Legal Industry News

Judge Gives Sheriff a First Amendment Lecture . . . And More

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: WSJ.com: Law Blog - WSJ.com A federal judge upbraided Osceola County, Iowa, Sheriff Douglas L. Weber this week for denying a concealed weapon permit to an Iowa man because he engaged in frequent political advocacy. So egregious were the sheriff's actions, the judge found, that the judge ordered Weber back to school for a court approved course on the Constitution.

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29 Is Not Enough: Couple’s Concern for Kids is More than a Family Affair

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: ABA Journal Top Stories Each May is National Foster Care Month, but for Gene Balloun and Sheila Wombles, foster care has been celebrated nearly every day of their 26-year marriage. “David, of course, was our first. He came to us as an infant at 14 months old in 1987 and is 23 now. We were able to adopt David when he was 4,” Wombles explains, sitting in the living room of their four-bedroom home located off a quiet cul-de-sac in a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. Balloun is a commercial litigator at Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Wombles, a former Indiana elementary schoolteacher. The two… Read the rest of the...

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Delaware Bankruptcy Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: SettlementBoard.com When deciding on whether you should declare bankruptcy, the first thing you should do is to take a moment to understand bankruptcy laws.  These laws explain the rights of creditors and debtors and also explain what is required of you if you plan on filing for bankruptcy. Navigating through bankruptcy law on your own can [...] Read the rest of the...

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Can I Drive After My Arrest for DUI While My Case is Pending?

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: SettlementBoard.com If you are licensed in Georgia, the answer is “Yes.” You can continue to drive after being arrested and charged with DUI. Remember, you are innocent unless and until the state of Georgia proves your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If you are licensed in a state other than Georgia, different rules may apply. When [...] Read the rest of the...

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Justice Ginsburg Rolls Out Welcome Mat for Kagan

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: WSJ.com: Law Blog - WSJ.com Speaking yesterday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she was eager for Elena Kagan to join the court.

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Dimitriou & Associates in San Francisco

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: SettlementBoard.com Based in San Francisco, Dimitriou & Associates, P.C. is a full-service law firm representing clients primarily in litigation, business law and transactions, real estate, landlord-tenant, taxation, professional responsibility, and estate planning matters.  We solve problems on behalf of individuals and businesses throughout California, across the United States, and internationally. At Dimitriou & Associates, we advise [...] Read the rest of the...

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Nonlawyer Bests Toyota’s Counsel in 9th Circuit Trademark Case

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: ABA Journal Top Stories Lisa Tabari is not a lawyer. But she took on an auto giant's corporate lawyers in a trademark dispute and won. A federal appeals court Thursday lifted an injunction barring Tabari and her husband, Farzad, from using the word Lexus in a family-owned business that specializes in connecting would-be Lexus owners and dealers, the Recorder reported. A district court judge had barred the couple from using the domain names buy-a-lexus.com and buyorleaselexus.com in their online business, saying they infringed on the trademark of the auto giant Toyota, Lexus' corporate parent. But the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals… Read the rest of the...

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Judge Seeks Clarity on SCOTUS Standard in Troy Davis Case

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: WSJ.com: Law Blog - WSJ.com Convicted murderer Troy Anthony Davis has gotten rare chance to prove his innocence, following a Supreme Court ruling last year. But what burden of proof must he meet to demonstrate his innocence and get off Georgia's death row?

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On The Relevance/Significance Of Lady Gaga To YOUR China Business.

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: China Law Blog

Every so often I will read something I know to be important, without really being able to put my finger on why it is important or even how. That is the case today with "Just for Fun: Oh My Lady Gaga! A Star is Born in…China," a post on the usually oh-so serious China Law & Policy blog.  

The post discusses how incredibly popular Lady Gaga is in China and how the media (for her more than anyone else) so often write her name in English, not in Chinese characters. According to the post, Lady Gaga is hugely popular in China because she is both "accessible" and out there:

Accessible? She wears no pants half of the time and muppets the other half. “Of course.” As Tom explained, someone like Beyonce, who is beautiful and dresses in the highest of fashion, is absurdly inaccessible for the average person in both the U.S. and China. But Lady Gaga creates outfits, making her fashion style achievable with some imagination. “I can just imagine a Chinese girl in some factory town, inspired by Lady Gaga, putting tin cans on her head” Tom said.

That sentiment...

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Filmmaker Says He Was Working Undercover for Plaintiffs Firm Suing Dole

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: ABA Journal Top Stories A filmmaker who went to Nicaragua to film a documentary says he went to work for a Texas law firm suing Dole Foods on behalf of banana workers. Filmmaker Jason Glaser testified on behalf of six men who say they became sterile because of pesticide exposure, the Associated Press reports. The men are seeking to keep a $2.3 million award against Dole despite evidence that some Nicaraguans suing the company lied about their sterility and about working on banana farms. Glaser said the Beaumont, Texas, law firm Provost-Umphrey paid him and his film crew $17,000 a month, the story says.… Read the rest of the...

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Tweet At Your Own Risk: CNN Editor Learns the Hard Way.

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: Federal Employment Law Articles Twitter is a powerful medium for communication. Messages can be posted in seconds and from anywhere, and can reach a nearly limitless number of listeners. But, with great power, well, . . . you know.

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Employers Must Play or Pay Under Health-Care Reform.

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: Federal Employment Law Articles Health care reform is now law and many of the so called “insurance market reforms” go into effect for most employers on January 1, 2011. However, the portion of the law that will require certain large employers to offer and contribute to employees’ health insurance or pay a penalty are deferred until 2014.

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Protective Equipment Not Included in FLSA Exemption for Changing Clothes.

Friday, July 9th, 2010
Source: Federal Employment Law Articles Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Administrator's Interpretation (AI) reversing DOL positions published during the Bush Administration and stating that employees must be compensated for time spent donning and doffing certain kinds of "protective equipment" even if under the terms of the relevant collective bargaining agreement (CBA), or the CBA's custom and practice, such time is to be unpaid. See Administrator's Interpretation No. 2010-2, available on the DOL web site at: http://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/adminIntrprtn/FLSA/2010/FLSAAI2010_2.htm. The AI also reverses other DOL interpretations and states that while time spent changing "clothes" (as opposed to "protective equipment") can still be treated as unpaid time pursuant to the terms of a CBA or custom and practice, "subsequent activities, including walking and waiting, are compensable."

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