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Thirteen-year-old Andy Lopez died with a plastic gun in his hand. Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Erik Gelhaus said he thought it was an assault rifle. It was a pellet gun. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the officer should face trial for shooting the boy in Estate of Andy Lopez v. Gelhaus. No Qualified Immunity The case turned on whether the officer was entitled to qualified immunity. A trial judge said it was not clear as a matter of fact....

Seven prison officers who had been accused of showing deliberate indifference to an inmate’s suicide are protected by qualified immunity, the Eleventh Circuit ruled on Wednesday. After Darius James killed himself while awaiting trial, his mother sued the officers, alleging that they knew of James’ suicide risk and did nothing. James’ mother had failed to show that individual officers had a subjective knowledge of the risk of suicide, the Eleventh Circuit found....

In US v. Aguirre-Gonzalez, No. 08-1276, the First Circuit faced a challenge to the denial of petitioners’ motion for an order of restitution at defendant’s sentencing, arising from a fraudulent investment scheme. The court first addressed the question of whether petitioners, as crime victims denied their right to restitution under federal statutes, may appeal the restitution component of a defendant’s criminal sentence. The court answered in the negative holding that a petition for a writ of mandamus under the CVRA is the exclusive mechanism for appellate review of sentencing order affecting crime victims’ rights....

The Supreme Court decided Tuesday to deny an appeal to block enforcement of Texas abortion laws, allowing the laws to remain in effect while the Fifth Circuit hears arguments to their validity. The Associated Press reports that the High Court made a 5-4 decision to allow the state to continue enforcing the controversial abortion laws, including the provision requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Justice Breyer, writing in dissent, believes the issue will return to the Court again once the Fifth Circuit makes its decision....

The in-house counsel position is one of mystery. To the unknowing outsider, it looks like the perfect legal job. But, to those who have been there, done that, the outlook is a little different, if not bleaker. We decided to crack the code of silence of in-house attorneys and find out the real deal on what they wish they knew before they went in-house. The internal bureaucracy and politics of working at a company can be worse than law firms....

Virginia inmates seeking parole encountered a setback this week as the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate their case against the Virginia Parole Board. In a split panel decision, the Fourth Circuit concluded that the inmates had not satisfied the Iqbal-Twombly standard for pleading. Eleven inmates in the custody of the Virginia Department of Corrections sued the Virginia Parole Board, claiming that the Board had adopted an unwritten policy of denying parole to prisoners incarcerated for violent offenses....

If you’ve had any contact with the outside world in the last week, you’ve likely heard about what’s going on down along our southern border. While immigration enforcement is often a controversial and divisive subject, the separation of children from their families when crossing the border seeking asylum has stoked outrage from both sides of the partisan divide. Many lawyers out there might be wondering what exactly they can do to help....

Someone didn’t like your shrimp sales, or your “clean diesel” advertising, or your employment practices, and they’ve filed suit. It’s not just any lawsuit, however. It’s a class action, so the stakes are a bit higher than your everyday litigation. What is in-house counsel to do? Here’s what. Unless your legal department specializes in class action defense, you’ll need to bring in outside counsel, ASAP. You’ll want to make sure that your outside counsel is experienced in class action defense and with the venue in which the lawsuit was filed....

These days, technology pervades almost every aspect of a law practice. A new trend involves using technology to help research judges and juries. For example, online material (both social media and databases) will give lawyers a better sense of the environment in which they might present their case to the court. Electronic material makes the judge’s habits and pet-peeves open knowledge for litigators. If there are too many red flags, a lawyer might even strike a judge from a case....

A United States court issues an order to Microsoft, requiring them to turn over data from a suspected drug dealer. No big deal, right? What if that data is stored in the cloud, technically on a server in Dublin, Ireland? Can that court order reach into the ephemeral cloud, and across political borders into a physical server in a foreign country? That’s the issue being debated in this landmark case, creatively captioned In the Matter of a Warrant to Search a Certain E-Mail Account Controlled and Maintained By Microsoft Corporation....

When Noel Mata, a nonresident alien living in Texas, was convicted of assault, an immigration judge ordered his removal from the country. Mata appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, but his lawyer never filed a supporting brief, causing the BIA to dismiss his appeal. After Mata got a better attorney, he filed a motion to reopen his case, arguing that he was entitled to equitable tolling due to his previous counsel’s ineffective assistance....

A recent Fifth Circuit ruling can be regarded as a teachable moment to attorneys who do not strictly adhere to local court rules governing attorney interactions with previous clients. In general, an attorney cannot make out of court statements that could reasonably be foreseen to have a material prejudicial effect on the administration of justice. Although this sounds like a restraint on speech, lawyers would do well to heed this general rule lest they risk angering the ethics board....

Electronic discovery (also known as e-discovery), has long been hailed as a salvation over the time-consuming, traditional process of discovery. But it’s not as promising as it once seemed to lawyers. So while lawyers are not stuck in conference rooms filled with boxes of documents that they need to pore over page-by-page, lawyers still need to be aware of the consequences that come with e-discovery’s convenience. Most lawyers can attest that e-discovery is not as easy as it seems....

District court judgment for plaintiff finding that the settlement agreement between the parties was valid and binding is affirmed where: 1) the settlement agreement was a valid contract between the parties; 2) the settlement agreement compromised all commission-related disputes between the parties; and 3) defendant did not adequately raise a claim that the settlement was infected with “dolo,” as defendant’s attorney was experienced and accomplished and failed to allege sufficient colorable bad faith on the part of plaintiff....

If your company is looking to do business in China, it’s not alone. China has quickly become one of the world’s largest consumer markets and manufacturing nations, making business in China ever more common – despite the Chinese market’s recent turmoil. When a company starts looking towards China, its legal department needs to prepare. Doing business with China is unique in many respects and poses particular issues and challenges for American in-house counsel....

Add yet another victory to the list for same-sex marriage advocates in Florida. After victories in four counties, a federal judge made a statewide ruling earlier today. U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle in Tallahassee held that Florida’s ban violates guarantees of equal protection and due process, but stayed his decision pending appeal. The decision covers both in-state and recognition of out-of-state marriages. What’s the real-world effect? Very little, for now....

You don’t have to be a major foodie to know that American food and agriculture has been undergoing some significant changes recently – and we’re not just talking about the demand for gluten-free everything. There’s such a strong demand for organic crops these days that major food brands are paying conventional growers to make the shift. At the same time, developments in genetic modification are allowing some farmers to take a much more high-tech approach to their produce....

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, has gained increased attention in the corporate world in recent years, as veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan and reenter the workplace. But it’s not just members of the armed forces that may experience PTSD. Anyone who experiences or witnesses a traumatic event can develop PTSD. Indeed, the disorder is shockingly common: nearly one in 10 women, and up to 8 percent of the population generally, experience PTSD at some point in their lives....

Despite employment laws designed to protect against discrimination, employers are still influenced by their biases. Apparently, even well-intentioned employers are biased against disabled persons. According to a study by Rutgers and Syracuse Universities, disabled persons who reveal their disability in their letters and cover letters were about a quarter less likely to garner employee interest than those who did not. In the Rutgers study, fake resumes and cover letters were sent on behalf of fictitious candidates for thousands of accounting positions....

The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) recently marked its 21st anniversary, and with more than 100 million people using the benefits bestowed by the Act, your company’s employees have probably taken some sort of medical leave. Hopefully, your law department has already taken time to review your company’s FMLA policies to make sure they meet proper standards. However, a recent case decided in the Third Circuit did away with traditional notions of notice....