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A recent opinion piece poses the rather loaded question of whether the U.S. Supreme Court justices are ‘front row kids,’ and suggests that the judiciary will forever be run by these ‘front row kids.’ If you are asking yourself what that even means, you are probably not alone, but it’ll soon feel like dork deja vu. In short, a “front row kid” refers to the students in a classroom who sit in the front row, do their homework, raise their hand, and are un-liked by the students who sit in the back of the classroom....

In an action against DaimlerChrysler based on human rights violations allegedly committed by Mercedes Benz Argentina, its subsidiary, in Argentina during the 1970s military regime, the dismissal of the action for lack of personal jurisdiction is affirmed, where a parent’s control over a subsidiary must be over and above that to be expected as an incident of ownership for jurisdiction to exist on that basis. Read Bauman v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., No....

In a bid to lure and retain high quality employees, many workplaces make it easy to volunteer your time to non-profit organizations. This can be done by allowing paid time off to volunteer during the work day or organizing employee volunteer outings. While many people like working at places that allow them to give back to their communities, not everyone chooses to volunteer. But what happens when your boss forgets the meaning of the word “volunteer” and requires you to give your time to another organization?...

Many major U.S. retailers now accept certain cryptocurrencies as form of payment. Facebook recently announced that it will create its own virtual currency. But what about workers who want to be paid in it? Earlier this month, New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department, its equivalent of our Internal Revenue Service, announced that most employers could start paying workers in cryptocurrency. The pay must be in a fixed amount and be a regular part of the employee’s salary....

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that the community caretaking exception to the warrant requirement does not apply to a vehicle that was impounded and searched as a result of a pretextual stop. In 2009, Los Angeles Police Department Detective Todd Hankel asked a marked police unit to develop a lawful reason to stop Jesus Cervantes because he believed that Cervantes was involved in drug trafficking. In response to Hankel’s request, Officer Sanchez and Officer Colley stopped Cervantes for failure to come to a complete stop behind the limit line at an intersection....

If you know discovery, maybe you saw this coming. An ediscovery provider just became an $800 million company. It was bound to happen, what with big data becoming too big even for Biglaw. The ediscovery entrepreneurs saw it, and now they are killing it – in a good way. KLDiscovery cashed in by merging with Pivotal Acquisition Corp., a public investment vehicle. The deal makes KLD a publicly listed company, and you know what that means: Just like old-school discovery, the potential for ediscovery is endless....

In Weber County, they call it “The Case of the Erotic Love Poem.” With a title like that, poetry reading might make a comeback in the Utah county. But it’s not the kind of literature you would read to school children. Craig Storey, a former judge, wrote it privately for a court employee. And that was the problem in Eisenhour v. Storey. The Poem It started in 2007, when Marcia Eisenhour worked for Storey at the county court....

This post was updated on March 24, 2022 You just brought a baby into the world, so you’re probably not thinking about passing away any time soon. You want to think about all the great experiences you and your family have ahead of you. However, when tragedy sadly strikes, many young families are left without an estate plan in place. It may sound morbid to start planning for the end of your life when you just welcomed a new one into the world....

In an action alleging that Defendants breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA in the operation of a corporation’s retirement plans, the dismissal of the complaint is reversed where plaintiff had standing as an ERISA plan participant to seek relief under 29 U.S.C. section 1132(a)(2), despite having withdrawn all of his assets from his plan. Read Harris v. Amgen, Inc., No. 08-55389 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted May 8, 2009 Filed July 14, 2009...

Choosing the right car insurance policy can be tricky, and may leave people wondering: How does personal injury protection (PIP) work? In general, PIP insurance covers expensive medical expenses after an accident. PIP can be beneficial because it reimburses drivers for their injuries, if those injuries aren’t covered by medical insurance. Each state has different PIP requirements and availability, so learning more about PIP insurance can help you choose the right policy....

In Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s (BAP) denial of plaintiff-creditor’s motion to allow an informal proof of claim based on its prior filings as a putative secured creditor is affirmed as the BAP did not abuse its discretion in finding that: 1) plaintiff had ample notice of the likelihood that it would lose its status as a secured creditor, necessitating the filing of a proof of claim; 2) plaintiff’s unexplained delay weighed against allowing plaintiff’s informal proof of claim; and 3) the large dilution in the distribution to other creditors in this case was an appropriate consideration weighing against allowing plaintiff’s claim....

Learning is priceless, or at least it might as well be if you go to law school at Columbia or the University of Chicago. For the first time, these two law schools will cost six figures per year to attend, including tuition, fees, and room and board. The sticker price at Columbia is $75,898. Students must add $23,947 in living expenses for 9 months, including $1,582 per month in rent, for a total of $101,345....

In the ongoing legal saga that is made up of multiple legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate (with 93 pending cases and counting), the Seventh Circuit has added its two cents again. Back in November the Seventh Circuit weighed in on the issue of the contraception mandates applicability to for-profit, secular businesses, and came out on the side of business owners when it granted an injunction pending appeal, stating that “compelling [business owners] to cover those services substantially burdens their religious exercise rights....

If you have cheese in your refrigerator, go check it right now. If it came from Vulto Creamery, sit down before reading on. That’s because Vulto cheese, previously distributed by Whole Foods and throughout New York, has caused at least eight people to fall ill to listeriosis – including two who died. A federal court has ordered the shut-down of the artisanal creamery, but that’s only part of the story. This has been going on for years....

In a petition for review of the denial of petitioner’s asylum application, the petition is denied where: 1) the record’s demonstration that petitioner’s unresponsiveness was a pattern throughout the hearing was one of the circumstances that the REAL ID Act entitled the BIA to consider in assessing petitioner’s credibility; and 2) petitioner’s inability to consistently describe the underlying events that gave rise to his alleged fear of persecution was an important factor that could be relied upon by the Immigration Judge in making an adverse credibility determination....

As of this writing, one Bitcoin is worth about $10,330 in U.S. currency. But let’s say you purchased some last year, when it was trading somewhere south of $5,000 and you’d like to unload some for a tidy profit. Do you have to report that income to the IRS? The technical, legal answer is: Absolutely. The IRS considers Bitcoin and other digital and cryptocurrencies to be property for taxation purposes, so you are required to report trading gains or losses on your tax returns....

It’s been nearly 10 months since George Floyd died under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death sparked an ongoing reckoning with America’s commitment to racial justice and the treatment of people of color by the police. Jury selection is now underway in the murder trial of Chauvin, in what will surely be one of the most closely watched criminal cases in recent memory. Here is what you need to know as the start of opening arguments inches closer....

Indictment of a defendant for failing to update his sex offender registration and for traveling interstate is reversed because Sexual Offenders Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) explicitly required the Attorney General to specify the applicability of the Act to persons convicted prior to the effective date of SORNA, and because the Attorney General did not promulgate a regulation making that determination in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act, defendant was not subject to SORNA’s requirements during the period indicated in the indictment....

Conviction and sentence for transporting child pornography is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err in finding defendant was competent to stand trial; 2) the record before the district court was sufficient to support its finding that defendant’s decision to waive the right to counsel was knowing, intelligent and voluntary; 3) the evidence was sufficient to support defendant’s conviction; and 4) sentence was not unreasonable, nor did it violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment....

If you want to raise money for charity, talk a little bit about Seinfeld, and secure a lucrative job at Vandelay Industries, you might consider going to Yada Yada Law School, the “fake law school taught by real law professors." Courses include Seinfeld Torts, Seinfeld Contracts, and Seinfeld Property Law. You can see the class schedule on their website. Courses are currently ongoing, and you can view previous classes on their YouTube Channel....