Are you kidding me? The law, government, and politics.

That's right: A dead guy is suing a dead guy. The estate of Andy Warhol is being sued by the daughter and two sons of Richard Toelk because Andy Warhol and director Paul Morrissey allegedly tortured Toelk when he was only 14 years old. The torture amounted to filming him while he was smoking marijuana, which the complaint referred to as "child pornography." The suit is grounded on the use of that footage in a movie, "All Aboard to Dreamland Choo Choo," on which the estate of Andy Warhol is still making money.

They also sue on the basis of my favorite tort: negligent infliction of emotional distress. In Count 3, the plaintiff alleges that the continued distribution of the movies places the family in a false light. Whatever the merits of this suit generally, the judge should probably deal with Count 3 by simply prescribing them some Prozac.

Posted by rbodine at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Law.com's Legal Blog Watch reported on yet another ridiculous law suit that's out there right now. Erik Estavillo, an agoraphobic, has sued the makers of "World of Warcraft" for causing players to become alienated and suffer mental health problems. As a former agorophobic myself, I can assure you that this guy already has "mental problems," so even if this suit weren't frivolous, he'd be the wrong plaintiff for it. For more information, click here to jump to the original report by Legal Blog Watch.

Posted by rbodine at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Federal judge, Stephen Larson, will join Los Angeles's Girardi & Keese as a partner. Why? Well, he recently announced his pending resignation from the Los Angeles-based Central District of California because Congress failed to increase judicial salaries, which made it impossible for him to support his seven minor children. His base pay as a federal judge: $170,000. Larson wouldn't say what salary he was offered, but obviously it's more than $170,000.

Larson cited his prosecutorial experience and Girardi & Keese's variety of cases as reasons for choosing the firm.

Posted by rbodine at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This society wasn't built on intelligence as much as on hard work. Unfortunately, hard work has become something of a scapegoat for health problems, and that doesn't bode well for our culture. On the other hand, there are some people out there that still lead industry through hard work, and that will keep us going. Click here to read my note on just such a person. Originally posted July 17, 2009, on the blog, What About Clients?, on which I'm a regular contributor.

Posted by rbodine at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Depositions are basically intreviews taken by attorneys of all the witnesses that might be on the stand at trial. These interviews are often the bearer of bad news, showing the weeknesses in your arguments and the strengths in the other side's arguments. Still, they're not that bad. Click here to read my brief note and cite to a reference on depositions. Originally posted July 6, 2009, on the blog, What About Clients?, on which I'm a regular contributor.

Posted by rbodine at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Depositions are basically intreviews taken by attorneys of all the witnesses that might be on the stand at trial. These interviews are often the bearer of bad news, showing the weeknesses in your arguments and the strengths in the other side's arguments. Still, they're not that bad. Click here to read my brief note and cite to a reference on depositions. Originally posted July 6, 2009, on the blog, What About Clients?, on which I'm a regular contributor.

Posted by rbodine at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by rbodine at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by rbodine at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)