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Class actions are one of the best features of the American legal system. (Corporate defense lawyers and general counsel may disagree, but hear us out.) Get an unfair fee from your bank? Buy a cheap product that doesn’t live up to its claims? Unjustly detained by police? Class actions are your solution. They’re the main way our Lilliputian wrongs get righted. But what if the head class representative gets justice while the rest of the injured go wanting?...

In a petition for review of petitioner’s application for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture, the petition is denied where the government met its burden of showing that it had “reasonable grounds” to regard petitioner as “a danger to national security,” and thus the BIA’s decision was supported by substantial evidence. Read Malkandi v. Holder, No. 06-73491 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted April 9, 2008 Filed September 19, 2008...

The now-former-attorney for Stormy Daniels in her case against President Trump, Michael Avenatti, was just indicted in California on a multitude of criminal charges. Although Avenatti may be best known for his representation of Stormy Daniels, which led to multiple television appearances, these charges originated from an IRS investigation into his coffee business, Tully’s. But the IRS investigation soon expanded to discover evidence showing Avenatti allegedly lied to clients, embezzled settlement money from clients, lied on a multi-million dollar mortgage application, and committed perjury....

Federal courts get the opportunity to resolve the great debates of our time. In 2001, the Nine were asked to answer the question, “What is golf?” This week, Judge Richard Posner and the Seventh Circuit — not ones to be outdone by Justice Scalia and the Supremes — addressed an equally important issue: Who decides if a Catholic nun is really a “nun.” (Hint: If you guessed the Catholic Church, you’re correct....

Professional Malpractice Action In Parmalat Capital Fin. Ltd. v. Bank of Am. Corp., No. 09-4302, an action against an accounting firm for professional malpractice and fraud, which was removed from Illinois state court, the court affirmed in part the district court’s dismissal of the action based on pending bankruptcy proceedings where 1) an 11 U.S.C. section 304 proceeding is a case for the purposes of subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U....

Judge Posner isn’t just one of the judiciary’s most influential jurists, he’s also a noted cat fancier. His puss, an eight-year-old Maine Coon named Pixie, is one of the most famous legal pets around. Both “beautiful and very intelligent,” according to Posner, Pixie is also the first cat “actually to like me.” Posner’s love of cats, and perhaps his frustration with their pickiness, made its way into a recent decision in an eye-drop class action suit....

How does one make labor certifications and proper notice of retroactive changes to those regulations somewhat interesting? Cite Star Trek, of course. “Time is the fire in which we burn.” Of course, any good Trekkie can tell you that the quote comes from Tolian Soran, the villan from the movie Star Trek Generations. (Or said Trekkie might’ve Googled it.) The case itself involved a labor certification from the Department of Labor that was, at the time of issuance, valid indefinitely....

Luckily, the digital age has lawyers carrying around a lot less stuff than they used to, but today’s fast-paced life means you’re constantly running from one thing to the next. If you’re like most female attorneys, you need a work bag that can take you from client meeting to court to drinks with friends, or your kid’s soccer game. Whether you’re looking for something that’s practical, powerful, affordable, or costs as much as your first apartment’s rent — we’ve got you covered....

Chief Justice John Roberts released an annual report on the federal judiciary, but one thing caught the attention of the media more than anything else – the judiciary’s sexual misconduct policies. Most of the report dealt with how the judicial system responds to natural disasters, such as the recent California wildfires that caused court personnel to evacuate buildings. However, it was another disaster in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal that caused one celebrated judge to leave the building....

LGBT rights attorneys are not giving up, but Jameka Evans’ sex discrimination case is definitely over. The U.S. Supreme Court declined her petition without comment after the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed her case. Evans had argued her employer discriminated against her because of her sexual orientation and nonconformity to gender norms. “Under our prior precedent rule, we are bound to follow a binding precedent in this Circuit unless and until it is overruled by this court en banc or by the Supreme Court,” the appeals court said in Evans v....

A good offense may be the best defense, but you still need to have standing. Paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams was primed and ready for lead paint litigation rumored to be pending in several Pennsylvania counties. However, in this case, getting ahead of the problem was not the best move. Sherwin-Williams Goes on the Offensive Lehigh and Montgomery Counties sued Sherwin-Williams in 2018 over its sale of lead-based paint, with both hiring the same law firm to work on a contingency basis....

In Kramer v. Perez, No. 08-3841, plaintiff sued claiming that defendants and their company sent millions of spam e-mails to plaintiff’s business in violation of Iowa’s anti-spam statute. After a bench trial, the district court held defendants jointly and severally liable for over $236 million in statutory damages. Defendant, Suzanne Bartok, one of the individuals held liable, appealed. As the court of appeals wrote: “the district court held Perez and Bartok jointly and severally liable to Kramer for over $236 million in statutory damages-$10 per spam e-mail transmitted under the anti-spam statute’s private cause of action....

Supreme Court decisions can lead to more nightmares than a Wes Craven film. Masked mass murderers and razor-gloved villains may be frightening, but bad SCOTUS opinions wreak decades of havoc in the real world. In honor of Halloween, we’re looking back at five Supreme Court decisions that are so bad, they’re scary. There you have it: our picks for the scariest Supreme Court cases. What do you think are the best of the worst from the Bench?...

The questionably-trademarked Christian Louboutin red-soled shoes have found a friend in Tiffany blue. The Louboutin YSL trademark dispute grew more colorful this week after Tiffany & Co. filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit, which is heading to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. But Tiffany’s brief isn’t motivated by love of the famous footwear; according to Susan Scafidi, director of Fordham University’s Fashion Law Institute, the world-famous jeweler is worried about protecting its trademarked blue....

Defendant’s wire fraud sentence is affirmed, where: 1) the District Court’s failure to comply with 18 U.S.C. section 3664(d)(5) did not deprive it of jurisdiction to enter its restitution order; and 2) a District Court may rely on a defendant’s education and future earning potential in setting a restitution payment schedule. Read US v. Bogart, No. 07-3779 Appellate Information Argued: June 18, 2009 Decided and Filed: August 14, 2009 Judges...

Felon In Possession Sentence Affirmed In US v. Brown, No. 09-4991, the court affirmed defendant’s sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm where 1) two of defendant’s prior offenses were “committed on occasions different from one another” and therefore were properly counted as two separate Armed Career Criminal Act-qualifying convictions; and 2) it was appropriate for the district court to look to defendant’s record of conviction – including the plea transcript – to determine that defendant was convicted of assaulting employees of the department of correction....

Defendant’s sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S. following removal is affirmed where California’s robbery statute, as interpreted by the California Supreme Court, was in line with the uniform generic definition of robbery and, therefore, the sixteen-offense-level increase imposed by the district court based on defendant’s California robbery conviction was appropriate. Read US v. Garcia-Caraveo, No. 08-2140 Appellate Information Filed November 3, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Ebel Counsel For Appellant:...

Donald Trump issued a video statement on Thursday, January 7, acknowledging that Joe Biden was the winner of the November election. While he admitted no wrongdoing, part of the impetus for finally acknowledging his defeat may be because he is in danger of facing criminal charges for inciting a riot. Trump made sure to call the actions he requested from his supporters on Wednesday “heinous" and said he was outraged by the violence....

In a time when law school applications are down, and lawyer unemployment rates are up, it’s not often that we get to type the following words: Someone is hiring. Take a moment to calm down — we know this is big news — and get your resume ready. You could be the next Third Circuit Career Staff Attorney. Mark your calendar: The deadline for applications is February 22, 2013. Applications must be submitted through OSCAR, the federal appellate court staff and clerk hiring website....

With the arrival of May comes the disheartening realization that there are going to be no more oral arguments for the October 2014 Term. For the next two months, the justices and their clerks will spend each day busily writing opinions in the 36 outstanding cases from this term. Going through the list, we were kind of shocked to learn which high-profile cases hadn’t been decided yet. Obviously, opinions from March and April cases haven’t arrived, but what about these guys, which are still out there past the average 92-day decision period for cases this term?...