Hearsay

Feb 22, 2018

Playas Gonna Play

Last week, a California federal district court dismissed a copyright lawsuit against Taylor Swift targeting the lyrics to her song “Shake It Off.” The suit asserted rights to the lyrics […]

Sep 18, 2017

An alleged burglar got busted in York County, South Carolina, because of his cheesy nickname. Markey Shannon, a/k/a “Cheeseburger,” was arrested Sept. 11 and charged with first-degree burglary, malicious injury […]

Sep 18, 2017

One for you, 19 for me…

Jump in the Wayback Machine to, oh, about 1978: Remember Steve Martin’s prescription for having a million dollars and not paying taxes? It was to say, “I forgot!” The Department […]

Sep 18, 2017

Speaking for the dead

Comments that an attorney made during a trial pitting two brothers against their late father’s lover came back to haunt the siblings on appeal. In a case in North Carolina, […]

Aug 18, 2017

And you thought your guy was tough to defend

Virginia trial lawyers do not often face a marathon voir dire session such as the one used to screen jurors for the securities fraud trial of pharmaceutical bad boy Martin […]

Jul 17, 2017

Please release me: Portions of liability release form allowed at trial

Lawyers understandably wince when presented with those liability release forms you have to sign in order to engage in contact sports or other activities with inherent hazards. The forms have […]

Mar 2, 2017

How many lawyers does it take to ….

No, this is not a lead-in to a light bulb joke. It’s an introduction to an Alexandria federal judge’s review of a fee award in a case that may have […]

Sep 22, 2016

Form was fuzzy, but license suspension was clear

Reaching for the reading glasses is a common exercise for folks in their middle years. The need to read did not allow a Pennsylvania driver to escape a charge of […]

Aug 2, 2016

Play or pay? Firm fighting fees must file own bills

Faced with a “Stalingrad defense” to a plaintiff’s request for attorney’s fees in a consumer protection case, a Richmond federal judge took the novel approach of asking the defendant company […]

Jul 12, 2016

The lowdown on lawyer salaries

Income inequality has been a theme during this political season and a recent study of lawyer salaries shows some significant income disparities among lawyers, based on their areas of practice. […]

May 3, 2016

4th Circuit reshuffles casino dealers’ lawsuit

The one ironclad law of gambling is that it’s impossible to beat the house. A group of casino dealers in Maryland has moved one step closer to doing just that, […]

Mar 30, 2016

Let us pray

Lawyers grow so accustomed to their terms of art that they sometimes forget how those phrases sound to the man on the street. When U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney […]