9th Circuit Court

Arbitrator: Crime-Fraud Exception Lets Ex-Toyota Counsel Use Privileged Docs in Whistle-Blow Case

An arbitrator has ruled (PDF) that a former in-house lawyer for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. may use documents that otherwise would be protected by attorney-client privilege because he has made a prima facie showing that a crime-fraud exception applies. While that does not establish that any crime or fraud…

Sep 13, 2010 8:13 PM CDT

Ex-Quellos Tax Attorney Takes Plea, Will Help Pay $7M, Speak at Law School

The former chief executive officer and tax attorney for the Quellos Group LLC hedge fund have accepted a plea agreement that will require them to pay the Internal Revenue Service up to $7M and cover the estimated $400,000 cost of their prosecution by the Justice Department. As part of the…

Sep 10, 2010 10:43 PM CDT

9th Circuit Nixes Suit re CIA Transfer of Terrorism Suspects Abroad, Cites State Secrets Privilege

By a 6-5 vote, a sharply divided federal appeals court issued an opinion (PDF) today that has put the brakes on a lawsuit concerning a controversial CIA program in which terrorism suspects reportedly were transferred overseas, where at least some were allegedly tortured. Upholding the Obama administration’s assertion of the…

Sep 8, 2010 9:49 PM CDT

First Amendment Advocate Defends Right to Lie

Americans generally have a First Amendment right to lie, and that protects the tall tales told by a man who claimed he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. That’s the take of Ken Paulson, the former editor of USA Today and the president of the First Amendment Center. Writing…

Sep 8, 2010 4:11 PM CDT

Littering Conviction Overturned for Man Who Supplied Water to Border Crossers

An Arizona man convicted of littering for leaving water in the desert for border-crossing illegal immigrants committed no crime, a federal appeals court has ruled. Daniel Millis, a member of the faith-based group No More Deaths, which provides humanitarian aid to illegal immigrants, was convicted of littering in a bench…

Sep 3, 2010 5:50 PM CDT

Unprecedented DOJ Suit Seeks Documents From Sheriff Joe Arpaio for Civil Rights Probe

A controversial Arizona sheriff who seemingly scores points with many of his constituents by acting as something of a law unto himself was sued today by the U.S. Department of Justice for failing to cooperate with an ongoing civil rights investigation. The suit was virtually a foregone conclusion, notes the…

Sep 2, 2010 6:20 PM CDT

Maintenance Worker Wins $160K Award for Sprained Ankle, Due to Retaliation

A train maintenance worker who stepped off of a 12-inch platform while carrying garbage bags and sprained her ankle won a $160,000 award last week against her employer. Although Nicole Anderson fully recovered from the sprain, she was initially fired and then reinstated and disciplined after reporting the on-the-job injury,…

Sep 1, 2010 1:09 AM CDT

Lawyer Victimized in $300K Check Fraud Is Charged with Money-Laundering

A lawyer is facing federal money-laundering charges after allegedly being victimized in a fraudulent cashier’s check scheme and then panicking and withdrawing some of the money once he found out the check was a fake. Attorney Danilo Aguilar of Guam is apparently one of a number of lawyers who have…

Aug 27, 2010 7:46 PM CDT

Wal-Mart Asks Supreme Court to Put the Brakes On Massive Employment Class Action

A federal appeals court gave the green light four months ago to a record-breaking employment discrimination case against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that has been in the pipeline almost a decade. But now the gargantuan retailer is appealing that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, reports the New York Times. If…

Aug 25, 2010 9:41 PM CDT

9th Circuit Allows Televangelist’s Suit Against ‘20/20’ for Out-of-Context Film Clip

A federal appeals court is allowing a televangelist’s defamation suit claiming ABC’s 20/20 news program took a clip of one of his sermons out of context. On Tuesday, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the suit by the Rev. Frederick Price, who preaches a “prosperity gospel”…

Aug 25, 2010 2:46 PM CDT

Judge OKs Suit re Maker’s Claimed Failure to Warn of ‘Addictive’ Nature of Lineage II Web Game

A federal judge in Hawaii has given a green light to part of a pro se plaintiff’s lawsuit contending that he wasted some 20,000 hours playing Lineage II between 2004 and 2009, due to the maker’s failure to warn him in advance of the addictive nature of the Internet game.…

Aug 20, 2010 7:15 PM CDT

9th Circuit Strikes Down Ban on Military-Medal Lies, Cites Crush Video Opinion

A federal appeals court is citing the First Amendment in an opinion striking down a law barring lies about military honors or decorations. The 2-1 decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed the prosecution of a California man, Xavier Alvarez, who falsely claimed that he…

Aug 18, 2010 2:41 PM CDT

9th Circuit Blocks Same-Sex Weddings in Calif. as Prop 8 Case Is Appealed

A federal appeals court today blocked a plan to allow same-sex marriages in California later this week, while the so-called Proposition 8 case ruling overturning a state referendum that banned same-sex weddings is challenged. However, this may not be the final answer: The temporary ban on same-sex weddings imposed by…

Aug 16, 2010 11:45 PM CDT

Wells Fargo Must Pay $203M, Judge Rules, Due to ‘Draconian’ Debit-Card Overdraft Policy

A federal judge in California has ruled that Wells Fargo must repay $203 million in excessive debit-card overdraft fees to customers who were charged, without adequate disclosure, in a manner that maximized the number of $35 fees they were hit with for exceeding the available balance in their accounts. “The…

Aug 11, 2010 8:15 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge in Calif. Strikes Prop 8 Same-Sex Marriage Ban; Appeal Expected

In a much-awaited ruling today, a federal judge in San Francisco held that the state’s same-sex marriage ban violates the United States Constitution. A copy of the opinion (PDF), in which Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rules that the voter-enacted ban violates both the due process and equal protection…

Aug 4, 2010 9:03 PM CDT