College football coaches seek to cash in on their names

Some college football coaches are seeking to profit from their names through trademarks and licensing rights. USA Today has a story on the phenomenon. Well-known coaches “are arriving at increasingly creative ways to define and protect their rights and financial interests,” the story says, even as college athletes are not…

Nov 11, 2013 12:15 PM CST

Clarence Darrow is tried on charges of bribing jurors

Nov 1, 2013 10:10 AM CDT

‘Ed,’ anonymous Blawg Review editor, has died

“Ed,” the anonymous editor of the now-defunct Blawg Review, has died. His death was reported Wednesday in a series of tweets sent out by his son over the @BlawgReview Twitter feed, Robert Ambrogi’s Lawsites reported. The tweet said Ed, an abbreviation for editor, had died after a courageous battle with…

Oct 30, 2013 9:44 PM CDT

Busy with Broncos, linebacker Von Miller irks magistrate but finally arrives for traffic plea

It wasn’t like Von Miller had to go very far to get to court, pointed out Magistrate Christina Apostoli at a Monday hearing. After all, the Arapahoe County Court hearing was very close to the Denver Broncos’ training facility. Nonetheless, he was nearly two hours late, she noted. “The court…

Oct 28, 2013 9:30 PM CDT

‘Blues Brothers’ nixed in tribute show title, but judge OKs ‘distinctive style’ of black-suited duo

The producers of a tribute show honoring two characters famously portrayed by Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi can’t use their “Blues Brothers” moniker in the title. But the “distinctive style” of the black-suited duo isn’t restricted by their right of publicity, since it wasn’t unique to them and,…

Oct 23, 2013 8:50 PM CDT

Lawyer writes tell-all book about his life with late-night TV king Johnny Carson

Henry Bushkin was a junior attorney at an entertainment law firm when he first met Johnny Carson, far from an obvious choice of counsel for a man who could afford pretty much whatever he wanted. But the NBC late-night entertainment show host took a shine to the 27-year-old, and wound…

Oct 21, 2013 9:11 PM CDT

Alan Dershowitz writes memoir, calls his fame ‘a complete accident’

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has written a new memoir, and his fact checker apparently left no stone unturned. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam got a prepublication copy of the book, Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law, and noticed that a note, apparently written by the fact checker,…

Oct 7, 2013 11:40 AM CDT

Despite defense verdict in Michael Jackson case, entertainment execs ponder potential liability

Despite a defense verdict Wednesday in the Michael Jackson wrongful death case, entertainment industry executives aren’t breathing a sigh of relief. The case—in which a concert promoter would have found itself facing a potential verdict of $1 billion or more if had the jury sided with the plaintiffs—is prompting soul-searching…

Oct 3, 2013 9:15 PM CDT

Defense verdict reached in Michael Jackson wrongful death case: No award to singer’s survivors

Updated: A Los Angeles jury has reached a verdict in the wrongful death case filed by Michael Jackson’s family against the concert promoter that paid the salary of the personal physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving him a potent intravenous anesthetic. Announced at approximately 3:35 p.m., California time, on…

Oct 2, 2013 10:25 PM CDT

Jury mulls Michael Jackson case, as lawyer for family complains of defense counsel ‘smugness’

Updated: After months at trial, a California jury is now in the initial stages of considering a potential blockbuster wrongful death case over the demise of pop superstar Michael Jackson. The six-man, six-woman panel spent two hours in deliberation Thursday and another five hours Friday, and will resume their consideration…

Sep 30, 2013 6:49 PM CDT

Billionaire Mark Cuban seeks vindication in insider-trading trial that starts today

Billionaire Mark Cuban faces trial beginning today in a civil insider-trading suit by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC says Cuban sold his shares in Mamma.com after he learned from its CEO that the Internet search company was planning a private stock offering, report Reuters and the New York…

Sep 30, 2013 12:59 PM CDT

Associate of ex-NFL player Aaron Hernandez indicted in shooting death

An associate of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been indicted as an accessory after the fact in the alleged murder with which Hernandez has been charged. Carlos Ortiz, 27, of Bristol, Conn., was indicted Friday by a Massachusetts grand jury in connection with the June 17…

Sep 27, 2013 8:45 PM CDT

Law firm sues the Four Tops, claiming unpaid legal fees

A law firm in suburban Detroit has filed a suit against the Four Tops that claims the Motown group owes more than $109,000 in legal fees. The Southfield, Mich., law firm of Sullivan, Ward, Asher & Patton filed the suit against the group and its only original member, Abdul “Duke”…

Sep 27, 2013 5:04 PM CDT

MIA’s video rebuttal to NFL complaint: Sexy underage cheerleaders more offensive than middle finger

The rapper and singer M.I.A. is questioning the National Football League’s definition of offensive in a video rebuttal to its $1.5 million arbitration complaint over her middle-finger gesture during a Superbowl performance. The NFL never paid M.I.A. to perform at the February 2012 Superbowl, but the league claims the artist…

Sep 25, 2013 2:09 PM CDT

After his home is trashed, ex-NFL player seeks to ‘save’ 300 troubled teens

A former NFL offensive lineman watched online from Florida on Aug. 31 as several hundred partying teens who had broken into his upstate New York vacation home trashed it. Before Brian Holloway could call authorities, social media postings announced that police officers were already arriving at the scene, according to…

Sep 18, 2013 10:55 PM CDT