Alternative fee arrangement? 

8/10/12

Law has been called the world's second-oldest profession. Tennessee attorney Doug Godbee may have dabbled in one a little bit older.

According to The Knoxville News Sentinel, Godbee's law license was suspended this week after Sheila Pearson accused him of representing her in exchange for sex, paying her for more sex and having her recruit more women for -- yes, you guessed it -- sex.

Godbee said in an affidavit that he has reason to believe he is being "set up" and accused Pearson of a drug addiction, saying it may have "finally rendered her insane."

This is not the first time Godbee has been in trouble. He resigned as prosecutor in 2006 and 2010 after reports surfaced that he was having improper relationships with people involved in cases he had prosecuted. He was ultimately fired in 2011 after being indicted on charges of trading sexual favors for lenient sentences and favorable plea deals.

(Reporting by Dan Brillman)

Old cost, new cost 

8/10/12

With the job market for law school graduates at an all-time low, it would make sense for prospective law students to figure how much debt they are likely to be saddled with. It would also makes sense for budding lawyers to rely on the U.S. News & World Report, which releases the most widely read rankings of the nation's top law schools. Or maybe not.

In March, U.S. News & World Report published "10 Law SchoolsThat Lead to the Least Debt." In third place was the School of Law at Rutgers - Camden, with its students graduating with an "average indebtedness" of $27,423. In sixth and seventh place were the law schools at Barry University in Florida and the University of Kansas, with an average student indebtedness of $41,190 and $41,574, respectively.

That seems like pretty good bang for the buck, given that law students nationwide graduated last year with an average debt of more than $100,000.

But now the WSJ Law Blog reports that the debt loads for Camden, Rutgers and Barry were "misreported." The Kansas and Rutgers figures should have been $67,598 and $80,446, respectively. And Barry's average indebtedness was a whopping $136,680, nearly $100,000 more than previously reported. That's almost enough to get Barry onto the list of "10 Law Schools That Lead to the Most Debt."

According to statements from two of the law schools, the reporting errors were unintentional, arising from confusion over what data they were being asked to provide. Both Rutgers and Barry told the Law Blog that the initial figure they gave represented the average debt accrued in the final year of law school, not over the course of a three-year degree. The Law Blog did not report any statement from the University of Kansas.

The Director of Data for U.S. News, Robert Morse, told Summary Judgments the magazine would "fix the figures on its website as requests came in."

(Reporting by Rebecca Hamilton)

Cybersecurity redux 

8/10/12

Last week at Summary Judgments we wondered whether a cybersecurity bill that was under consideration would pass legislatorial muster. The bill, which sought to establish security standards to prevent large-scale cyberattacks on the nation's critical infrastructure, was voted down by the Senate, as Summary Judgments predicted. The 52-46 vote that cut off debate fell short of the 60 votes needed to force a final decision on the measure, according to The New York Times. "The politics of obstructionism, driven by special interest groups seeking to avoid accountability, prevented Congress from passing legislation to better protect our nation from potentially catastrophic cyberattacks," a White House statement reportedly read.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who introduced the bill in February 2012, according to the Washington Post, was scathing about the Senate's decision. "This is one of those days when I fear for our country, and I'm not proud of the United States Senate," he said. "We've got a crisis, and it's one that we all acknowledge. It's not just that there's a theoretical or speculative threat of cyberattack against our country -- it's real," he said in a statement.

Experts say a failure to act immediately could be disastrous. "One day, this could mean a click that throws a city into a blackout or causes a financial market to crash," the Post said in an editorial. The Times quoted Mark Seward, a senior security director at data security firm Splunk: "This is a huge setback. Frankly, every day we don't pass legislation is a huge setback. It's the difference between whether we want to be a third world country or a first world country."

Now The Hill reports the Obama administration may be ready to act. It is apparently considering taking executive action to impose cybersecurity measures. "We will see what we can do ... the critical infrastructure of this country is under threat" by cyberattacks from state and non-state actors, White House chief counterterrorism adviser John Brennan was quoted to have said during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

An executive order, lawyer Stewart Baker writes in The Volokh Conspiracy, "could do as much or more than the bills that were emerging from the lobbyist-ridden cybersecurity negotiations on the Hill. An order would be controversial, but the controversy itself may be welcomed by the administration."

(Reporting by Suhrith Parthasarathy)

Fight for your copyright 

8/10/12

The Beastie Boys are fighting for their right to make Monster Energy stop using its songs in advertisements for a sponsored event. The rap group, which includes Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz and the estate of the late Adam "MCA" Yauch, sued Monster Energy, claiming the company used three of their hit songs in an advertising video, according to E! Online.

The Beasties claim substantial portions of "Sabotage," "So Whatcha Want" and "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun" were used in a promotional campaign for Monster Drink's 2012 Ruckus in the Rockies event without proper licensing, according to E!. In addition to wanting Monster to stop using the video, the group is seeking unspecified damages for copyright infringement and other intellectual property violations.

Perhaps giving the Beasties a leg up is MCA's will, which was filed in Manhattan Surrogate Court on Tuesday, reports DNAinfo. MCA's will states that his image, as well as any music and any art he created cannot be used for advertising.

No. Sleep. 'Til  settlement?

(Reporting by Caitlin Tremblay)

North Face/South Butt face-off, part 2 

8/10/12

It won't surprise anyone to learn that big corporations can get pretty het up over their trademarks. The Trademark and Copyright Law Blog reports that outdoor apparel giant The North Face has reopened its legal wrangle with the tongue-in-cheek small clothing line The South Butt by filing a motion for contempt in a district court in Missouri. The North Face alleges that The South Butt violated an earlier consent injunction between the parties.

As you may remember, The South Butt was started as a parody by college student Jimmy Winkelmann. Its logo is distinctly similar to The North Face's and its slogan -- Never Stop Relaxing -- plays off The North Face's "Never Stop Exploring."

After The North Face filed suit in December 2009, debateensued over when parodies can be categorized as "fair use" of a famous mark under The Trademark Dilution Revision Act.

A decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, in which Haute Diggity Dog was held not to have violated Louis Vuitton's trademark by using "Chewy Vuiton," was contrasted to a 2nd Circuit decision where the court found that the use of "Charbucks" as a mark on coffee diluted the Starbucks trademark.

The debates proved academic after the companies entered into a settlement where The South Butt agreed not to use The North Face trademarks in any manner likely to "cause confusion, deception or mistake." Now, however, The North Face is seeking a contempt order against Winkelmann and his father, James Winkelmann Sr, claiming they started a new company, "Why Climb Mountains," with a logo "The Butt Face" just two days after the consent injunction came into force.

Judge Rodney Sippel has set a status conference for Aug. 14. Let the fun and games resume.

(Reporting by Suhrith Parthasarathy)

Summary Judgments for Aug. 9 

Summary Judgments for Aug. 8  

Summary Judgments for Aug. 7  

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