As the building was being vacated this afternoon because of the fire alarms, two laptops were stolen from the Moot Court office.  A third laptop has just been stolen from the Law Library.

The Moot Court office is somewhat hidden on the 4th floor.  There’s no reason for people who aren’t law students to be up there.  So the odds are that law students stole these laptops.  What a bunch of scumbags.  And morons.  Who the hell jeopardizes their legal career over a couple of mediocre laptops?

School officials in a rural Mississippi county told a lesbian student to get "guys" to take her and her girlfriend to a high school prom and warned the girls against slow dancing with each other because that could "push people's buttons," according to documents filed Tuesday in federal court.

Source: Hearing set in lesbian teen's suit to force prom - Yahoo! News

The conservative Alliance Defense Fund is lining up in opposition to a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that changed the standard for filing most civil lawsuits -- a move that aligns the Christian litigation group with some unlikely allies.

Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for Congress to override last year's decision in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, as well as a similar decision in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly in 2007. They have the support of a coalition of liberal groups, including consumer advocates, trial lawyers and civil rights organizations, all of whom say it's become more difficult to avoid having their claims thrown out of federal court prior to discovery. On the other side, business groups have supported the rulings.

In a letter to lawmakers, Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Gary McCaleb writes that his group represents both plaintiffs and defendants, so its objection is not that bringing a lawsuit has become more or less difficult. "Rather," he writes, "our concern is that vague, malleable rules are bad news when it comes to orderly, reasoned processes."

Source: Law.com - Christian Group Joins Campaign on Pleading Standard

JACKSON, Miss. -- An 18-year-old lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district reinstate the dance it canceled rather than let the couple attend.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn't host the April 2 prom.

Source: Lesbian teen sues to force school to hold prom - washingtonpost.com

The Supreme Court overturned that decision, sending the case back to federal court.

"We conclude that the phrase 'principal place of business' refers to the place where the corporation's high level officers direct, control and coordinate the corporation's activities," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote. "Lower federal courts have often metaphorically called that place the corporation's 'nerve center.' We believe that the 'nerve center' will typically be found at a corporation's headquarters."

Source: Law.com - In Unanimous Ruling, Supreme Court Says Business HQ Is Where Executives Are

Washington -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry defended Toyota Motor Corp., suggesting that "union activists" and others are pushing criticism of the automaker.

. . . .

"The company has taken big steps to enhance its reputation for quality and to repair vehicles," Perry wrote. "It does sometimes appear, however, that the negative news is being encouraged by plaintiffs' trial lawyers, union activists and those interested in cutting into Toyota's market share."

Source: Texas governor backs Toyota | detnews.com | The Detroit News

How I wish that Rick Perry would just “get on down the road.”  Bonus points if you get the reference.

As DICE is a business conference, Pitchford was also quite open about what's important to Gearbox as a studio -- he also shared his Gamertag ("DuvalMagic"). He shared components of what he thinks are important to the company's employees, like aggressive profit sharing, milestone bonuses and discretionary merit based rewards. He also mentioned a crass, but wise, tenet of the studio's hiring process: "No drama, no dicks, no douchebags."

Source: Borderlands sells 3 million units; Pitchford discusses Gearbox hiring policy, Gamertag

I’m looking for lawyers who (a) can commit to write four substantive (500 words or more) posts per year; (b) who have tips, tricks, traps, complaints, or war stories to share; and (c) consider litigating to be their calling in life.  If this sounds like something you’re interested in, then drop me a line at justinian at justinian.us. 

"I think with what is going on in the country, there are a lot of angry people," said retired Broadway actor Sammy Williams. "Money is such an issue and to give money to someone for results of a case, it's really important that they're getting it for a real reason, an important reason."

Source: Weighed down by recession woes, jurors are becoming disgruntled - latimes.com

Kudos to the attorneys who produced this video.  It’s top-notch and not cheesy at all.  The only revision I’d make to it would be to put the peoples’ names at the bottom of the screen, and not at the very beginning.  But this is definitely a video the attorneys should be proud of.

My favorite part was when the self-described conservative jury foreman called Wyeth “despicable.”  Conservative jurors are not a death knell for plaintiffs – you just have to speak their language.  Note how he talked about how Wyeth abandoned their moral obligations.