General - Noto Law School

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.

Access Tried To Compound Student Woes

March 5, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General, Law School

his came out back in May 2008, but I am putting it up because it goes to show what we can accomplish if we stand up to these greedy scumbag bankers.

Jill Savedoff, a law student at American University Washington College of Law, sued Access for violating its loan agreement for charging her additional interest of $650 that accrued during the first two years of her loan. Access didn’t bother to notify her that her interest rate had gone up and didn’t raise her monthly payments to reflect the new interest rate. Instead, they simply added the amount to her principal and then charged her interest on the whole thing.

In May 2008, the 6th Circuit affirmed a district court decision that found Access liable for charging borrowers additional interest and then adding the interest to the principal. The class action included around 7000 students from law and medical schools who had loans in 1993-2006 from Access.

The case was sent back to the US District Court in Ohio to determine if Access Group acted in bad faith. You think? Access settled, and because of this brave law student, Access had to undo over $400,000 in compound interest charges and:

The District Court entered judgment determining that Access Group’s compounding of Additional Interest breached the Class Members’ loan agreements and enjoined Access Group from compounding Additional Interest again in the future.

Way to stick it to them Jill! Well done.

Drug Crazed Lawyer Attacks Client

March 4, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General, Law School

A Minneapolis lawyer is on trial for raping a client, and not with his fees. This lawyer actually raped the client in his office, telling her that no one could hear her scream as he snorted coke.

The lascivious lawyer first tried to woo her with this classic line, “Girl, you fine as hell.” Smooth talker! Foreplay consisted of him grabbing her breast and saying, “Relax, girl, I’m the man. I’m plugged.” Well, what woman wouldn’t be in the mood after hearing that?

When she finally escaped, telling him a friend was waiting for her downstairs, he hid under his desk with his pants around his ankles. His defense? The victim stopped for cigarettes on the way to the hospital. Guess he figures if she wanted to smoke, she must have enjoyed it.

Not Child’s Play

March 3, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

If only the plane had crashed, some unemployed TTT grads could have gotten some temp work. An irresponsible parent brought his kid to work and let him clear the planes for takeoff. I’m sure the parent found it “cute” and that he was doing no harm. What if the kid had screwed up? Is it still cute?

How about the parents in Brooklyn who insist on bringing their toddlers to bars? That’s right. Bars, the place you go to forget about the world and relax and maybe to get lucky. One bar, the Windsor Terrace, had the balls to ban babies in the bar. I couldn’t agree more, if I see puke in a bar, I’d like it to be mine, not some baby spitting up milk.

While kids annoying other customers in a bar simply ruins an evening, bringing them to work is something else. I saw them often at my law school, when the overpaid professors thought it would be fun to let the mini-lemmings run around the library, usually during exam period, completely unaware that someone paying over 40k a year in tuition has no desire to hear, “Mommy, look, everyone’s reading!”

Simple solution: just leave them at home.