawmen, cowboys, and a certain private investigator, has been skirting the state’s water laws....

In a medial malpractice action, defendant’s motion to dismiss the appeal is denied as, where a party files a valid motion for new trial, and the trial court issues a timely order denying that motion but no one serves the order or notice of entry of that order, then the applicable deadline for filing the notice of appeal from the judgment is 180 days after entry of judgment. Read Anderson v....

If Hollywood is to be believed, the typical lawyer’s day is filled with crime solving, last minute deal making, dramatic closing arguments, and maybe some romance or political intrigue. Sadly, actual, real-life legal professionals know better. Our days are much more likely to be spent reviewing documents, making sure forms are properly filed, or researching obscure points of law. It’s not exactly the stuff that gets your pulse racing. And now the rest of world has found out our secret....

Losing a child is the most painful event that a parent could ever endure, but the California Supreme Court will allow social services to match a loss of life with a loss of custody when a parent’s negligence resulted in a child’s death. In In Re Ethan C., et al, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services can remove surviving children from a parent’s home when the parent’s negligence was the superseding cause in another child’s death, even if the parent was not found criminally negligent in the death....

M. Maropakis Carpentry, Inc. v. US, No. 09-5024, concerned a challenge to the decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims dismissing plaintiff’s breach of contract suit against the government under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) and granting the government’s counterclaim for liquidated damages, arising from a contract awarded by the Navy to replace windows and a roof at a Naval warehouse building. In affirming the judgment, the court held that the Court of Federal Claims correctly dismissed plaintiff’s claim for lack of jurisdiction as plaintiff did not meet the jurisdictional prerequisites of a claim against the government for contract modification under the CDA....

Making weird news headlines across the country is the recent lawsuit filed against the city of San Diego on behalf of a former mayor and his wife as a result of the wife’s trip and fall on a city sidewalk. While this is just one of many lawsuits the city of San Diego has faced due to the poor maintenance of their city sidewalks, it may be the strangest. The plaintiff was walking along a San Diego sidewalk, when she tripped and fell over an unrepaired crack in the concrete walk....

The California Supreme Court has ruled that government communications about public matters through personal email, phones, or other devices are public records. The decision extends the California Public Records Act, enacted in 1968, which says that government records must be made available for public scrutiny. The court adapted the law to include personal electronic communications that are related to government business. “We clarify, however, that to qualify as a public record under CPRA, at a minimum, a writing must relate in some substantive way to the conduct of the public’s business,” Justice Carol Ann Corrigan wrote for the unanimous court....

San Diego police have referred the Kobe Bryant church battery case to prosecutors, reports TMZ. For those who don’t recall the August incident, Kobe allegedly wrenched a cell phone from the hands of a church patron. Bryant believed that the man had taken photos of him and his wife during Sunday services. That man then claimed serious injuries, reporting the incident to police. No photos were ever found. Police reportedly told the gossip site that, if anything, the case will be filed as a misdemeanor battery....

It’s just so hard to get good service these days. A Florida man was arrested after taking his money back from an escort. Michael Thomas Schuster, 21, hired a professional female escort to dance for him in his bedroom. The Boynton Beach man claims he paid her $200, but wasn’t satisfied with her performance, The Palm Beach Post reports. So what does any reasonable person do when an escort doesn’t live up to expectations?...

The “man who fled zombies” Jeremiah Clyde Hartline pleaded guilty to three felony counts Monday after a wild big rig crash that he claims was caused by the walking dead. The plea bargain allows the potential “Zombieland” cast member a sentence of up to five years in prison, which is a no-tasty-brainer compared to the approximately 12 years he might face if he went to trial, reports U-T San Diego....

It was the best of courts, it the worst of courts, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolish– Actually, scratch that. It was pretty much the worst of times all around in today’s tale of two courtrooms. In our first case of “judges run amok,” a Michigan judge is gaining some viral fame after video emerged of him charging from the bench to help tackle a defendant – while screaming “Tase his ass right now....

Winston Churchill, the British prime minister who inspired world-wide resistance against a raging Adolph Hitler, gave his most famous speech when he was 67 years old. “Give us the tools, and we will finish the job,” he said, responding to a letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt after Germany bombed London. Even though people sometimes dismiss the words of an older generation, that rally cry changed the world. In the law, especially for younger lawyers, it is important to recognize that age may in fact be the source of wisdom....

Convictions for committing a lewd act with duress, fear or force on a child under the age of 14 and aggravated sexual assault are reversed in part and affirmed in part where: 1) defendant’s counsel’s failure to object to the addition of the charge for committing a lewd act with duress, fear or force on a child under the age of 14 constituted ineffective assistance of counsel as it was an additional charge not pled in the amended complaint to which defendant waived his right to a preliminary hearing; and 2) the charges in his convictions for aggravated sexual assault were effectively pleaded in the amended complaint and such convictions were lawful....

Poor Barry Jameson, representing himself in a civil trial, was stuck between a rock and a hard place. For budget reasons, the San Diego Superior Court did not provide a court reporter and Jameson couldn’t afford one either. After the judge dismissed his case, he appealed but had no record to offer the reviewing court. In Jameson v. Desta, the California Supreme Court said the superior court must provide court reporters to indigent litigants....

In the wake of a college admissions bribery scandal that ensnared Hollywood stars and several sports coaches, a potential class action lawsuit was filed by seven college applicants against the ringleader of the admissions scam along with eight of the schools involved. The suit claims the rejected applicants paid admission fees “without any understanding or warning that unqualified students were slipping in through the back door of the admissions process by committing fraud, bribery, cheating, and dishonesty....

The bar exam is over – done, finished, completed, closed, past. If you’re lucky, this will be the last time you have to worry about (or even think about) that test ever again. So, what comes next? Here are five things to do now that you’ve survived one of the law’s greatest crucibles. You can’t change your bar performance now, so there’s no need to waste any energy worrying about how you did....

Although, wearing a gold grill in a mug shot may be stylish, it might not always be the best idea. A Tennessee jailer reportedly ripped an inmate’s custom gold grill from his mouth, leaving him in excruciating pain, but also leaving him with a $100,000 settlement. Inmate Anthony McCoy lost his his dental work and would endure days of agony when a jailer yanked his custom gold grill from his mouth....

Believe it or not, “HTGAWM” hasn’t been on since November, when it had its “winter finale” where we learned #WhoKilledSam. The show came back last night, and true to the title, Professor Keating showed us just how one does manage to get away with murder, in spite of a prosecutor who seems to have a smirk permanently tattooed on her face. Blame the Other Guy In the very first episode of “How To Get Away With Murder,” Professor Keating taught her class that the key to getting your client acquitted of murder is to find someone else to blame....

Ever since the 1950’s, football players from high school to the NFL have participated in the “Oklahoma Drill.” Developed by legendary coach Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma, the drill pits two players battling for yardage in a confined space. Often starting with both players having a 3-yard head of steam, the Oklahoma Drill is defined by a “helmet-popping collision, testing the resolve of those involved with their teammates and coaches watching on....

Three years ago, FindLaw put together a list of the top five movies law school students should watch. By now, all those law students will have graduated. They’re either consumed by panicked bar study, or living it up as greedy associates. That means it’s time for a new batch of films for a new class of students. While we’ve got our favorite lawyer flicks, it always helps to get an outside perspective....