Posts

The massive Volkswagen not-actually-clean diesel scandal seems to be winding down, at least in terms of legal action in the U.S. While the most recent settlement was approved by the Northern District Court of California, there were still a few hurdles to clear (namely objections to the approved settlement). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the objections and has approved the settlement, leaving practically no roadblocks between bamboozled consumers and the eventual payday from the German automaker....

The FBI is investigating at least 15 nonprofit organizations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for what it calls a “massive fraud scheme” to siphon off millions of government dollars meant to feed needy children. Investigators from the FBI and other agencies raided 15 homes and offices in the Twin Cities after obtaining search warrants. In affidavits obtained by the New York Times, the FBI said that those organizations received $65 million in federal food program payments during the pandemic and “almost none of this money was used to feed children....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. When we hear about artificial intelligence, we frequently are bombarded with notions of ultra-smart robots taking over the world, while either destroying humans, or at least leaving humans in the development dust. The good news, at the time of this writing, is that humans currently do not face that AI existential threat. However, the bad news is that artificial intelligence nevertheless creates present and future safety concerns....

The controversy stirred up by the botched execution of Clayton D. Lockett in Oklahoma has left states asking – in my humble opinion – the wrong question. Rather than reexamining the moral implications of a society that allows the death penalty to exist as a legal means of punishment, states are trying to figure out how to kill people. Some states are going back to the electric chair, while others ponder the firing squad, reports The Associated Press....

A California state law prohibiting “disturb[ing] or break[ing] up any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character” isn’t facially unconstitutional, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit has ruled. On the other hand, the law was unconstitutionally applied to CPR for Skid Row, a homeless rights organization centered in the Skid Row neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, home to thousands of homeless people. CPR for Skid Row objected to walks conducted through the Skid Row neighborhood sponsored by the Central City East Association, a business development group....

Granite Rock Co. v. Int’l. Brotherhood of Teamsters, No. 08-1214, an action against a labor union by an employer, invoking federal jurisdiction under section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), seeking strike-related damages for the unions’ alleged breach of contract, and asking for an injunction against the ongoing strike because the hold-harmless dispute was an arbitrable grievance under the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The Court affirmed in part the Ninth Circuit’s partial affirmance of the district court’s order dismissing plaintiff’s tortious interference claims and denying defendant’s separate motion to send the parties’ dispute over the CBA’s ratification date to arbitration, holding that the Ninth Circuit did not err in declining to recognize a new federal common-law cause of action under LMRA section 301(a) for defendant’s alleged tortious interference with the CBA....

This week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals delineated the scope of the statutory exceptions to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) statute of limitations. The appellate court decided that a public school district’s failure to designate a struggling student as disabled did not fall within the misrepresentation or withholding information exceptions to the IDEA statute of limitations. The facts leading up to the case, D.K. v. Abington School District, began in 2003 when D....

The Ninth Circuit Court may soon hear a case involving the legality of foie gras in California eateries. If you’re not a regular consumer of the French delicacy, you’re probably not aware that the production and selling of traditionally made foie gras (which is essentially any foie gras) was made illegal in 2012. It’s also a pretty good bet that you did not know that District Judge Stephen V. Wilson overturned a section that banned the sale of foie gras in California....

The Fremont City Council will soon consider removing portions of the city’s ban on renting housing to people who aren’t in the U.S. legally. Fremont voters approved the city ordinance in 2010 that prohibits hiring or renting to people who can’t prove they are in the country legally. The hiring portion is in effect, but the housing provision has been delayed due to protracted litigation over the controversial section. Despite staving off a slew of legal challenges, the city itself is now reconsidering the ordinance due to financial concerns....

Who Are You? Who? Who? They can’t handle having a boss They won’t adjust to law firm hours Their law practices are not successful A Change Would Do You Good Clients have always been your bosses, and a law firm presents advancement opportunities The law firm hours, i.e. working late, is easier than 24/7 self-employment Your practice isn’t failing and you will bring clients to the law firm Who’s Searching for Jobs Today (Indeed)...

Salinger v. Colting, No. 09-2878, concerned an action by the estate of J.D. Salinger claiming copyright infringement and unfair competition based on the publication of a novel derivative of The Catcher in the Rye. The court of appeals vacated a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiff, holding that the Supreme Court’s decision in eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388 (2006), which articulated a four-factor test as to when an injunction may issue, applied with equal force to preliminary injunctions issued on the basis of alleged copyright infringement....

In an inmate’s action under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and the ADA against a registered nurse at the Correctional Facility, judgment of the district court is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded where: 1) district court’s denial of summary judgment on plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment claim is reversed as defendant’s decision was based on her understanding of the prison policies specified in the Guidelines and did not evince deliberate indifference to the risks plaintiff faced from other prisoners; 2) district court’s denial of a claim of sovereign immunity is affirmed on the a different ground that the third prong of Georgia requires that it not be determined whether sovereign immunity is at issue because plaintiff has alleged conduct that violates the ADA and the Fourteenth Amendment independently; 3) district court’s denial of defendant’s summary judgment on plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment claim is affirmed; and 4) plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel pursuant to 6th Cir....

Consider the modest drop box. In the not-too-distant past, we were more likely to take drop boxes for granted in our lives. We paid regular visits to Blockbuster to drop off the movie videos we’d rented for the weekend. We made more trips to library book-return boxes in those days before we had access to e-books. We also dropped far fewer letters and documents into U.S. Postal Service collection boxes. This trend, of course, has been going on for years and has prompted the USPS to reduce the number of these collection points as a result....

In Goss v. Lopez, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause applies to suspension or expulsion from school where a state has conferred a property interest in a public education. Before you kick a kid out of his local public school, he should get notice and a chance to present his side of the story. But what if the school from which the student is removed isn’t his local public school?...

While there remains reason to be optimistic about the overall economic health of the legal industry, there are some areas of concern, according to the Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor Index (disclaimer: FindLaw is a part of Thomson Reuters). Overall, demand for legal services increased 0.7% for Q2, and billing rates rose significantly, with firms registering a 3.8% increase. This is offset, however, by an increase in direct expenses of 4.8% and an overhead cost increase of 3....

Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act Matter In Roberts v. Director, OWCP, No. 08-70268, a petition for review of an Office of Workers Compensation Programs’ order partially granting petitioner’s request for benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, the court granted the petition where the ALJ erred by applying the national average weekly wage with respect to fiscal year 2002, rather than fiscal year 2005, in calculating the applicable maximum rate....

More From the Satanists The Satanic Temple grabbed a few headlines back in July with a legal victory of sorts in their home state of Massachusetts, where they seek equal opportunity with established religions to give invocations at Boston City Council meetings. Now, though, they have emerged in Texas, where they are weighing in on the Lone Star State’s tough new anti-abortion law. Specifically, the organization argues that Temple members have a right to abortion in Texas as a matter of religious freedom....

What constitutes “management” of a conspiracy when it comes to enhanced sentencing, under the sentencing guidelines in the Eighth Circuit? This week, two defendants lost their combined sentence appeal in the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals. The two were convicted of running a massive counterfeit identification scheme, where they produced “fake IDs.” Their appeal focused on the enhancements to their sentence. Silvia Duhart-Orea was given a twenty-four month sentence while her co-conspirator, Allan Roustand-Rolon, was given a fifty-seven month sentence....

This post was updated on March 30, 2022 Wills are a fascinating part of the legal world we all live (and die) in. You certainly don’t need a will to have your estate dispersed upon your death. State and federal laws exist to handle that in a standardized administrative process. But if you do have a will, it better be clear and just the way you like it, since it will be followed to the letter....

Voters amended the Michigan Constitution in 2006 to ban affirmative action in public education. The initiative – known as Proposal 2 – was a response to the Supreme Court’s 2003 affirmative action rulings in Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. Thursday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Michigan’s affirmative action ban was unconstitutional because it presents an extraordinary burden to opponents who would try to protect affirmative action, The Wall Street Journal reports....