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Many people recall Britney Spears’ public unraveling in 2008. Fans, critics, and tabloid consumers alike were all shocked by images of the pop singer shaving her head and driving with one of her then-toddler children in her lap. In the decade since, her “comeback” and ability to talk about her struggles with mental health issues has won her new fans and renewed fortune. What many people don’t realize, despite all appearances that she is back in control of her life, is that since 2008, her father, Jamie Spears, has been serving as her conservator....

It’s been a heck of a ride with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski at the top of the Ninth Circuit, but with his seven-year term coming to a close, prepare for a different, more subdued, albeit equally able chief: Judge Sidney R. Thomas. The ageist numbers game that comprise the rules of succession mean that Clinton-appointed Thomas will be the next in line, and because he is a young sixty-one years of age, he should hold the spot down for the next seven years....

Jesse Ventura’s defamation suit has landed at the doorstep of the 8th Circuit. Although the final decision is potentially months away, legal scholars and big business are already at the sidelines waiting with bated breath. The lawsuit is a direct result of an account that Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (now deceased) claimed took place in a California bar in 2006. In his book, Kyle claimed that the then anonymous “celebrity” Navy SEAL known only as “Scruff Face” spoke offensively about the SEALs and that Kyle just had to straighten him out....

In an appeal from the district court’s denial of an injunction barring defendant from pursuing an action against plaintiff in Belgium, the order is reversed where: 1) the district court applied the wrong legal standard by requiring that the claims in the domestic and foreign action be identical, instead of engaging in the required functional inquiry concerning dispositiveness; and 2) the district court relied on the clearly erroneous factual determination that defendant’s Belgian claims, other than goodwill indemnities, were available apart from termination....

The debate over benefits and legal protections for gig workers has escalated as their ranks in the workforce have grown. Today, more than 10 million Americans consider themselves gig workers, and most lack the benefits and legal protections that traditional workers enjoy. While the Trump administration sought to keep it that way, the Biden administration has taken a different tack favoring greater benefits and protections for gig workers. On Oct. 11, the Labor Department unveiled a proposed regulation that would see millions of gig workers becoming employees....

What could be worse for a lawyer: getting typhus from flea bites or being famous for it? That’s what Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Elizabeth Greenwood has to deal with these days. She says she contracted the disease at work a few months ago. Now her story is all over the place. Either way, it’s worse than a rash. Typhus Fevers Typhus is a serious disease, even deadly if not treated....

A recent appeal handed down by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals might change the way things get done in the mining and energy industry. The appellate decision is requiring the federal agency that conducts analyses on environmental impacts for mining operations to redo their analysis for a group of mines subject to a challenge brought by the Wildearth Guardians and the Sierra Club. However, the subpar analysis was already relied upon, and as such, the court refused to vacate the agreements entered into allowing two mines to expand....

Carol Small, diagnosed in a New York detention center as a paranoid schizophrenic, was released in below-freezing temperature with no medication or treatment plan. Michelet Charles fared no better. The immigration center diagnosed him as a bipolar schizoaffective, and then pushed him into the cold with nothing but the clothes on his back and identification. They both wound up in emergency rooms. In Charles v. Orange County, State of New York, the U....

After an illegal left turn and near-collision with their police cruiser, Officers Matthew Ellis and Officer Daron Wyatt acted reasonably when they ran the van’s plates. They even acted reasonably when they followed the van, which had previously been involved in a narcotics stop. The decision to pull the driver over after the van swerved again was likely reasonable as well. That question is why this case, and others like it, led to race riots in Anaheim....

Tough times have many people trying to pick up extra work where they can find it. Some have a job but take another (or 2) on the side. Some start up small businesses on the side. Others already run small businesses and take an extra job to bolster fallen income. Here are a few legal considerations to keep in mind if thinking about moonlighting. Today’s Wall Street Journal reports on a handful of small business owners and their recent experiences moonlighting....

A long standing Copyright Act dispute before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was denied rehearing by the U.S. Supreme Court this week. The case involves a 1938 copyright of some very famous works – titles including “Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men.” The heirs of the late author John Steinbeck have been litigating their rights to his works for several years. The copyright lawsuit was brought by the author’s only living son, Thomas Steinbeck....

With the Ames Straw Poll only a few weeks behind us, America is once again in the throes of the presidential election season. For political junkies, election season is more exciting than all of the winter holidays combined. Why? Because elections bring on the barrage of political campaign ads. Granted, state attack ads are usually more entertaining than the presidential ads - presidential candidates have to maintain a modicum of dignity - but while normal people are muting candidate advertisements, political junkies are savoring every mud-slinging moment....

Fortune Dynamic, Inc. v. Victoria’s Secret Stores Brand Mgmt., Inc., No. 08-56291, involved an action by Fortune Dynamic, Inc., the owner of the incontestable trademark DELICIOUS for footwear, against Victoria’s Secret for trademark infringement. The court reversed summary judgment for defendant on the grounds that 1) there was an issue of material facts as to whether consumers were likely to be confused as to the source of Victoria’s Secret’s pink tank top that read “Delicious”; and 2) although it was possible that Victoria’s Secret used the term “Delicious” fairly – that is, in its “primary, descriptive sense” – a jury was better positioned to make that determination....

Not since 1968 has America experienced the social upheaval currently enveloping the country. One of the events that triggered the current unrest was the infamous “Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Two white supremacists who attended that event were Michael Paul Miselis and Benjamin Drake Daley. The two racists sought out and engaged in violent behavior and were convicted of, among other things, violating the Anti-Riot Act. The two challenged their conviction, claiming that the statute was facially overbroad and vague, and therefore in violation of the First Amendment....

The facts of State v. Hoffman are pretty simple: Brandon Hoffman was identified by neighbors as the last person who’d interacted with Scott Holzhauer, who was found dead in his home. Hoffman had three active misdemeanor arrest warrants, so police executed the warrants. Arriving at Hoffman’s house, they found a gun and two cell phones (one of which belonged to Holzhauer). They then got a search warrant, then arrested Hoffman....

A 3-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has mostly upheld the injunction barring the enforcement of President Trump’s Executive Order that would deny sanctuary cities federal funding. The panel found that the district court’s ruling was proper as to the state of California, and the cities and counties within it, but the nationwide injunction was overturned. The majority opinion remanded the case to the district court, potentially giving the plaintiffs in the case another chance at presenting sufficient evidence to justify the full nationwide injunction....

It was the end of a long road for Vernon Madison. Convicted of murdering a police officer more than 30 years ago, Madison had avoided his death sentence year after year. He was tried three times and appealed more, including a reversal this year when an appeals court said he was incompetent to be executed because he couldn’t remember his crime. But the U.S. Supreme Court drew the final curtain on Madison’s journey through the courts, saying “nothwithstanding his memory loss – he recognizes that he will be put to death as punishment for the murder he was found to have committed....

We get a fair number of junk faxes at our office. Our fax machine is next to the paper recycling bin, so it’s easy to toss them and forget about them. Because that’s what most people do. Most people are tossing out a veritable gold mine; under the Junk Fax Act, they could be suing and collecting damages for those unwanted faxes. Before you shudder at the thousands of dollars you’re losing by simply ignoring your in-house money press fax machine, just think about the money you’re saving insurance companies....

When you lose a case at trial, sometimes it’s better to just let it go. Gary McCaleb, a lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom, doesn’t think that way. He lost a ruling in Chicago that says anti-discrimination laws protect transgender students. “It’s not a defeat until the Supreme Court rules the wrong way,” McCaleb said. “And I don’t think they will.” Bathroom Privileges U.S. Judge Jorge Alonso denied his request for a preliminary injunction against a suburban school district that allows transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice....

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the dismissal of a sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation case brought by a resident of a senior center. The case alleges that the resident was subjected to pejorative verbal attacks, and even physical attacks, on multiple occasions. Furthermore, despite notifying the staff, nothing was done to protect her from the abusive tenants. The district court came down on the side of senior center as it agreed the Fair Housing Act only imposed liability on landlords for acting with discriminatory animus....