Celebrities

BigLaw partner’s fight against chemical company is chronicled in new film

A new film called Dark Waters chronicles a BigLaw partner's 18-year environmental fight against the DuPont chemical company.

Nov 27, 2019 1:17 PM CST

Pro se litigants in pop culture show why representing yourself can be a dangerous decision

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has a weekly mailing list that sends out the court’s published and unpublished cases. They arrive in quick succession every Thursday morning. It’s a bit of a task to review them all, but I try to categorize the cases for future research. The unpublished…

Nov 25, 2019 10:45 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Madonna sued over late start time of concert; unusual bar ceremony goes viral

Fan sues Madonna for pushing back start time of her concert A Florida man who spent more than $1,000 on three tickets to see singer Madonna in concert at her “Madame X Tour” has sued because she pushed back the start time of her upcoming Miami Beach show from 8:30…

Nov 12, 2019 3:20 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Andrew Yang didn’t last long in BigLaw; suit against Taylor Swift revived

Andrew Yang lasted only five months in BigLaw Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang left Davis Polk & Wardwell in 2000 after spending only five months as an associate. He had scored 178 out of 180 on the LSAT and attended Columbia Law School before joining the law firm, but he…

Oct 29, 2019 5:23 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Indiana AG defends his law license; Secret Service asked rapper Eminem about lyrics

Indiana AG testifies his touching at party wasn’t ‘lewd’ Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill testified last week in an ethics hearing that he is “a fun guy” who likely made physical contact with women at a bar in March 2018. But none of the touching was done “in a lewd…

Oct 28, 2019 4:28 PM CDT

Panama Papers law firm sues Netflix for libel over portrayal in Meryl Streep film

Updated: The hacked Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and its two name partners have sued Netflix for libel over their portrayal in the film The Laundromat. The lawsuit claims the film wrongly portrayed lawyers Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca “as ruthless uncaring lawyers who are involved in money laundering, tax…

Oct 17, 2019 12:25 PM CDT

‘Parks and Recreation’ reminds us how important court reporters are to the legal system

Court stenographers, or “court reporters” as they are commonly referred to, are often left overshadowed and underappreciated. But proper and reliable conclusions to controversies would not be possible without their invaluable work, says lawyer Adam Banner.

Oct 16, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Venture capital firm sues its former general counsel, once a child actress on ‘The Wonder Years’

A lawyer who portrayed Becky Slater on The Wonder Years, a TV show than ran from 1988 to 1993, is facing a lawsuit of more than $1 million stemming from her work as a general counsel for a venture capital firm.

Oct 8, 2019 10:23 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Judge OKs ID using altered photo; infants seized for parents’ vitamin refusal, suit says

Judge allows eyewitness IDs based on altered mug shot A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, has refused to toss tellers’ identification of a suspected bank robber based on a mug shot that had been altered to remove the suspect’s tattoos. U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez said three of four tellers…

Sep 26, 2019 4:30 PM CDT

On the Emmys’ red carpet, Laverne Cox and her ACLU date discuss pending Supreme Court cases

Orange is the New Black actress and LGBTQ advocate Laverne Cox wanted to deliver a message to viewers watching the Emmy Awards on Sunday. Cox’s date was an ACLU staff attorney, and her clutch was a specially designed rainbow handbag bearing the message “Oct. 8, Title VII Supreme Court.”

Sep 23, 2019 11:13 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Jones Day explains redaction flub; lawyer copyrights daughter’s crayon artwork

Jones Day apologizes for redaction error that exposed grand jury info Jones Day has taken responsibility for a redaction error and apologized to a federal judge who ordered the firm to show cause why it shouldn’t be sanctioned. Law360 had discovered that the redactions could be read by cutting and…

Sep 16, 2019 4:12 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Actress sentenced in college admissions scandal; judge sides with transgender Ohioans

Actress Felicity Huffman gets 14 days in prison for college admissions scandal Actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced Friday to 14 days in prison for her involvement in the college admissions scandal. In May, Huffman pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay $15,000 to a fake charity to facilitate cheating when her…

Sep 13, 2019 4:51 PM CDT

‘Taco Tuesday’ too common for LeBron James to trademark, US patent office says

On Wednesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied Los Angeles Lakers basketball player LeBron James’ attempt to trademark the phrase “Taco Tuesday.”

Sep 13, 2019 10:11 AM CDT

Want encouragement in the justice arena? Think about what’s changed, says Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The country has come a long way, said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and that’s what keeps her optimistic for the future. “It can be hard to do anything as a loner, but if you get together with like-minded people, you can be a force for change,” Ginsburg said at a discussion Monday at the University of Chicago.

Sep 10, 2019 3:15 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: A$AP Rocky’s Swedish lawyer is shot; nationwide injunction restored in asylum case

Judge restores nationwide injunction blocking asylum ban A federal judge in San Francisco has restored a nationwide injunction blocking new rules that effectively barred immigrants at the southern border from applying for asylum unless they were from Mexico. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco had narrowed…

Sep 9, 2019 4:35 PM CDT