How a $1.25M Ranch Settlement Restored a Life, Despite the Cover-Up

Planning to attend law school? New student loan restrictions may affect the decision

New York City’s property owners have a legal obligation to minimize the risk of injury to anyone lawfully on their property. This legal duty of reasonable care applies to private property owners and the owners of commercial properties, such as stores, restaurants, businesses, apartment complexes, and hotels. If a property owner becomes aware of a safety hazard on their property and neglects to take prompt action to address the risk by placing warning signs and then promptly addressing, correcting, or repairing the problem, they may be held liable for the victim’s injury-related damages through a premises liability claim in NYC. But many injury victims want to know: “Is a slip-and-fall accident case and a premises liability claim the same thing?” Slip-and-Fall Cases Are a Category of Premises Liability Law In New York City Premises liability refers to a property owner’s liability for all injuries that occur on their property due to the property…

July 1, 2025, marked the one-year anniversary of SB 553, California’s comprehensive workplace violence prevention law, which means employers must ensure that they complete the law’s annual requirements, including reviewing their workplace violence prevention plans and retraining their employees. Prior to the signing of SB 553, effective July 1, 2024, many employers had workplace violence prevention policies and procedures in place, but they were optional for most employers. Plans varied in scope and depth, and they may not have been updated regularly. But — for the past year — workplace violence prevention is no longer optional. It’s mandatory for most California employers and brings substantial compliance obligations, including: Establishing, implementing and maintaining a written workplace violence prevention plan specific to employers’ worksites; Identifying, evaluating and correcting/mitigating workplace violence…

Very sad news report today -- Miami legal legend Robert Josefsberg has passed away at 86.  Bob was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and received his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1959. He graduated from the Yale Law School in 1962, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1962.Here's some more of his bio, which does not do justice to the impact he had on this community: Bob is one of Dade County′s premiere trial lawyers. He has been listed annually since 1987 in the Best Lawyers in America in two categories–Business Litigation and Criminal Law since 2003 and from 2003 he has been listed in Chambers and Partners as one of the top four commercial litigators in Florida. In 2006 he was listed #1 trial lawyer in Florida by Super Lawyers. He has received the Dade County Bar David Dyer Professionalism Award, the Bnai Brith Professionalism Award, the Florida Defense Lawyers Rodney Thaxton “Against All Odds”award, the American…

At June 19, 2025, meeting of the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council, the labor and management proposals this year were presented to the public. Labor proposals The labor proposals this year reflect many of the Department’s own proposals (for good and bad). Increase the maximum weekly benefit rate for unemployment benefits to $497 per week in 2026 and then have the rate indexed for subsequent years. This proposal mirrors Department proposal D25-04. Eliminating the one-week waiting period. This proposal mirrors Department proposal D25-03. Increasing the wage cap to $672 in 2026 and then having the wage cap indexed in subsequent years. Other than Department proposal D25-05 increasing the wage cap to $692 instead of $672, this proposal is a duplicate of the Department proposal. Note: The discrepancy between $672 and $692 is probably a typo. Expanding worker mis-classification penalties to all industries and make the penalties identical to…

Our healthcare and business law firm works with many providers who work with compounded medications.  Recently, pharmaceutical manufacturers of weight loss drugs have brought lawsuits against compounding pharmacies and medical businesses who advertise and prescribe compounded weight loss drugs.  As against the medical businesses, the manufacturers bring claims of  false advertising and unfair trade practices for marketing and prescribing compounded semaglutide or compounded tirzepatide for weight loss. This blog covers two considerations that providers should account for when marketing or prescribing compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide for weight loss. If you need assistance responding to a lawsuit by a pharmaceutical manufacturer or would like to discuss this blog post, you may contact our healthcare and business law firm at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@littlehealthlaw.com. You may also learn more about our law firm…

In April, the IRS and ICE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) allowing the IRS to share taxpayer information, such as names, addresses, and tax data, with ICE for certain immigration-related criminal investigations and enforcement. The MOU poses significant issues for tax and immigration law practitioners, tests the boundaries of Internal Revenue Code Section 6103, and challenges longstanding privacy norms. In a new alert, my Fox Rothschild immigration partner Mark Harley and I examine the legal risks posed by the MOU and provide practical tips for immigration and tax professionals on how to deal with it. Read the full alert here.

New York City residents want to feel safe in their own homes, including those who rely on New York City’s Housing Authority (NYCHA) to provide affordable housing for low and moderate-income residents. Around one in 17 New York residents lives in public housing, including Section-8 apartments, conventional public housing, and homes inside Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) housing developments. When a resident under New York’s Housing Authority suffers injuries, they may feel overwhelmed and unsure where to turn for compensation for their injury-related damages. Turn to one of our premises liability lawyers in New York City today to pursue financial compensation for your injuries. What Causes Injuries In New York City Public Housing? All property owners and building managers must conduct regular inspections of their properties, identify safety hazards and problematic repair issues, and promptly address these problems through adequate warnings and…

There was a time when it was possible to defend a child pornography charge by arguing that the images were virtual, as opposed to real.  In essence, the argument was that the images were virtual or “fake”, were created by combining materials containing both children and adults, and that the participants in the video or still shots were not really children.  Any such defense is becoming increasingly implausible because of the power of Artificial Intelligence, or AI. An increasing number of child pornography images and videos created with Artificial Intelligence are appearing online.  These images and videos may not depict real children, but appear to because they were created with AI tools that are very powerful and increasingly sophisticated.  We are now at a point where the AI-generated images are indistinguishable from real ones.  Gone are the days when a hand had too many fingers, a background was blurry, or the transition from frame to…

Harvard isn’t the only school worried that the Trump administration will screw over their funding. Public schools get their fair share of funding from the government too — at least they should. On Monday, several states filed suit to challenge the Trump administration’s decision to withhold $6.8B worth of Congressionally approved funding meant for K-12 schools. Reuters has coverage: Attorneys general or governors from 24 states and the District of Columbia sued in federal court in Providence, Rhode Island, arguing that the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget threw schools nationwide into chaos by unconstitutionally freezing funding for six programs approved by Congress…The government was legally required to release the money to the states by July 1, the lawsuit said. Instead, the Education Department notified states on June 30 that it would not be issuing grant awards under those programs by that deadline. It cited…

Despite all recent efforts from the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention to the founding of International Commercial Courts (ICC) promoting the attractiveness of court litigation, the most favoured method for resolving international disputes in civil and commercial matters, without a single doubt, remains arbitration. According to the 2025 QMUL International Arbitration Survey an overwhelming majority of respondents (87%) would choose international arbitration either as a standalone mechanism (39%) or in combination with other mechanisms of alternative dispute resolution (48%). In view of this prevalence for international arbitration, the latest addition to the Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Law Series on “International Commercial Arbitration” edited by Franco Ferrari (NYU) and Friedrich Rosenfeld (Hahnefeld Rechtsanwälte) provides more than welcome comprehensive and authoritative guidance on the subject. Featuring more than 130 entries by renowned legal scholars…

by Achim Czubaiko-Güntgen, Research Fellow („Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter“) and PhD Candidate, supported by the German Scholarship Foundation, Institute for German and International Civil Procedural Law, University of Bonn. With the fourth instalment in their ongoing webinar series on “Cross-Border Commercial Dispute Resolution”, the Asian Business Law Institute (ABLI) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) returned to the topic of “Electronic Service of Documents and Remote Taking of Evidence”. Contrary to the first webinar in 2021, this session focussed not solely on the HCCH 1970 Evidence but equally on the HCCH 1965 Service Convention. Having finally overcome the immediate constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic, this time the renowned speakers were able to elaborate more on the long-term development and visions in the practice of the two legal instruments with regard to their respective areas of law. As always,…

Here's a short excerpt from the Nov. 2023 Report and Recommendations by Magistrate Judge Christopher D. Baker (E.D. Cal.) in Johnson v. Watkin; the plaintiff is a history professor at Bakersfield College, a California public community college. The opinion is long, so I've excerpted it heavily; read the whole thing for more of the legal analysis, and the interesting and contentious factual backstory. The District Court dismissed the case, holding that plaintiff lacked standing, but just today a Ninth Circuit panel (quoted below) reversed that standing decision as to this issue, so the matter will go back down to the lower court. Cal. Code of Regs. § 53602(a) ["Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Evaluation and Tenure Review Processes"] requires faculty demonstrate (or progress toward) proficiency in the locally-developed DEIA [diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility] competencies, or those published by the Chancellor for…

Readers of this blog may recall a piece in which we discussed an unfavorable Ninth Circuit California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) internet wiretapping decision. Interestingly, the Ninth Circuit recently weighed in again on similar internet wiretapping claims, and this time, it reached a very different outcome. Below, we discuss the decision’s impact and its implications on present and future internet wiretapping claims.   Are Internet Wiretapping Lawsuits Shakedowns?  At least one Ninth Circuit judge thinks that the possibility exists. In Gutierrez v. Converse Inc., Gutierrez alleged that Converse violated CIPA by wiretapping her internet communications with its website chat feature. Because the website chat function was operated by a third-party, Gutierrez asserted that Converse violated CIPA by illegally wiretapping his internet communications. The district court found that no disputes of material fact existed because Gutierrez…

Key Takeaways The DOJ Antitrust Division announced the creation of a new whistleblower program, marking the first time the Antitrust Division has formed a program to provide monetary rewards to individuals who assist in antitrust crime prosecutions. While the program will be operated by both the Antitrust Division and the U.S. Postal Service, rewards will be paid out by the U.S. Postal Service. The new whistleblower program could pay whistleblowers up to 30 percent of any criminal fines recovered. Companies should review their compliance policies and procedures and ensure that they are aligned with and consider the Antitrust Division’s new whistleblower program because the whistleblower program could affect companies’ options if they are part of a future criminal antitrust investigation. Background On July 8, the DOJ Antitrust Division (Division) announced the creation of its first-ever Whistleblower Rewards Program (Rewards Program). The new Rewards…

Drivers from the District of Columbia and other states face multiple concerns if they are charged with a speeding ticket in Maryland. The first concern is how a Maryland conviction will affect their right to drive in Maryland and the fines and penalties they may face. A second concern is whether Maryland will notify their home state of the speeding ticket and how that notification may affect their driving privileges. The consequences of a speeding conviction in Maryland and other locations include: The payment of a fine Points are added to your driving record, depending on how much over the speed limit you’re traveling Your license could be suspended or revoked if you accumulate too many points due to other traffic offenses Increased insurance premiums when your insurance carrier discovers your speeding offense or the inability to obtain car insurance if you don’t already have insurance What is the Driver License Compact? The Driver License Compact is an interstate…

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day. [The Trump administration] seems to have a little bit of an ax to grind with [Biglaw]. For us, it’s been trying to stay clear of the kinds of events that have triggered some of the actions, because I don’t think anything good comes out of either negotiating a deal or going to court over an executive order. We’re a little careful with executive orders, depending on what it is. I don’t think it’s a secret that the strategy that the president has deployed has been pretty effective: Law firms are thinking twice now. — John Van Gorp, chair of Mayer Brown, in comments given to Bloomberg Law, concerning Donald Trump’s retaliatory executive orders against Biglaw firms. “We’re still focused on the rule of law,” Van Gorp went on to say, continuing, “We’re still here to do work for people who can’t afford legal services. But we also want to be…

Understanding Complex Divorce Issues: Lessons from a Texas Court Case When facing divorce proceedings in Dallas, understanding how Texas courts handle complex family law matters can provide valuable insight into what you might expect during your own case. A recent Texas appellate court decision in Matter of Marriage of Hettinger illustrates several critical aspects of divorce litigation that every person considering separation should understand. As an experienced dallas divorce lawyer, I’ve seen how emotional and financially devastating divorce can be for families. This case demonstrates why having skilled legal representation is essential when navigating the complexities of Texas family law. Overview of the Hettinger Case The Hettinger divorce case involved a 22-year marriage between Kelly and Andrew Hettinger, who owned a plastic recycling company called Tex-Mex Recycling. What began as a divorce petition based on adultery evolved into a complex legal battle involving…