In The News

  OCWD Tally of Legal Costs/Fees Versus Settlements.      In Teri Sforza’s December 8, 2013 article in The Orange County Register, she reports that the Orange County Water District, which was sued businesses over alleged drinking water contamination throughout the last decade, has collected about $30 million in settlements. Where did the money go? Ms. […]

  “Patent Trolls” Legislation Passes House.      As reported by a December 6, 2013 article in The Orange County Register, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Innovation Act having restrictions against “patent trolls,” patent assertion entitles who do not manufacture inventions but sue putative defendant infringer targets. Among other things, the bill modifies the

  Accuses SEC of Telling “Lie After Lie.”      In a recent Washington Post article, Mark Cuban–owner of the Dallas Mavericks, owner of Landmark Theaters, and a regular on the “Shark Tank” TV show–won a jury trial against the SEC, which had claimed Mr. Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he

       Quite a bit of press and public fallout has happened so as to result in Costa Mayor Jim Righeimer and Councilman Steve Mensinger suing the Costa Mesa Police Officers’ Association, its former law firm Lackie, Dammeier, McGill & Ethir, and private investigator Chris Lanzillo in August 2013 after Mr. Lanzillo followed Mr. Righeimer

       In an online ABA Journal article by Debra Cassens Weiss, University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos, after a study of certain ABA-accredited U.S. law school budgets, estimates that 80-85% are losing money in the present fiscal year!

  Some Winners Are Predictable, Some Might Surprise You.      Princeton Review publishes a yearly review ranking top law schools in 11 categories, based on information gathered from 185,000 students at 169 U.S. law schools      The top five law schools for careers are:      (1) Columbia      (2) Chicago      (3) Pennsylvania      (4)

       As reported by Martha Neil in her September 25, 2013 post in the on-line version of the ABA Journal, plaintiffs’ lawyer Terry Silva was awarded $50,418.75 in attorney’s fees and costs (including $1,743.75 for “fees on fees”) in a successful civil rights suit she and other plaintiffs pursed since 2010 over the wrongful

  National Jurist List of Best-Value Private Law Schools — 2012 Graduates.      According to a September 9, 2013 post by Debra Cassens Weiss in the on-line version of the ABA Journal, National Jurist has announced its list of top best-value private law schools, in order of priority and with assigned “grades” in relation to