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Challenge to interpretation of bankruptcy orders involving settlement of lawsuits for breast implants In re: Settlement Facility Dow Corning Trust, 09-1827 , concerned a challenge to a district court’s interpretation of two orders entered by a bankruptcy court of Dow Corning’s Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization (Plan), arising from Chapter 11 proceedings to facilitate settlement of thousands of lawsuits relating to breast implants it had manufactured. Related Link: Read the Sixth Circuit’s Full Decision in In re: Settlement Facility Dow Corning Trust, 09-1827 You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help Civil Rights Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court...

Headlines have been popping up in various media sources questioning the propriety of Justice Neil Gorsuch’s planned speaking engagement at the Trump Hotel. This is primarily due to the fact that the speaking engagement is set for September 28, and the oral argument on the president’s “travel ban” executive order is scheduled for October 10 (just 12 days later). While it’s a new phenomenon that a U.S. president owns hotels, if it were the Trump Hotel paying Justice Gorsuch, this might be a different story....

For the rest of the week, and most likely the rest of the 2012 Term, the same sex marriage cases will be the most popular legal topic in America. Before we spend the rest of the year debating what these cases mean in the greater context of the civil rights debate, let’s review the issues that we’re going to hear on this week, starting with Hollingsworth v. Perry. On Tuesday, March 26, the justices will hear oral arguments in Hollingsworth, also known as the Proposition 8 challenge....

Take a bow, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. What’s your personal record for insulting people in a single day? Unless you are a tact-less celeb or gaffe-tastic politician, it’s probably in the single digits. Judge Kozinski labeled a group of environmental activists “pirates” (using the law to back his assertion), pointed out Australia’s impotence in international whaling law, and then questioned a district court judge’s ability to perform his duties. In a single opinion....

Need to research California’s corporate securities law? We’ve got you covered. Did a client get caught selling wild rodents? We can help you out. Need to cite the state’s joint custody laws? No problem. If you’re looking for the best, easiest to use California codes, you’ll find them at FindLaw. FindLaw’s updated California Codes section has what you need, when you need it, how you need it. And it doesn’t cost a single cent....

In a few decades, Facebook will have more dead users than live ones. Researchers say that is bad news for social media networks and their data. It will create policy and legal questions about who has the right to use it – especially when the data outlives the users who created it. Historians, in particular, will want access to the information for educational purposes. Everybody else, except the survivors, will be history....

Is breaking a car window and dragging a person through it excessive force? Our gut says it is. To Honolulu cops, such conduct is “reasonable” and worthy of qualified immunity. Instead of pulling over immediately, Coles made the first available right turn into a parking lot. Coles claims he stopped the car in a reasonable manner. Officer Eagle says Coles was driving it like he stole it. It turns out, Coles had stolen the car....

Over the last few years, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has emerged as an unexpected pop culture superstar. For court watchers, Ginsburg has long been a strong voice for feminism and liberalism on the bench, but lately she has gained celebrity status among the general public, making fans among politically minded youth sixty years her junior. Justice Ginsburg reminded us that her celebrity was well deserved the other day, in comments she made while speaking at Duke University School of Law....

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging excessive force by the police, denial of qualified immunity to defendants is affirmed where a jury could conclude that plaintiff’s pushing the officer was de minimis or inconsequential, and so a reasonable officer, when faced with the circumstances, would have known that responding by punching plaintiff in the face, taking him to the ground face down, landing on top of him and thereby causing him serious injury was illegal....

Monday, the Supreme Court overturned the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on the issue of overtime pay for pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs). In what has become an increasingly rare occurrence in cases involving circuit splits, the Court sided with the Ninth Circuit, finding that a PSR is an “outside salesperson,” exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime pay requirements. The FLSA and Department of Labor regulations generally require that employers pay 1....

In US v. DeLeon, No. 07-3941, the Seventh Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s imposition of a within-Guidelines sentence of 104 months upon a defendant, convicted of counterfeiting pursuant to a blind plea. The district court’s application of the obstruction of justice enhancement in concluding that defendant willfully lied in his motion to withdraw his guilty plea was affirmed as, well as its denial of defendant’s acceptance of responsibility reduction....

In a case that will actually make some people take sides with lawyers against the Social Security Administration, the Second Circuit recently found that applicable federal law of Sovereign Immunity shields the SSA from suit. There aren’t too many cases out there where people can agree that lawyers got the short end of the stick, but we think we might have a contender here. The tax law firm Binder and Binder represented two clients in separate cases before the Social Security Administration and successfully brought each of those cases to amicable resolutions with each client receiving a sum from the SSA....

Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, has been in trouble for some time. First, there was the $442 million payout to settle various civil and criminal cases for allegedly “mishandling” a drug. Then there was another $390 million settlement for reportedly “paying rebates” to pharmacies to promote its drugs. Now Novartis is facing a trial on claims the company kicked back millions of dollars to doctors in exchange for prescribing its drugs....

Gil Lundstrom, the CEO of the now defunct TierOne bank, couldn’t convince the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to do anything with his conviction, despite seemingly making any and every conceivable argument. And while it’s not uncommon for convicted bigwigs to pull out all the stops in arguing their appeals, Lundstrom’s appeal just seemed doomed from the get-go, given that former insiders turned on him. In addition to appealing the denial of his motion for a judgment of acquittal, he challenged the jury instructions, a few pieces of evidence, some other procedural nonsense, as well as the prison term he was ultimately awarded, and the restitution he was ordered to pay....

President Trump has been on a tear naming judicial nominees, adding to a growing list that now numbers more than 70 awaiting appointments. With 10 new nominations this week, Trump is quickly solidifying what may be his lasting legacy. He has the opportunity to appoint more judges than any recent president. The latest nominations will especially impact federal courts in New York. Most of the nominees are government attorneys, prosecutors, or former prosecutors....

Back in July, SAC Capital was indicted on five counts of insider trading, just two weeks after the S.E.C. filed a civil case against SAC Capital billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen. Today, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced a plea agreement between the DOJ and SAC Capital, reports Reuters. The plea agreement and settlement reached between the DOJ and SAC Capital is the largest yet in insider trading history, according to the Government....

When “Porngate” first erupted, it seemed like a minor blip, especially the involvement of Justice Seamus McCaffery of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He sent porn, from a personal email address, to a handful of colleagues in other state offices. It’s porn. From a personal account. None of which seemed to be illegal. What’s the big deal? It’s apparently a much bigger deal than we thought, as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has just suspended Justice McCaffery with pay pending an investigation by the state Judicial Conduct Board....

A Colorado couple who built a three-bedroom ranch house did not infringe upon the architectural copyright of a custom home designer, the Tenth Circuit ruled on Tuesday. Savant Home, a custom home builder, created a model three-bedroom ranch house in Windsor, Colorado. That house was toured by Ron and Tammie Wagner, who later built their own, similar three-bedroom ranch house. But when Savant sued, the Tenth Circuit found that the houses’ similarity was not enough to amount to a copyright infringement....

Let’s say you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a disease that causes fecal incontinence. Sometimes it’s so bad that you can’t drive to work without soiling yourself, or, if you get to work, you can’t get up from your desk without soiling yourself. Might telecommuting be a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? On April 22, the Sixth Circuit decided yes. The case at hand features Jane Harris, a former resale steel buyer for the Ford Motor Company, whose performance from 2004 through 2008 was rated as excellent plus....

Nunez-Reyes v. Holder, No. 05-74350, concerned a petition for review of the BIA’s denial of petitioner’s application for adjustment of status due to his marriage to a U.S. citizen and cancellation of removal. The Ninth Circuit granted the petition on the ground that the State of California dismissed prior charges against petitioner under California Penal Code section 1210.1, and thus those charges could not be used to render petitioner ineligible for cancellation of removal....