April 2010 - Page 2 of 2 - Noto Law School

Fake Lawyer Manages To Get Clients

April 6, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General, Legal Profession

Michael Nelson, a career con artist, stole the identity of a New York attorney, started a law firm and stole $35,000 from clients for legal services he never carried out before he was caught. At least he doesn’t have to worry about malpractice.

The law scam was elaborate and well thought out. While between prison sentences, the con artist created the fake law firm and rented office space. He hired both attorneys and clerks, and based his new firm on a firm that really existed in Seattle. He found his clients online.

Maybe he could get work at Solo Practice University and troll for recent graduates online when he gets out of prison this time.

Actress Gets Bitch Slapped and Sues

April 6, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

Nicollette Sheridan, the actress in ABC’s Desperate Housewives, filed suit against the show alleging assault and wrongful termination.

Talk about a nasty boss! Sheridan is claiming that producer Marc Cherry hit her in the face on the Wisteria Lane set in September 2008. According to her suit, all she did was ask him a question and he “took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head.”

Sheridan claims that when she went to ABC and reported the incident, they responded by killing off her character. She is asking ABC for $20 million for creating a hostile work environment and behaving abusively toward the cast. I still think it sounds better than document review.

Litigation Happy Lawyer Sues Teens

April 5, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General, Legal Aspects

I am the first to admit that I do not like children, and that means anyone under 18. When I see a child on the street in New York, my first thought is, why aren’t you in the suburbs where you belong? That being said, I wouldn’t haul them into court for behaving like children, but a trial lawyer in Delaware is.

Stuart Grant, a successful lawyer, is suing two recent high school graduates who allegedly attended his daughter Niki’s party at his house without an invitation. While at the party the teens went into the bedrooms and took his meds and a jug filled with coins. Not exactly big ticket items.

Because he wanted to show what a benevolent guy he is, Grant didn’t call the cops so that the teens wouldn’t have criminal records, no, the petty big hearted attorney went to the trouble of hiring a private investigator to track down those all important meds and jug o’ coins.

The vindictive prick Grant is going ahead with a lawsuit, asking for $6,000 in compensatory damages to cover the cost of the private investigator and the value of the missing items, and $10,000 from each of the two teens he’s suing to “make an example of them.” He even hired a private process server to go to one of the teen’s houses and serve him.

Well, all I can say to this guy is: You silly litigious prick, get yourself some more viagra meds, save a few more coins and fill up that jug, and then use the coins to pay for a lap dance and calm down. They’re kids, go sue someone your own age.

Marijuana Law Needs Attorneys

April 4, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

Thousands of people attended the Colorado Cannabis Convention this weekend to learn more about starting a medical marijuana clinic. The good news is that there is a growing need for attorneys to help these clinics get started.

Back in 2000, voters in Colorado approved Amendment 20, which made the use of marijuana legal for those suffering with medical conditions. But now, attorney Robert Corry says that, “The government has taken notice of us, and they’re trying to regulate this industry out of business.” Corry and other attorneys have started marijuana advocacy groups to push for legislation that will ensure the industry is regulated by the free market and not the government.

Until 2008, patients who needed marijuana had no problem getting referrals from their doctors to get the drug or were given a “caregiver” who could grow up to six plants to supply them. That all changed last year when the U.S. Attorney General Holder announced that the Justice Department wouldn’t prosecute dispensaries that were popping up in other states.

As a result, there are a lot of dispensaries and not enough attorneys on hand to help them organize and give the new owners advice. Attorney Tae Darnell warns attorneys that, “You have to remember that this still is against federal law,” Darnell said during a panel discussion at the weekend convention. “You have to tread carefully.”

Well, it’s an alternative to document review or sh*t law, and if the clients can’t pay with cash, they can always bring in one of their plants as payment.

Harvard Law Tuition Refund a Joke

April 3, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

The Harvard Law Record ran an April Fool’s article promising a full refund to those law graduates who didn’t receive job offers. Although it was a joke, I think the article made a valid argument for tuition refund:

“Its really only fair,” said Mark Weber, HLS’ Assistant Dean for Career Services. “When HLS makes each student an offer to enroll in the J.D. program, that offer carries the implied promise of a $160K starting salary at a prestigious law firm immediately following a lavish post-bar exam trip. HLS is under a contractual obligation to refund the tuition of students who find themselves in the unprecedented ‘no-offer’ situation.”

Law schools promise to train students to become a lawyers in exchange for exorbitant tuition and if their graduates are not employed as attorneys, the schools have not fulfilled their end of the bargain.

Most law schools use false employment statistics to lure in students, and they should be held accountable and be required to refund tuition to any law graduate who does not have a job in the legal profession one year after graduation. Unemployed law graduates should get a refund, and not just on April 1.