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Employment lawyers have been keeping their eyeballs on the Third Circuit lately. That court of appeals has been very busy making law with regards to the federal FLSA in two recent cases. As an added bonus, the court was mercifully clear in its dicta and tone in both opinions. It might not be a bright line rule, but hey – let’s not be greedy. In the first Third Circuit case to set precedent, the court overturned a lower court grant of summary judgment for an employer who sought to categorize a temp worker who was not entitled standing as a full fledged employee for purposes of a Title VII employment action....

District court’s denial of claimant’s application for disability insurance benefits is affirmed where, although the ALJ clearly did not make the required findings regarding the severity of claimant’s mental impairment, the error was harmless because it did not deprive the claimant of a substantial right nor did it prejudice him on the merits as the administrative record indicated that his bipolar disorder was not severe enough to render him disabled. Read Rabbers v....

Last week, after nearly a year long confirmation process, Susan Carney of Connecticut was confirmed by a vote of 71 to 28, with one abstention, for a position as a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals judge, reports Thomson Reuters News & Insight. Carney served as deputy general counsel at Yale University for twelve years, reports The Connecticut Mirror, and will now hear appeals from lower courts in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont....

Prosecutors impermissibly withheld potentially exculpatory evidence in their prosecution of an Ohio police lieutenant for the death of his wife. Thomas Barton was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly hired a man to “scare” his wife by staging a robbery, only for the plan to go wrong and Barton’s wife to end up dead. Barton appealed, arguing that the prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence – mainly that the sole witness against Barton may not have had the “burglar for hire” history that the state claimed....

It’s the end of days for the Migrant Protection Protocols, better known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. On its final day of decisions for the 2021-2022 term, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Biden administration could end the Trump-era policy that required asylum seekers to stay on the Mexican side of the southern border while they waited for approval. The Department of Homeland Security announced the Migrant Protection Protocols in late 2018, framing them as an alternative to detaining asylum seekers in the United States....

The Supreme Court won’t touch the Roadless Rule in the 2012 Term. Monday, the Court denied petitions for certiorari from the Colorado Mining Association and the State of Wyoming, which were asking for review of the Clinton-era rule, Environment News Service reports. The Roadless Rule is a regulation that bans construction and reconstruction in certain inventoried roadless areas (IRAs). The Forest Service adopted the Interim Roadless Rule, an 18-month moratorium on road construction in most IRAs in March 1999....

Chances are if you’re getting divorced, you already feel like your spouse hasn’t told you everything. Especially if you’re involved in a high asset divorce, you might get the sense your spouse hasn’t told you where all the money is. Not every high net worth ex-spouse is interested in keeping their money from you, but chances are good that if they can protect their assets from you, they will try....

The February bar exam is just a few weeks away, and whether it’s your first crack at the test or you’re retaking it the process can certainly be daunting. For those of you staring down that final study push, here are a few tips: If It’s Your First Rodeo The best piece of advice we can give first-time test takers is: Practice, practice, practice. The exam’s essays, multiple-choice sections, and performance tests are likely different from what you encountered in law school....

A dispute between a Native American tribe and a local university was resolved this week, when the Havasupai people and Arizona State University signed a settlement agreement regarding the use of Havasupai DNA for research. Experts watching this case say the agreement could have wider implications, requiring more communication by researchers to those donating genetic material, regarding disclosure of its full intended use. The New York Times reports the Havasupai, who traditionally reside in the Grand Canyon, gave their blood to ASU researchers to study and to try to determine why the Havasupai people have such a high incidence of type 2 diabetes....

In a consolidated appeal involving three defendants where each had violated the conditions of their supervised release, district court’s decision to impose a new term of imprisonment with a recommendation to the Bureau of Prisons that it place each man in a halfway house during the last six months of his sentence is remanded as placement in a halfway house should be viewed as a legitimate additional condition not affirmatively authorized by 18....

Conviction for production and possession of child pornography is affirmed where: 1) defendant intentionally waived his right to challenge the constitutionality of the indictment against him as he was aware that he could challenge the constitutionality of the indictment on Commerce Clause grounds and made a conscious decision not to press the argument in district court proceedings; and 2) the indictment was not defective and its wording did not deprive defendant of the opportunity to prepare an adequate defense....

Defendant’s drug and firearm convictions are affirmed, where: 1) proof of a defendant’s prior felony convictions is admissible for purposes of proving an 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(1) violation, even if the prior convictions are constitutionally deficient; and 2) defendant’s state-law right to possess a firearm was never restored, and thus the Section 921(a)(20) exemption did not apply. Read US v. Penney, No. 05-6821 Appellate Information Argued: October 24, 2008 Decided and Filed: August 7, 2009...

In a prosecution of defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm, denial of defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of the firearm is affirmed as officers’ actions did not violate the Fourth Amendment where: 1) officers’ initial contact with defendant, as they entered the building in an attempt to respond to an emergency 911 call, did not result in a seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment; and 2) when an officer told defendant to stop, there was a proper basis for an investigatory Terry stop and the degree of intrusion at issue was reasonably related in scope to the situation at hand....

If you’re a lawyer, seemingly endless podcasts exist to meet your professional interests. But what if you’re a nonlawyer who is merely interested in the law? Or who is looking for useful legal information that you can use? There aren’t as many legal podcasts out there for nonlawyers, but we’ve rounded up what we think are some of the best ones — eight in total — and summarize them below in no particular ranking order....

A Texas court began proceedings to determine how much Alex Jones must pay the parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims for his defamatory statements. The defamation action arises from his denial and conspiracy theories regarding the deadliest classroom shooting in the U.S. There are two separate lawsuits where a Texas court found Jones guilty by default judgment. A default judgment is when a defendant does not answer a complaint in time or disregards court orders....

Federal claims by one of the jurors in the Michael Brown case were revived by the Eighth Circuit. Additional controversy in the critical “Black Lives Matter” case was stirred when the anonymous juror – known only as “Jane Doe” – suggested that not all jurors unanimously agreed not to indict police officer Darren Wilson. Doe, who apparently feels quite strongly about her opinion, faces the possibility of having misdemeanor counts brought against her for disclosing the goings-on of jury deliberations, according to the Associated Press....

What conduct forms a lawyer-client relationship? From the topic of conversation, to the type of assistance the attorney is providing, what exactly triggers an attorney-client relationship can get tricky. Last week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the issue. Shannon Williams was prosecuted for his involvement in a marijuana conspiracy. A co-conspirator of his, Richard Conway, wanted to cooperate with the government and began associating with attorney Terry Haddock. Haddock and Conway helped the government locate and prosecute Williams....

It all began with the late Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy Playmate and wife of billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. After J. Howard passed away in 1995, one year after marrying Smith, a dispute erupted over his estate, which was bequeathed nearly entirely to one son, the late E. Pierce Marshall. Smith, whose legal name was Vickie Lynn Marshall, challenged the will, as did J. Howard III, a second son of the late billionaire....

The Federal Trade Commission believes that paying a prospective rival to stay out of a competition is the very definition of anti-competitive behavior, but the federal courts are split on the matter, Reuters reports. Monday, the Supreme Court will take a stab at resolving whether brand and generic drug manufacturers should be allowed to enter into mutually-beneficial pay-for-delay arrangements. Only one in 5,000 new drugs make it market, and the process usually takes 15 years and more than $1 billion....

In plaintiffs’ ERISA action challenging an amendment to their welfare plan as an unlawful cutback of their accrued benefits under their pension plan, the judgment of the district court in favor of the plaintiffs is affirmed as the amendment violated the ERISA’s Anti-Cutback rule, 29 U.S.C. section 1054(g), by constructively amending the pension plan in a manner that decreased an accrued benefit under that plan. Read Battoni v. IBEW Local Union No....