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In plaintiff’s suit against its former employee and his new employer (a competitor) claiming breach of noncompetition and confidentiality clauses in the employee’s employment contract, interference with contractual relations, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair trade practices, denial of plaintiff’s request for preliminary injunction to enforce the provisions of a one-year noncompetition clause in the employment agreement is affirmed as the district court did not abuse its discretion by finding that plaintiff has failed to make a showing of likelihood of success on the breach of contract claim, or a likelihood of irreparable injury....

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals hasn’t issued a published opinion in weeks. As constant followers of the 4th, we’re a little bitter about this. We could obsess about the circuit calendar and oral arguments that might produce published opinions, but that’s what we did yesterday. Today, we’re turning to one of the circuit’s recent, unpublished opinions to catch a glimpse of the kinds of issues that are capturing the court’s attention....

For a solo practitioner or a small firm, finding your niche and making a name for yourself in that area is one of the best ways to grow a thriving practice. One man in Maryland has done that, in a rather odd way. As Whitney tells The Washington Post, his practice is thriving on bed bug lawsuits to the point where he is considering taking his phone number off the firm website....

Res judicata does not bar plaintiffs’ suit against former employer Brooks v. Arthur, 09-1551, concerned a challenge to the district court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ section 1983 claims in concluding that the doctrine of res judicata barred the claims because the allegations made therein had been resolved administratively, in former correctional officers’ suit against their former supervisors, in their individual capacities, asserting retaliation under 42 U.S.C. section 1983. In vacating the judgment, the court remanded the matter in concluding that there was no privity between the Department of Corrections and the defendants in their individual capacities....

Bully law is like bully ball. You know that old-school, hard-hat approach in basketball? Use your strength, back your opponent up, and BAM! What you didn’t know is that there’s more strategy than muscle involved. You can’t play bully law if you don’t know how to play the game. Play by the Rules If you want to back down your opponent, you have to follow the rules. Judges and state bar referees can help with that....

Most people don’t like child pornography, but they do like privacy. The arrest of a 41-year-old Houston man last week created just such a conundrum after it was revealed Google found pornographic photos in Gmail attachments and alerted police, apparently all on its own. How did the company do it? No one is quite sure, but at least one person – Houston police Det. David Nettles – just doesn’t care. “I really don’t know how they do their job,” Nettles told KHOU-TV....

It’s bad enough that former athletes often go broke, but add to that corporate profiteering on their images after they retire – really? “Come on, man,” as Charles Barkley would say. Don’t know basketball? Then how about Chris Spielman, former pro football player? Now a television analyst, Spielman is suing Ohio State University for using former athletes’ images without their permission. He is donating any recovery to help other student athletes at a time when the federal government is cutting back on donating settlements to third parties....

In a case that is illustrative to those who lease-out residential property, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the lower trial court’s dismissal of a discrimination suit in the plaintiff’s favor because it found that the apartment complex had violated the Fair Housing Act. Of particular note is the court’s declaration that a defendant need not make dwelling impossible to obtain in order for that dwelling to be “unavailable” for purposes of the Act....

After a decade of high-profile violations of food and drug laws, the Food and Drug Administration appears to be reviving the 1943 Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine, holding executives responsible for illegal conduct that may have occurred without their knowledge. Limited to misdemeanor convictions, these new regulators are also seeking to exclude these executives from participating in a variety of government programs, effectively ruining their careers. Oh, and they’re going after the lawyers, too....

Plaintiff’s appeal from orders of the district court denying its motion for a TRO and a subsequent urgent motion for relief related to issuance of TRO is dismissed for want of appellate jurisdiction as the denial does not have the practical effect of refusing an injunction. Plaintiff’s request of writ of mandamus to require the district court to decide the motion for a preliminary injunction is denied as the present record does not justify such extraordinary relief....

Note to self: Don’t criticize a client in the press. Second note to self: Do a better conflict-check next time. That’s the sticky-note version of what happened at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in FMS Investment Corp. v. The United States. For a BigLaw firm, a judge said, the lawyers should have known better. “Troubling” Conflict Disqualifying Pillsbury in a $400 million contract matter, Judge Thomas C. Wheeler said the law firm created a “troubling” conflict of interest....

In 1996, TWA Flight 800 left New York’s JFK International Airport for France. Within minutes of takeoff, witnesses reported seeing a streak of light head towards the plane, followed by a massive explosion. All 230 passengers were killed. The official cause, according to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Transportation Safety Board was a mechanical defect in the center wing fuel tank. Thomas Stalcup thinks the official story is a government-wide cover-up, likely of some sort of missile testing, reports Cape News....

If you’ve handled your firm’s advertising campaign, you are probably well aware of your state bar’s restrictions on advertising. Though each state has its own rules, there are some general propositions that apply nearly everywhere, such as prohibitions on solicitation, required disclaimers (“The information provided herein is not to be relied upon…”), and restrictions on the use of the term “specialist.” Testimonials and Endorsements Respect the Context This restriction should be obvious....

“If gay marriage can be legal in Mississippi, the whole country can feel hope.” True indeed, Jocelyn “Joce” Pritchett. Pritchett is one of the plaintiffs in the Mississippi gay marriage case, a federal case where a judge just struck down that state’s same-sex marriage ban, reports The Associated Press. The Mississippi decision is especially notable due to the people of Mississippi’s opposition to same-sex marriage, an opinion that they have made “abundantly clear through every channel in which popular opinion can be voiced,” U....

The problem with an open letter is that you don’t really know who is going to read it. And those people you don’t know may have a very different reaction than what you would expect. In the social media age, it could get out of control. That’s what happened to one general counsel who signed an open letter to law firms. She urged them to improve on diversity, but the responses were definitely different....

Critics – not the movie kind – say the “Bird Box” challenge is stupid. The challenge is based on the movie, a horror flick that shows people stumbling through life blind-folded because they fear seeing a presence that makes people kill themselves. Like seeing the Medusa, if they look they die. In real life, however, people are blind-folding themselves Bird Box style and doing some really dumb things. The Netflix Hit Netflix had a hit on its hands when the movie came out....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Hacking attacks have been part of the Internet landscape, unfortunately, since the dawn of Cyberspace. Nevertheless, you might think that certain sites are sufficiently important and secure that they are immune to the effects of a hack attack. But that is not necessarily the case. News accounts periodically report on hack attacks wreaking havoc on large commercial websites....

President Donald Trump’s advisor and longtime friend, Roger Stone, has been arrested and charged in connection with the Mueller probe in the Florida Federal District Court. According to reports, the arrest stems from Stone allegedly lying to Mueller’s investigators. Stone maintains that he has done nothing wrong, did not lie, and has vowed to plead not guilty at his arraignment in federal court in D.C. next week. Roger Stone was arrested this morning in his home by FBI with a SWAT team....

The legal profession has a drinking problem. More than one in five attorneys is a problem drinker, according to a study by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, and rates of alcoholism are much higher in attorneys than in the general public. But attorneys aren’t the only legal professionals with drinking problems, as recent news regarding a federal judge in Louisiana reminds us. U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi was removed from the bench and, recently disclosed documents show, ordered to treatment for alcoholism....

Executing a crazy person? Preposterously one-sided arbitration agreements? A forklift is a motor vehicle? Yes, yes, and yes, said the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals over the course of the year. Dollar General Owner Can Be Sued in Tribal Court – When do tribal courts have jurisdiction over torts committed by non-members on a reservation? Apparently often. The Fifth Circuit determined that an employment relationship between a tribe member and a non-member was enough to let the tribal court hear the case....