China

China changed a lot more than usual in 2015, and that bodes for a lot of change happening in 2016 as well.

Be careful, because signing an LOI or an MOU can cause all sorts of legal problems in China.

* Did 50 Cent’s lawyers spend too much of the bankrupt rapper’s money while representing him? With $123,455.92 in expenses, sex-tape plaintiff Lastonia Leviston says Fiddy’s lawyers from Brewer Attorneys & Counselors were partying like it was their birthday throughout trial. [New York Daily News]

* Roger Ailes, the chairman and CEO of Fox News, isn’t laughing at ABC’s news comedy called Fair and Balanced. Fox trademarked that slogan in 1997, and Ailes says ABC “wouldn’t know fair and balanced if it hit them in the ass with a fish.” [Adweek]

* Following in Dentons’ footsteps, yet another Biglaw firm has entered into a “strategic alliance” with a Chinese firm. McGuireWoods will create a referral network with FuJae Partners, but there’s no talk of a merger — yet. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* NJ Gov. Chris Christie says he’s been researching legal action he can take against Syrian refugees who have been placed in his state. He’s acknowledged it’s a federal issue, but this would-be president is going to try to oust them anyway. [NJ Advance Media]

* The Illinois Department of Corrections has been suing newly released inmates to recover the cost of their room and board while they were incarcerated. Lovely. This surely “raise[s] moral questions that legislators need to address.” [Chicago Tribune]

A well-crafted, China-focused NNN Agreement will almost always allow you to generate sufficient fear of litigation to greatly reduce the likelihood of your ever having to go to court.

* Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit completely obliterated a Wisconsin law that required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Posner said any health benefits conferred by the law were “nonexistent.” [Reuters]

* Judge Richard Sullivan (S.D.N.Y.) wasn’t a fan of the Bank of China essentially telling Gucci to “suck it up” when it came to “ridiculous” delays in providing counterfeiters’ records, so he held the bank in contempt and is considering assessing millions of dollars in fines. [WSJ Law Blog]

* A Pennsylvania attorney activist who launched the “Kane is not Able” campaign has asked the state’s highest court to provide clarification on how AG Kathleen Kane should delegate her duties considering the fact she has a suspended law license. [PennLive.com]

* A proposed class-action suit has been filed against fashion company Kate Spade over its alleged “imaginary discount prices.” If this goes the way of the $4.88M Michael Kors settlement over the same issue, then Kate Spade could be in trouble. [Consumerist]

* “Talk about being uprooted!” Vendors who sell wares outside of Brooklyn Law are pissed about the school’s plans to install planters on the sidewalks around the building, thereby kicking the vendors not to the curb, but out onto the street. [Brooklyn Paper]

How can you draft an NNN Agreement that China courts will actually enforce?

What are the three Ns? Non-use, non-disclosure, and non-circumvention. Let’s look at each in turn.

Protecting clients from intellectual property theft in China requires more than most lawyers realize.

China changes reproductive rules

Going "half-legal" in China is not only riskier than operating legally, but also riskier than operating completely illegally. Here's why.

It may not come to nuclear war, but China and the U.S. are taking a dispute over statutory interpretation to a dangerous level.

Using the right shipping terms is crucial when buying products from China, as columnist Dan Harris explains.

The Chinese bar exam is harder and full of moral quandaries

What does it mean to be held hostage in China, and why is this so common?

* Thinking about transferring law schools? Get the ugly truth first. [Underdawg Law]

* Is it possible your smart phone shouldn’t be your everything? [What About Paris?]

* Now this is scholarship I can get behind: The Walking Dead Colloquium. [Savannah Law School]

* In trial be ready for anything… including vomit. [Katz Justice]

* NFL players and prospective law students — I totally get the similarities. [TaxProf Blog]

* Sigh… Mississippi. Still defending its ban on adoption by same-sex couples. [Slate]

* Free CLE! Next Thursday on “The U.S. & China: Perspectives on Brand Protection & Intellectual Property.” [AABANY]

It's easy to get money into China illegally, but it's nearly impossible to get the money from those illegal investments out.

* Sonia Sotomayor talks about feeling like an outsider on the court… aaaaaaaand this is what white privilege means. [Slate]

* Vehicles you can still get a DUI while driving: Barbie Jeep, Zamboni, wheelchair, inflatable raft, motorized beer cooler. [Lowering the Bar]

* Step into the political slime and see how the halted campaign finance investigation into Scott Walker is being used to undermine regulations. [PR Watch]

* Fascinating speculation on who should be Donald Trump’s running mate — assuming, arguendo, the end times are upon us and he wins the Republican nomination. [Law and More]

* Debating Harvard Law professor Larry Lessig’s theories about the presidency. [Pacific Standard]

* Bound by Law? Tales of the Public Domain, a cheeky comic book sponsored by Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain is fun and useful for lawyers and nonlawyers alike. [Open Culture]

* Yes, Ohio, a man’s family does include his wife. [Volokh Conspiracy]

* Perverse incentives dominate Chinese victim compensation laws and drivers try to kill any pedestrians they may hit. [Slate]

It may not be foolproof, but a good contract goes a long way toward protecting your company when the Chinese economy slows.

* Melvin Feliz, husband of Keila Ravelo, the partner who allegedly bilked Hunton & Williams and Willkie Farr out of millions to lead a life of luxury, pleaded guilty in the fraud case brought against him. Is she a prospective Real Housewife of Cellblock D? [Bergen Record]

* Sorry, Southwest passengers, but the Seventh Circuit says you’re stuck with your free drink vouchers, and the lawyers who represented you in this class-action suit are stuck with their $1.65 million. No one is happy up in the unfriendly skies. [Associated Press]

* China’s economy may be on the brink, but that doesn’t matter to Dentons. The firm is as happy as ever about its proposed merger with Dacheng because it really wants a horde of lawyers, so it’s gonna get one. It’s “almost absurd” to think otherwise. [Am Law Daily]

* As we mentioned yesterday, lawyers work too damn much — so much, in fact, that they’re quitting their Biglaw jobs, starting competitor practices, and poaching talent from top firms by offering them a sense of work-life balance. [Harvard Business Review]

* Kevin Fagan, perhaps better known as Juror 83 in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial, is speaking to the media about his experience, and says he might’ve changed his death penalty vote if he had known the youngest victim’s parents opposed it. [WSJ Law Blog]

Which law school experienced a hack that could've put students' careers in jeopardy?