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The “robots are coming for your job” anxiety that’s been simmering for the past five to ten years is often overplayed, especially for lawyers. While artificial intelligence and other new tech can certainly make a lawyer’s job easier, only lawyers – human ones – can practice law. So far. But that may be changing in California. The state bar’s Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services recently recommended authorizing “technology-driven delivery systems to engage in authorized practice of law activities....

Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act Benefits Act In Price v. Stevedoring Servs. of Am., No. 08-71719, an action seeking disability benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), the court affirmed the Department of Labor Benefits Review Board’s order affirming the ALJ’s decision to award simple interest at the rate determined by 28 U.S.C. section 1961(a), where interest on past due disability payments under the LHWCA was properly calculated as simple interest at the rate defined in section 1961(a)....

The war of words that’s been stirring between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff could end in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. This week, the Second Circuit granted a temporary stay in the case between Citigroup and the SEC until January 17. Under Judge Rakoff’s previous order, defendant Citigroup was supposed to respond to the SEC’s complaint next week, reports Bloomberg. In November, Judge Rakoff refused to approve a $285 million consent judgment between Citigroup and the SEC over toxic mortgage debt because the settlement didn’t include an admission of guilt from Citigroup....

In Berghuis v. Thompkins, No. 08-1470, a murder prosecution, the Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit’s reversal of the district court’s denial of petitioner’s habeas petition, holding that the state court’s decision rejecting petitioner’s Miranda claim was correct under de novo review and therefore necessarily reasonable under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act’s more deferential standard of review because petitioner’s silence during his interrogation did not invoke his right to remain silent....

In a wire fraud matter, the denial of Defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea is affirmed, where “newly available evidence” does not constitute “newly discovered evidence” justifying withdrawal of a guilty plea. Sentence is vacated, where there was insufficient evidence to support the number of victims enhancement imposed by the District Court. Read US v. Showalter, No. 08-50109 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted April 8, 2009 Filed June 26, 2009...

Sentence for wire fraud is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err in denying defendant’s request for an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction as his comments showed he expressly and unequivocally denied his factual guilt; and 2) the court followed proper procedure and applied the relevant factors in determining whether the sentence in this case should be consecutive to two other sentences, and its decision to impose a consecutive sentence was reasonable....

The Ninth Circuit isn’t the only appellate court to take its show on the road. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on October 26, at the University of South Dakota School of Law. The three-judge panel doing the honors is Chief Judge William Riley, Judge Roger Wollman, and Judge Arlen Beam, reports the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. The panel will hear oral arguments in three cases:...

They say that when you buy a house, you also buy the neighborhood. Unfortunately, that means you could be getting anything out of your neighbors: sickeningly sweet, terribly prickly, or perverted and creepy. You know the type — single, at least in their 50s, beer gut to the gods, and a stare that locks onto you like a lobster claw. Not what you would be looking for in a neighbor at all....

Looks like Taylor Swift may be in trouble. Two songwriters sued Swift, claiming that she stole their tune and lyrics and used them in her Grammy-nominated mega-hit, “Shake It Off.” On Sept. 12, Taylor got the bad news that the judge would not kick out the case before trial. Did Taylor really steal from the two songwriters? A jury of people just like you will decide. ‘Playas Gon Play’ v. ‘Shake It Off’ In 2001, Sean Hall and Nathan Butler co-wrote a song, “Playas Gon Play....

This week is set to be a busy one for en banc review for the Ninth Circuit. With the “Innocence of Muslims” YouTube stay and California’s concealed carry laws on the line, the 11-judge panel may have a lot on its mind. If they decide to hear the issues, that is. As the Volokh Conspiracy reported Thursday, some judge (probably not Kozinski) made a sua sponte request to rehear en banc the panel’s decision to deny the stay made in Google v....

Adrian Moncrieffe, a Jamaican citizen, came to the U.S. legally in 1984, when he was three. During a 2007 traffic stop, police found 1.3 grams of marijuana in his car. That’s about two or three joints. Moncrieffe pleaded guilty in Georgia to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Under a state statute providing more lenient treatment to first-time offenders, the trial court withheld entering a judgment of conviction or imposing any term of imprisonment, and instead required that Moncrieffe complete five years of probation, after which his charge will be expunged altogether....

In an appeal from an order granting attorney’s fees to Defendant following Plaintiffs’ voluntary dismissal of their copyright lawsuit, the order is reversed where, because Plaintiffs remained free to refile their copyright claims, they were not “prevailing parties” and thus were not entitled to attorney’s fees. Read Cadkin v. Loose, No. 08-55311 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted May 8, 2009 Filed June 26, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Fisher. Counsel...

Fresh off the bench, Judge Richard Posner, or Dick, as Chief Judge Diane Wood calls him, has been stirring up some controversy on the court he used to serve. His new books explains his belief that pro se litigants don’t get a fair shake in his former circuit, and not surprisingly, the justices still sitting on the bench in the Seventh Circuit disagree. In a statement provided by Judge Wood to Above the Law, she explains that Dick is alone in his view that the staff attorneys don’t do a good a job for pro se litigants, or disfavor pro se litigants....

Had their plan succeded, Russell “Mohammed” Defreitas and Abdul Kadir would have leveled the John F. Kennedy International Airport and much of the Borough of Queens by attaching explosives to the airport’s fuel tanks. In order to further the plot, the duo made attempts to connect with al Qaeda, al Jamaat Al-Muslimeen (“JAM”), a militant Islamic group located in Trinidad, and other contacts in Iran. They now appeal a number of issues related to their trial, including the decision to use an anonymous jury, several evidentiary rulings, and of course, their life sentences....

In US v. Parish, No. 08-3421, the court of appeals affirmed defendant’s conviction and sentence for knowingly and intentionally possessing with the intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base and one count of knowingly possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, on the grounds that 1) it appeared from a review of the record that defendant was able to present to the jury all the evidence supporting his claimed beating and his contention of planted evidence for whatever purposes he desired to make of it; 2) the jury heard the evidence defendant wished to elicit from the officers who allegedly beat defendant, and thus any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; 3) because the only purpose of the arranged meeting at issue was for defendant to distribute drugs, the police had probable cause to believe that evidence relevant to the drug crime would be found in the vehicle; 4) the government presented sufficient evidence to establish that defendant’s possession of a loaded firearm was in furtherance of the underlying drug crime; and 5) there was no evidence that the district court committed procedural error by treating the advisory Guidelines as mandatory....

Congress recently passed the Respect for Marriage Act in response to concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court may eventually review and reverse the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. This federal law requires the federal government and states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed in a state recognizing same-sex marriage. This means if you married in New York but moved to Texas, where there is no state law allowing same-sex marriage, Texas must recognize your marriage....

In a trademark dispute, district court judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the court properly granted summary judgment for plaintiff as defendant missed the deadline for responding to a request for admissions, and the Italian judgment in defendant’s postdates the American one, and thus cannot be pleaded as res judicata; and 2) the court erred in awarding lost profits and statutory damages, as the lost profits are compensatory damages, and statutory damages may be awarded only in cases in which compensatory damages are not awarded for the same violation....

The Tohono O’odham Nation did not violate a gaming compact between it and the state of Arizona when it planned to build a casino in Glendale, the Ninth Circuit ruled yesterday. Arizona and two other tribes claimed that the tribe’s casino plans were in violation of a 2002 gaming compact between the tribe and the state, which allowed gaming on native land but barred casinos on lands taking into trust after 1988....

It’s hard to believe when employees who discriminate against others claim that they themselves are the victims of discrimination. However hard it is to believe, the fact is that even people who hold discriminatory views can be protected from discrimination. In certain states, like California, the anti-discrimination laws protect more than just the usual protected classes of race, sex/gender, religion and national origin. But even under federal law, just because a person is part of a majority group, that does not mean that they are immune from discrimination, or that the discrimination they face is any less illegal....

Did you know that teenagers could be committing a crime based on the messages they send and receive on their cell phones? Text messages, DM’s, Snapchats, and other electronic messages can violate state criminal laws if they contain sexual messages, images, or videos. But what if you only send nude photos to someone you’re in a relationship with? Or what if you receive sexts or explicit photos that you didn’t want?...