Just days before the deadline for investors to file objections in New York state court to a proposed $8.5 billion settlement over mortgage-backed securities, Grais & Ellsworth has removed the suit to federal court on behalf of disgruntled Countrywide i...

[JURIST] The Council of Europe (COE) [official website] Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg [official profile] on Thursday accused European governments of numerous human rights violations [statement] during counter-terrorism efforts over th...

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced Thursday that the national rate of violent crime decreased by 13 percent [press release] during 2010. The announcement stemmed from statistics in the annual National Crime Victimi...

It's hard to plan your final wishes. That's why many Americans put it off. But what exactly happens if you die without a will? Where do your assets go? It all depends on the laws of intestacy in your jurisdiction. When you die without a will, you die "...

A Maryland mother who was found dead two days ago died as a result of being stabbed and beaten, police said Friday. Her 11-year-old son remains missing.

One of the top 20 investors in former law firm partner Scott Rothstein's $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme has been ordered to pay $14.7 million to victims -- but the final judgment, signed by a federal bankruptcy judge, could be uncollectable.

Anthony Brown, who inspired the term "patent troll," has founded a new "non-practicing entity" called Cascades Ventures, and two of its subsidiaries have already sued Exxon Mobil, Samsung and others for allegedly infringing patents that Cascades began ...

In the term just ended, the Supreme Court issued 28 CVSGs -- calls for the views of the solicitor general -- and in the term before that, it asked for 29. Both numbers are significantly higher than usual. So why have those calls come more often lately?

What would you do if you got to your desk in the morning and there was a large plastic goose staring at you? That's right....a goose.Well, here at FindLaw's Sunnyvale office, you never know when such a visitor may pay you a visit.  Allow us to...

A federal judge has breathed new life into a law firm's class action suit claiming there was a deliberately placed "time bomb" in its calendaring and billing software, which allegedly was designed to shut down automatically so users would be compelled ...

It looks like the Missouri Facebook law has met its end. In late August, the law was put on hold by a state judge, who found that its enforcement "would have a chilling effect" on the First Amendment rights of teachers and students. And late last month...

A special pay commission voted Friday to gradually raise the $136,700 salary of New York state Supreme Court justices to the $174,000 earned by federal district judges. Judges and bar groups expressed disappointment at the size of the proposed raises, ...

A New York City crackdown on suspects allegedly involved in forged credit cards and identity theft led authorities to a $13 million global crime ring, the largest and perhaps most sophisticated of its kind in U.S. history, U.S. District Attorney Richar...

A fundraising committee backing President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election bid has raised $39 million so far this year, with 11 percent of that sum coming from lawyers, lobbying shops and law firms. Skadden, home of former White House counsel Gregory Cr...

[JURIST] Violent crime in the US dropped for the fourth consecutive year, the FBI [official website] announced [press release] on Monday. The estimates are part of the annual figures prepared as part of the Bureau's Crime in the United States (CIUS) [o...

[JURIST] US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] Judge Mark Davis on Monday ruled [Virginian Pilot report] that two Somali pirates [JURIST news archive] who killed four Americans will spend their lives in prison. Mahdi Jama Mohamed and Muhidin Salad Omar, the two convicted men, apologized to the victims' familieswho did not attend the sentencingbefore being taken away. In August, a Somali man was also sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report] for his role in...

The fact that an employer sells sexually oriented merchandise -- marketed in a "sexually charged atmosphere" not deemed objectionable by female employees or customers -- gives it no special cover from claims of sex harassment and retaliation, a New Jer...

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] Wednesday officially referred charges against a high-profile Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee who allegedly planned the 2000 attack on the USS Cole [JURIST news archive] that l...

The Arizona bull run is back after a 10 year hiatus, and it comes with a 7-page waiver. This isn't Pamplona, after all.  Hundreds of runners are expected to descend on Cave Creek next weekend, where they will be chased by 1,500-pound bulls. De...

SCDOT and SCHP to work together to address speed related car accidentsSouth Carolina NowToo fast for conditions ranks as the second leading cause of fatal collisions in South Carolina, with DUI ranking first. SCDOT and SCHP have agreed to ...and more&n...

[JURIST] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] on Thursday announced plans to develop standards for the disposal of wastewater [press release] from the process of hydraulic fracturing [EPA backgrounder]. Hydraulic fracturing, or ...

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina [official website] on Friday issued a preliminary injunction against a provision in North Carolina's budget that denies state and federal funding to Planned Parenthood...

Actress Lindsay Lohan missed her first day of community service at the Los Angeles County morgue Thursday, one day after a judge rebuked her for similar failures, revoked her probation and forced her to post $100,000 bail.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday that a 17-year sentence [JURIST report] was not enough for Jose Padilla [JURIST news archive], convicted [JURIST report] on terrorism-related charg...

[JURIST] California Governor Jerry Brown [official website] on Sunday announced that he has signed into law [press release] a bill that will prevent local governments from banning male circumcision. The legislation, AB 768 [text, PDF], "preclude[s] a city, county, or city and county ordinance, regulation, or administrative action from prohibiting or restricting the practice of male circumcision, or the exercise of a parent's authority to have a child circumcised." It also provides that laws "affecting male circumcision must have uniform...

Philadelphia police were told nearly eight years ago about a possible kidnapping involving the alleged ringleader of a group charged last week with imprisoning four mentally disabled adults, according to a lawyer for the family of one of the captives.

A man detained in the disappearance of a Maryland woman during a vacation in Aruba will seek his release from custody during a court proceeding Monday.

A new study on asbestos trusts and their relationship to the current U.S. tort system raises questions about the way settlement amounts are being determined, the costs shouldered by some defendants, and the availability of funds to settle future asbest...

[JURIST] A coalition of 37 public interest groups, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Alliance for Justice [official websites], sent a letter [text, PDF] to the Senate Thursday urging it to pass legislation [S 446 text, PDF] that would allow television coverage of Supreme Court proceedings. The letter argues that coverage of Supreme Court oral arguments would allow the public to better understand the justice system, which will "inure...

Princeton University professor and civil rights activist Dr. Cornel West was arrested Sunday during an Occupy D.C. protest at the U.S. Supreme Court. Just prior to his arrest, West gave a speech to a group of 500 people. He then spontaneously led about...

What began as an amusing story about a technical glitch in some automated phone calls that went out to voters in Nevada has since turned into a discussion of judicial ethics involving retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her passionate...

[JURIST] US counter-terrorism officials have indicated that the administration of President Barack Obama [official website; JURIST news archive] is considering trying the former leader of Hezbollah [JURIST news archive] in a military commission [JURIST...

We at FindLaw know your time is valuable. There is a lot of information out there. But at FindLaw Answers, it's as simple as posting your question in our community and waiting to hear back from our users. Still, what if you could see which users were a...

Two former executives sued by Capital One last month for violating the terms of their non-compete agreements have hired a heavy hitter for their defense: David Boies, who will now square off against the bank's lead lawyer, Orin Snyder of Gibson, Dunn &...

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] on Friday reinstated [opinion] a $675,000 verdict against a Boston University [academic website] student who illegally downloaded 30 songs and then shared them on the Web.The verdict was, at one point, reduced to $67,500, because then-judge Nancy Gertner, who has since retired, found the original penalty "unconstitutionally excessive." Gertner should not have approached the reduction as a constitutional question, the appeals court ruled. A trial judge may reduce...

On a foggy morning in Holmby Hills, one of L.A.'s most gilded neighborhoods, a silent standoff is taking place outside the mansion where pop music superstar Michael Jackson breathed his last breath.

Longtime FBI Director Robert Mueller received one of the Justice Department's highest awards Wednesday for outstanding professionalism and exemplary integrity.

Miami rapper Rick Ross had a seizure on a flight departing from Fort Lauderdale today. In fact, the seizure was serious enough that pilots turned around and landed Rick Ross' plane. After the abrupt landing, Ross was taken to a nearby hospital for trea...

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in two cases. In Blueford v. Arkansas [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the court will decide whether the Double Jeopardy [Cornell LII backgrounder] clause pr...

Three Ohio Amish men remained in police custody in Monday after allegedly assaulting other members of their local community in part by forcibly cutting off hair and beards -- a particularly egregious offense in Amish society.

Facing potential discovery sanctions in a claim for $10.2 million in unpaid legal fees, Bratz doll manufacturer MGA Entertainment has agreed to drop malpractice claims against its former law firm, O'Melveny & Myers, and three of its lawyers.