Welcome black to the Top 10 in Law Blogs! It’s a stunningly beautiful day at LexBlog headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and we hope its similarly gorgeous wherever this post happens to find you. This week features, per usual, a wide variety of posts including Jon Wainwright’s examination of venture capitalist Tim Draper’s initiative to split California into three states, Aaron Lukken’s powerful tribute to Anthony Bourdain, and Nicole Black’s great discussion of lawyer ratings and reviews. View Full Post
The Hollywood gossip this week revolves around an Order issued in California in the custody dispute between actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. That Order outlined a summer custody schedule for the six children while maintaining primary custody with Jolie. But the Court issued stern warning to the Mother stating that: “If the minor children remain closed down to their Father….it may result in a reduction of the time they spend with {Mother} and may result in the Court ordering primary physical custody to {Father}. View Full Post
By now, you have probably heard that the European Union (EU) has a new data protection law on the books, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – but what are the new rules, and how might they apply to broadcasters? Below we address these and other commonly asked questions about the GDPR. View Full Post
I joined LexBlog in January with the goal of helping it launch a global news and commentary network based on content from legal blogs. In furtherance of that goal, we announced in April that we are opening participation in the network to all legal blogs, without cost and without regard to whether the blog is a LexBlog customer. View Full Post
Commissioner Scott Gottlieb of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) stole the spotlight this past month when he delivered a speech discussing big promises from the agency regarding artificial intelligence (“AI”) in healthcare. “One of the most promising digital health tools is artificial intelligence, particularly efforts that use machine learning,” said Gottlieb when explaining that the FDA was “actively developing a new regulatory framework to promote innovation in this space.” View Full Post
On June 11, the Supreme Court issued a one-sentence order affirming the Ninth Circuit’s 2016 judgment in United States v. State of Washington. In that case, the federal government sued Washington on behalf of several Indian tribes, asserting that culverts constructed by the state over decades blocked salmon runs for which the tribes held treaty fishing rights. View Full Post
Yesterday, the Tax Court issued its opinion in Alterman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2018-83.  This case involved the operation of a medical marijuana dispensary which was reported on Schedule C.  The opinion includes a long recitation of intricate accounting details that I will address on a summary basis so as to not lose readers other than accountants.  View Full Post
Racial Harassment—A Case Study On “Severe or Pervasive” Use of the “n-word” in the workplace seems to be continuing, unabated. You guys are not going to believe this scenario alleged in a lawsuit filed this week. The allegations are…appalling. As reported by WaPo here, last year a black employee worked as a warehouse specialist for an energy company in Sacramento, California. View Full Post
The Corps Struggles to Balance Competing Constitutional and Statutory Duties Federal agencies must often balance competing policy concerns and legal requirements. This process may be difficult and fraught with intense public feedback, and frequently results in litigation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) has found itself in the hot seat over how it manages the nation’s rivers, pitting its obligations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) against private property rights. View Full Post
On June 11, 2018, the United States Supreme Court found that its prior decision in American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974) (“American Pipe”) did not permit a putative class member, following the denial of class certification, to file a successive class action after the expiration of the statute of limitations.  View Full Post