Connectu v. Facebook (and vice versa)

Arrested and jailed over an allegedly unpaid 2008 traffic ticket, Dwana Voncia London-Richardson died, at age 45, on an Alabama courthouse floor days after sheriff's department and jail workers failed to provide her with medical treatment, a federal lawsuit says. It names as defendants the St. Clair County sheriff, county…... more

Updated: As the legal job market has contracted and law school enrollment has declined, law school administrators are focusing their marketing efforts beyond the traditional pool of applicants who want to earn a juris doctor degree and practice law after three years of study. Instead, they looking to mid-career professionals…... more

Decades ago, George Orwell wrote a famous novel, 1984, that envisioned a then-future world in which "Big Brother"--a totalitarian government--was watching its citizens through a variety of electronic gadgetry and might at any time bark orders at individuals through a loudspeaker or television screen. That world doesn't yet exist, as…... more

Nearly 30 law schools in the United States have or soon will offer a master's degree for nonlawyers -- up from just a handful two years ago. The programs differ slightly in name, structure and cost, but they generally are marketed to working professionals. Although the movement remains in its early stages, to administrators across the country it represents a promising counterpoint to waning interest in the traditional three-year J.D. degree. And while part of the incentive behind the trend is... more

Although 2012 was the year of billion-dollar wins in patent cases, the largest award of this year so far has come in an antitrust case. A federal judge in Kansas has trebled the damages in a class action in which the plaintiffs alleged that Dow Chemical fixed prices for the chemical urethane. A jury returned a $400 million verdict in February, so the chemical giant is now on the hook for $1.2 billion. ... more

In-house counsel tackled an increased number of class action lawsuits last year, but managed to tamp down legal spend by an average of $100,000 per matter, according to the 2013 Carlton Fields Class Action Survey. Three key strategies were found to make a big difference for in-house departments' efforts to control costs. ... more

Law enforcement personnel initiated or cooperated in a record high number of them in 2012. ... more

Renewed criticism has placed Eric Holder on the defensive, raising questions about whether the attorney general would remain in office and threatening to undermine his effort to shape a legacy of increased government transparency and the protection of civil rights. ... more

Federal courts officials have appealed to Congress for emergency funding, saying the judiciary lacks the budget flexibility to absorb the large mandatory spending cuts that have forced furloughs in the nation's federal public defender and court offices. ... more

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in five cases. In Lawson v. FMR LLC [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will consider whether an employee of a privately-held contractor or subcontractor of a public company is protected from retaliation by Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [18 USC § 1514A]. Section 1514A forbids a publicly traded company, a mutual fund or "any ... contractor [or] subcontractor ... of such company [to] ......... more

[JURIST] The Afghanistan parliament on Saturday blocked legislation that would have worked to strengthen women's rights in the country. If passed, the legislation would have protected provisions [AP report] of the 2009 Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) [PDF], which was originally implemented by presidential decree, from being repealed by a future Afghanistan president. The law criminalizes child marriages and forced marriages and states that rape victims should not be charged... more

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that people convicted of crack cocaine offenses have a right to resentencing hearings under the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) [PDF; JURIST report]. The case was brought by two incarcerated defendants seeking retroactive relief from racially discriminatory, 10-year mandatory minimum sentences imposed on them in 2005. The ruling expands the FSA, which lessens penalties for possession and dealing,... more