YET ANOTHER REASON TO AVOID GOING TO COURT
A Florida lawyer and a judge got into a physical altercation over the attorney’s refusal to waive a speedy trial for his client. The judge, captured on video, wished for a rock to throw at the lawyer, then suggested they take it into the rear hallway. Sadly, the video didn’t show what happened next, but scuffling and thuds could be heard. The courtroom erupted in applause when the noises stopped. The judge has been placed on leave, for anger management counseling. Would you want to appear before him when he returns? ...
Read MoreOH YEAH, THERE WAS THAT OTHER ONE . . . .
From the Los Angeles Times, regarding the man who will face Governor Jerry Brown in a runoff: FOR THE RECORD An earlier version of this post referred to Neel Kashkari as the first California Republican gubernatorial nominee in modern times who is not a white, Christian male. In 2010, the Republican nominee was Meg Whitman.
Read MoreQ: What do pet food, cosmetic surgery, and cigarettes have in common?
A: They’re all things that employees have tried to expense. I know the line between work and leisure has become blurred, but I think there still are some limits. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-ridiculous-things-employees-tried-to-expense-2013-12
Read MoreHOW THE LEGAL SYSTEM FAILED SERGE ALEYNIKOV
In the latest issue of Vanity Fair financial writer Michael Lewis tells the fascinating story of Serge Aleynikov, a programmer who copied a small bit of computer code when changing jobs. For this he was convicted in federal court and sentenced to eight years in prison. Serge had left Goldman Sachs, which frowned upon having its “propriety material” taken. (Whether or not the code was proprietary is itself somewhat questionable, since Goldman claims all open source code as its own once its programmers have modified it, even if the improvements aren’t specific to the...
Read MoreMEDIATION COMES OF AGE IN LOS ANGELES (PART 2)
Now that budget cuts have ended court-annexed mediation—just as they led to its birth nearly twenty years ago—what now? What does the landscape look like from here on? In some respects we’ve returned to 1994. Courtrooms have been closed, court staff laid off. All personal injury cases county-wide will be assigned to just two judges. Access to the courts for motions and other conferences is limited. Cases won’t come to trial for many years. There’s at least one new wrinkle: Trials may not be heard in the courthouse where the case was filed. This adds another level of risk...
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