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Archive for May, 2010

Appeals judges back Los Angeles billboard ban

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A panel of judges has decided that the city of Los Angeles did not violate billboard companies' constitutional rights when it enacted a ban on outdoor ads.

The ruling this week by the 9th District Court of Appeals reverses a federal judge's 2008 decision that exceptions to the ban raised free speech concerns because they gave city officials too much leeway in deciding which signs to allow.

The appeals' court judges also vacated a contempt order against the city that was issued after it issued citations against outdoor advertising company World Wide Rush, one of the companies that challenged the sign ban.

Messages left with World Wide Rush's attorney and the Los Angeles city attorney's office were not immediately returned.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

Very Dumb Lawsuit Dismissed

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a ridiculous lawsuit against the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick by a season ticket holder/lawyer who brought a lawsuit on behalf of "all Jets fans" who had bought tickets to Jets-Patriots games in New Jersey during Belichick's tenure.

The basis for the suit? The Patriots/Belichick's conduct during the infamous Spygate game between the Patriots and the New York Jets in September 2007 where the Patriots coaches were caught using a video camera to steal the Jets signals.

The court found that the Plaintiffs possessed "nothing more than a contractual right to a seat from which to watch an NFL game between the Jets and the Patriots...."

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

Owner Of Gulf Coast Rental Property Files Class Action

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

Elizabeth A. Alexander, a partner with the Nashville office of the national plaintiffs’ law firm, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, and attorney Charles Barrett, of Nashville, announced today that a local owner of a Gulf Coast vacation home has filed a class action lawsuit against BP. The plaintiff, a Nashville resident and owner of beachfront property in Panacea, Florida, brought the class action on behalf of herself and all Tennessee residents who own property on the Gulf coast in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and have suffered economic losses caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the resulting oil spill.

“The value of properties along the Gulf Coast and rental income for property owners, including owners from Tennessee, have been negatively impacted. BP and other defendants must take responsibility for their losses.”
."This unfolding and unprecedented ecological and economic disaster, the complaint charges, was the result of negligence by BP and the other corporations involved in drilling at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig," Ms. Alexander stated. "The value of properties along the Gulf Coast and rental income for property owners, including owners from Tennessee, have been negatively impacted. BP and other defendants must take responsibility for their losses."

Defendants named in the complaint include BP, PLC, and BP America, Inc., which owns the oil well, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc., which leases the oil rig to BP, Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., which was engaged in cementing operations at the well, and Cameron International Corporation, which supplied the blowout preventer valves for the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that have failed to activate.

The complaint, entitled Simcox v. BP, PLC, et al., was filed yesterday afternoon in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee. The complaint charges that defendants failed to employ necessary safety measures and technologies to prevent the spill and damage to marine and coastal environments. To read a copy of the complaint, please visit http://www.gulfoilspilllitigationgroup.com/pdf/20100525-tn-complaint.pdf

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

The World: Connected Through Cables

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Our world is connected through many ways, now more than ever before. Electronically speaking, we are able to view people in far off lands with barely any latency, purchase items with the click of a button and have them delivered to our doorstep. All of these are made possible because of the speed at which we are able to send data over vast distances, and this is possible because of cables.

In Utah, hundreds of companies are started each year, each requiring their own individual network. It is important, when looking for a Utah network cabling company, to look at previous jobs the prospective company has accomplished. Whether it be security cameras, fiber optics, wireless services, or structured cabling, the quality of work that a company does will foretell constant maintenance or a hassle free network. One of the most frustrating experiences can be when your network is down; when a network goes down, all ability to work is virtually ceased. How important is it to you that your network stays up?

Neils Fugal
474 East 950 North
Springville, UT 84663
http://www.fugal.com

Sonnenschein, UK law firm to merge

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and London-based Denton Wilde Sapte LLP have agreed to merge, pending a partnership vote June 9.

Chicago-based Sonnenschein is one of the largest law firms in St. Louis with 750 lawyers, including more than 40 locally.

The merger won’t affect the firm’s operations in St. Louis, according to a Sonnenschein spokesman.

Following the partnership vote, the combined firm will be rebranded SNR Denton, effective Sept. 30. SNR Denton will have about 1,400 attorneys working out of 33 offices in 18 countries. Its two largest offices will be London and New York.

Sonnenschein Chairman Elliott Portnoy will serve as co-CEO of the merged firm alongside Denton’s Chief Executive Howard Morris.

Denton specializes in financial legal advising and represents banks, funds and financial institutions, along with clients in energy and transportation, real estate, technology, media and telecommunications.

Sonnenschein specializes in capital markets, energy, public policy and government regulations, real estate and hospitality, and political intelligence.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

NY teen faces sentencing in hate crime stabbing

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A New York teenager is facing up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in the hate crime killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant.

Nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Conroy was convicted last month of manslaughter and other crimes in the November 2008 stabbing death of Marcelo Lucero (mar-SEHL'-oh loo-SEHR'-oh) on Long Island. Conroy is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors say they'll ask that Conroy serve the maximum of 25 years, although a judge has the option of imposing a minimum sentence of eight years.

Conroy was one of seven teenagers implicated in the killing but the only one to go to trial.

Prosecutors contend he was the one who inflicted the fatal blow during a confrontation near the Patchogue train station. The killing shone a national spotlight on race relations on Long Island.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

Court to hear Texas death row inmate DNA case

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

The justices agreed to hear Henry Skinner's appeal. On March 24, they granted him a stay about an hour before his scheduled execution to give them more time to decide whether to take up his case.

In an order issued Monday, the Supreme Court said it decided to rule on the issue presented by his case. Arguments are expected to be heard in the upcoming term that begins in October.

Skinner's lawyers maintain that his rights under the civil rights law were violated by authorities' refusal to grant DNA testing after his conviction.

In the United States, post-conviction DNA testing has exonerated more than 250 people, including 17 prisoners who served time on death row, according to a group called the Innocence Project.

Skinner was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons on New Year's Eve in 1993 in the small town of Pampa, Texas. He has always maintained his innocence.

Skinner's attorneys are seeking DNA testing of key evidence from the crime scene, including a bloody towel, two knives and a man's windbreaker, and swabs from a rape kit.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

Intn’l court reports Sudan to UN Security Council

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

The International Criminal Court said Wednesday it has reported Sudan to the U.N. Security Council for refusing to arrest a government minister and a militia leader suspected of war crimes in Darfur.

Judges at the court said in a report that Sudan has refused to hand over Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Harun and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb.

"After taking all possible measures to ensure the cooperation of the Republic of the Sudan, the Chamber concludes that the Republic of the Sudan is failing to comply with its cooperation obligations," the report said.

The court ordered the men arrested in 2007 on a total of 51 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

Phoenix School of Law Boot Camp Program

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

There’s an old expression about what to expect in law school:  “The first year they scare you to death, the second year they work you to death, and the third year they bore you to death."  The Phoenix School of Law is doing everything it can to take the fear out of law school by preparing incoming students for what lies ahead.

The PhoenixLaw Summer Boot Camp will help students sharpen their critical thinking, writing and analytical reasoning skills, and lay the groundwork required for success in law school and beyond.  The four-day program begins July 28th - two weeks before the start of the fall semester, and is intended to ease the transition from undergraduate students to law school and motivate students to succeed.

According to the American Bar Association, almost 50,000 students enrolled in law schools during the 2008-2009 academic year, but as trends show, less than a third of those students will actually graduate with their law degree.  Most students bring old study habits they used in college – or a natural intellectual ability that got them by.  These habits don’t always work in law school.  Understanding the material and memorizing is not enough, since there is a tremendous amount of written analysis in a specific legal form that must also learned.    Students who begin law school with less proficient study skills find law school difficult, and may possibly end their first year on academic probation or worse – dropping out.  PhoenixLaw’s Summer Boot Camp is aimed at students who may need the extra help in getting prepared for the three-year (or longer) road ahead.

“Success is a journey, not a destination. This program is the start of the journey for these students as they begin their pursuit of a J.D.,” says Jasmine Crowe, PSL Boot Camp Creator.  “My hope is that participants will gain valuable knowledge and tips to help them be successful in their journey ahead.”

Crowe adds that this Boot Camp is a pilot program, and that attendance is limited to fifty students.  Because PSL has rolling enrollment (new classes begin in fall and spring), more Boot Camps may be added each semester.

During the boot camp, students will learn the essential study skills for law school; build a basic understanding of the law; understand how to brief a case; and learn the skills of reading, writing and thinking like a lawyer.  The courses will be taught by PSL professors, and will give the students and faculty a head start on building a mentoring relationship.   While attending the boot camp, students will also become familiar with the school’s many features, and out-of-state students will get a chance to discover the Phoenix area.   

The $99 registration fee covers all meals, housing (Hilton Garden Inn), transportation and program materials.  More information and registration for the Phoenix School of Law Boot Camp is available at www.phoenixlaw.edu/lawbootcamp

About Phoenix School of Law

Phoenix School of Law is Arizona’s only law school offering full-time, part-time day, and part-time evening programs. The School received provisional approval from the American Bar Association in June 2007.  PhoenixLaw’s mission pillars are to provide student outcome-centered education, produce professionally prepared graduates, and serve the underserved. For more information about PhoenixLaw, visit www.phoenixlaw.edu or call 602-682-6800.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

US high court won’t hear Microsoft, Alcatel case

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Microsoft Corp's appeal in a case that could have reshaped the standards used in court fights to determine if patents have been infringed.

Lower courts had found that the date-picker tool in Microsoft's Outlook calendar infringed a patent held by French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent. The companies have an unresolved fight over damages.

In its appeal, Microsoft argued that a patent could be held invalid if evidence is presented in a court case that was not available at the time the patent was granted. It also said that the standard for invalidating a patent should be a "preponderance" of evidence, rather than "clear and convincing" evidence.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.