Cars

Even the smartest, most tech-savvy folks can get caught in trade-secret shenanigans.

* President Trump included a signing statement when approving the funding legislation that will keep the government running through the end of September. In it, he questioned the limits of his spending power and suggested he’d ignore advance notice requirements for Congress when taking foreign policy and military actions, amid other troubling stances on legal matters. [Bloomberg Politics]

* In other news, sometime this week — possibly even later today — President Trump is expected to announce some of his picks for the more than 120 vacancies in the lower federal courts, all of whom are known for their “scholarly credentials and ‘intellectual boldness.'” As luck would have it, we already scooped predicted the names of many of the nominees. [New York Times]

* #NoFilter necessary for this case: The End, a Brooklyn coffee shop, has filed suit against Starbucks, claiming the coffee giant copied its Unicorn Latte with its highly Instagrammable Unicorn Frappuccino. The End registered the name of its whimsical drink with the Patent and Trademark Office in January, and seeks all profits Starbucks made from its sale of its mythical sugar bomb. [Newsweek]

* Even if you’re a passenger in a car, you’ll have no reprieve from police searches in this state. The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that police may ask for passengers’ identification and run background checks on them — without any suspicion of wrongdoing — during traffic stops, and that doing so will not stand as a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. [FOX 13 Salt Lake City]

* Think you’ve found the perfect person to write you a law school rec letter? Think again. “Like in the world of dating, it helps if your partner/prospective partner is supportive of your plans.” Here are some red flags to look out for that may indicate your reference isn’t going to meet your deadlines, isn’t going to remember who you are, and isn’t going to write you a glowing letter. [U.S. News]

* Celebrity trial attorney Mark Geragos has filed a $100 million class-action lawsuit against rapper Ja Rule and entrepreneur Billy McFarland, the organizers of the ill-fated Fyre Festival, an event marked by “incompetence on an almost inconceivable scale.” In an interview with Variety, Geragos referred to the disastrous event as a “Petri dish of fraud, incompetence and hubris.” [Variety]

* After hearing powerful testimony from victims’ relatives, a federal jury sentenced Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof to death. [BuzzFeed]

* Dahlia Lithwick on yesterday’s Jeff Sessions hearing: the nominee “will be handily confirmed,” and Democrats “are rightly very, very afraid.” [Slate]

* An interesting puzzle for the Supreme Court: free speech and credit card fees. [New York Times via How Appealing]

* Also from Howard Bashman, also about free speech: Gibson Dunn partner Miguel Estrada “warns City of Philadelphia that his hourly rate is very expensive.” [How Appealing]

* More about Morrison & Foerster snagging former Justice Department national security chief John Carlin — the latest in a series of high-profile hires of former government lawyers, including Kathryn Thomson and Jessie Liu. [Law.com]

* Some good news out of the Charlotte School of Law: students might be getting their spring semester loan proceeds after all. [ABA Journal]

* Speaking of money, Volkswagen is going to pay a lot of it — perhaps $4.3 billion in fines — to resolve the federal criminal investigation into its cheating on vehicle emissions tests. [New York Times]

Humans give companies one huge advantage that machines likely never will, employment lawyer Beth Robinson explains.

Chris Christie is not on trial, Bridget Kelly is.

* In case you missed it, one of the categories on Jeopardy! earlier this week was “Law Firms.” One of the questions that stumped a contestant was: “Tops for patent litigation per U.S. News & World Report, Fish & Richardson specializes in IP, short for this.” Come on, you dope, the very easy answer was “What is intellectual property?” [WSJ Law Blog]

* After receiving overwhelming support in both the House and Senate, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) into law yesterday afternoon. The DTSA is the most significant expansion of federal law in IP since the Lanham Act. Companies will now be able to file federal civil lawsuits for theft of trade secrets. [Law 360 (sub. req.)]

* Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal, says that it will be filing suit against the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for leaking information that the firm alleges to be false. Attorneys at the firm say the ICIJ has forced them to “start aggressive legal action to protect [them]selves.” [France24]

* “You don’t have to work for a 501(c)(3) or anything like that in order to be eligible. You just have to not make that much money.” More law schools are trying to entice students to attend by touting their low-income protection plans and loan repayment assistance plans. We hope your law school is willing to help you after graduation. [U.S. News]

* Not to harsh your mellow, dude, but according to a recent study by AAA, fatal car accidents have “surged” in states where marijuana has been legalized. For example, in Washington, the number of fatal crashes involving stoned drivers increased from 8% to 17% from 2013 to 2014, the year recreational marijuana was legalized. [Inquisitr]

3rd party liability for people who text people who read those texts while driving, seems bad.

Nobody endorses drunk driving, of course -- but the underlying constitutional principles matter, even for those of us who may never run afoul of the law.

One Verizon attorney allegedly decided to get his GTA3 on.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

What could have caused this terrible accident?

* How low can you go? For the first time in years, enrollment is up at Cooley Law — by three students. That’s the only thing the school will be able to brag about, because the average GPA and LSAT scores of its most recent entering class are the lowest the school has seen in at least a decade. Yikes. [Lansing State Journal]

* President Obama has to make quite the decision when it comes to choosing who will be his next SCOTUS appointment. He already faces an uphill battle, so if he were to pick any these five candidates (even the one who was recently confirmed 97-0), it’d likely make things even harder than they already are. [The Fix / Washington Post]

* “I’ll stay as long as necessary.” Activists from Reclaim Harvard Law are occupying a lounge to create a safe space for minorities, and they plan to remain there indefinitely. Armed with blow-up mattresses and blankets, they mean business. [Harvard Crimson]

* Charlotte Law launched a compliance certificate program, and anyone who can pay can receive training. Since compliance is booming right now, as InfiLaw graduates, they’re better equipped than most for jobs that don’t require a law degree. [Charlotte Observer]

* A New York judge who prosecuted drunk driving cases earlier in her career was arrested for allegedly driving drunk… while on the way to work to handle arraignments. It’s unlikely that she’ll return to the bench any time soon. [Democrat and Chronicle]

This is so incredibly sad.

Is baby brain a legally actionable thing?

Another cautionary tale about a lawyer's ill-advised use of social media.

Traffic stops are among the most common encounters with law enforcement that most Americans will have; if the average citizen has no clue what her rights or duties are during these encounters, then we’re doing it wrong.

It's not more regulation, but more money that will keep pedestrians safe.

* If you haven’t been watching Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, then you’re missing Dean Strang’s turn on the catwalk. The compassionate defense attorney has turned into an “unlikely sex symbol.” Are you part of the #StrangGang? [The Guardian]

* Sometime later today, President Barack Obama will announce a sweeping package of executive actions related to gun restrictions. Stay tuned, grab your popcorn, and get ready for some hardcore constitutional litigation. [Washington Post]

* Happy New Year! We’re not even a full week into 2016, and the first Biglaw merger has already been announced. Lewis Roca Rothgerber has picked up Christie Parker & Hale, a 40-lawyer Southern California IP boutique. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Hipsters, thou shall be avenged sevenfold: The Justice Department has filed suit against Volkswagen in the wake of the automaker’s massive emissions scandal. The DOJ is seeking billions in damages over VW’s air-pollution violations. [New York Times]

* According to Ethan Couch’s lawyer, it may be weeks or months before the affluenza teen returns to the United States. A judge issued a temporary stay in his case after Couch argued that being deported from Mexico would somehow violate his civil rights. [CNN]

* Robert Wonsch, an Oklahoma process server, was arrested after allegedly coercing his female clients into performing sex acts in exchange for lowering his fees. He’s now facing several criminal counts. Good Lord, talk about ineffective service of process… [Reuters]

* Dale Bumpers, President Clinton’s impeachment defense lawyer, RIP. [New York Times]

* It’s the Miss Universe pageant lawsuit you’ve all been waiting for: attorneys at a Colombian law firm say they will be filing suit due to Miss Colombia’s crowning and de-crowning, noting “the crown is an acquired right that cannot be taken away from us.” [WGNO]

* The Federal Circuit handed down a major ruling yesterday, saying that the government can no longer bar the registration of offensive trademarks due to restrictions on free speech. This will likely be appealed to SCOTUS, but the Redskins must be pretty pumped. [Reuters]

* In an effort to avoid another Kim Davis fiasco (and to protect clerks’ religious beliefs), Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin has signed an executive order directing that his state prepare new marriage licenses without the names of county clerks. [Associated Press]

* Lil Wayne may be a “motherf**kin’ cash money millionaire,” but he reportedly can’t spare the cash to pay his attorneys’ fees. This marks the second time in recent months that he’s been sued for allegedly failing to pay his lawyers what they’re owed. [SPIN]

* Lakeisha Holloway, the woman accused of using her car to mow down and kill a pedestrian and injure many others on the Las Vegas Strip, has been charged with murder with a deadly weapon. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. [NBC News]

* Vatican officials confirmed — or rather, didn’t deny — that Pope Francis did, in fact, have a secret meeting with infamous Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. Hmm, apparently all it takes is denying people their newfound civil rights to get an audience with the Pope. [WSJ Law Blog]

* The ABA Accreditation Committee will recommend that the ABA approve the merger between Hamline and William Mitchell. The merger byproduct could be operational in 2016 if all goes well. Is this something we should be excited about? [Hamline University]

* On the ninth day of deliberations in the criminal trial of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former executives, jurors were still unable to come to a consensus, and one juror mentioned she’d have to leave early on October 9. Oy vey! Dewey think this jury is hung? [Am Law Daily]

* Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin stayed the execution of Richard Glossip — you may recognize his name from his recent unsuccessful Supreme Court case — because the drugs the Corrections Department received didn’t match protocol. Figures. [Associated Press]

* “We are heartened the district attorney has agreed that even a misdemeanor charge would be inappropriate.” Prosecutors will not be charging Caitlyn Jenner with vehicular manslaughter in the fatal car crash she was involved in earlier this year. [USA Today]