Fortune & Beard, P.C.

Birmingham Attorneys

• False Friend? High School Principal Resigns After Facebook Spying Allegation
  An interesting social media incident played out recently at a high school in Missouri that ended with principal Louise Losos resigning and hundreds of students at Clayton High School wondering: Who is Suzy Harriston? Someone claiming to be "Suzy Harriston" from Clayton friended more than 300 people on Facebook, many of them from Clayton High School, without anyone really bothering to ask who Suzy was. On April 5, 2012, Chase Haslett, the former Clayton High School quarterback who had graduated in 2011, posted the following accusation on Facebook: "Whoever is friends with Suzy Harriston on Facebook needs to drop them. It is the Clayton Principal." According to St. Louis Today, the Suzy Harriston profile on Facebook quickly disappeared following Haslett’s claim. A day later, so did Losos, as she was immediately placed on a "leave of absence." A few weeks later, Losos resigned, reportedly as part of a deal that paid her $140,000. The deal included Losos’ agreement to take no legal action against the school district, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports. The Clayton School District stated only that her departure related to a "fundamental dispute concerning the appropriate use of social media." Why did Losos allegedly friend hundreds of…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Thursday’s Three Burning Legal Questions
  Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: Here are the important pieces of what I am calling "Operation Rob a Local Internet Cafe." Please let me know if I have forgotten anything: Visit an Internet cafe and hang around inconspicuously using its computers, checking Facebook, etc.; after browsing the Web for a bit, go to the cashier to pay for my usage time and assault the man at the register; demand all the money in the register; get the money and escape on a stolen motorcycle. Foolproof, right? Answer: You forgot to add "Log out of my Facebook account," which is key. (Digital Trends, Two men rob Internet cafe, forget to log out of Facebook prior to robbery) 2) Question: I am a police officer. We caught a man trying to steal a $20,000 diamond, and he tried to hide the evidence by swallowing it! That was several days ago, and while he has had several bowel movements in that time, the diamond has not yet seen the light of day if you know what I’m saying (don’t ask how I know this). We can only hold the alleged thief…
• Gay Judge Candidate Rejected by Va. House Due to ‘Advocacy’ for Gay Rights
  I am a native Marylander but I have lived in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., for almost two decades. I like it here quite a bit, but Virginia is quirky in that it is sharply divided in pretty much every way between the D.C. suburbs in Northern Virginia and everywhere else. As I observed here, Once you travel 100 miles south of D.C. and hit Richmond, you enter old-school Virginia — the Virginia that makes you realize that you are in a state that was a full-blown part of the Confederate States of America. Day-to-day, the cultural differences between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state are not really visible as those worlds don’t collide much. But there are periodic flare-ups that serve as reminders of the state’s deep conservative streak, such as Tuesday when the Virginia House of Delegates rejected Tracy Thorne-Begland, who is openly gay, for a judgeship in Richmond. The Washington Post reports that Thorne-Begland is a Richmond prosecutor who previously challenged the military’s "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy, has advocated for gay marriage and is raising twins with his partner. Thorne-Begland’s opponents argued that they voted against him not because he was gay, but…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Wednesday’s Three Burning Legal Questions
  Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: I was at the local park and some dude started complaining that I was making too much noise and keeping his friend from sleeping. Then he picked up a pooper scooper and began swinging it at me, so I picked up my own pooper scooper to defend myself and engaged in a pooper scooper duel for about 30 minutes. Are you kidding me?? This has to be some kind of crime, right? Pooper scoopers can hurt! Answer: It must be some crime, you are right, but the blawgosphere seems to have no record of any prior "assault and battery by pooper scooper." (Seattle PI, En garde: 2 battle with pooper scoopers in Seattle park) 2) Question: I saw in your recent post that the woman who gave in to her boyfriend’s request to put his penis in a hot hair iron was not guilty of assault because he asked for it. Similarly, my friend is begging me to shoot him in his own leg because he wants to know "how it feels." Can I shoot him without getting in trouble with the law?…
• Things You Can’t Do on a Plane: Vol. 18
  You might think that after Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9, Volume 10, Volume 11, Volume 12, Volume 13, Volume 14, Volume 15, Volume 16 and Volume 17 of Things You Can’t Do on a Plane, that we’d have exhausted the list of things you can’t do on a plane. Nope! The list grows daily. Here are three more things I’ve recently learned that you cannot do on a plane: Attempt to smuggle 49 live reptiles in your luggage on an international flight. Passengers may not pack 31 spiny-tailed lizards and 18 geckos into their suitcase. This is true even if the passenger claims the reptiles are his "personal food supply" and offers to bite off the head of one to prove it. CONSEQUENCE: The passenger will face a fine of several thousand euros for transporting protected animals. The reptiles will be taken to a local veterinarian to be cared for. Attempt to sneak 115 "oven-ready iguanas" into the United States from Mexico. Passengers may not attempt to bring a cooler into the U.S. filled with 159 pounds of the beheaded, skinned, and deboned bodies of 115 green…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Life is an Open-Book Test … Unless You are a Juror
  I’ve heard it said that "Life is an open-book test," and I believe that this has become even more true as the Internet, Google, smartphones and other fundamental features of the digital age have become ubiquitous. In the year 2012, when you want to understand something, or define something, or test something, or check someone’s background, you typically have instant access to the tools you’d need to do so. If you are truly interested, you will take the 10 seconds needed to get an answer or to learn how you can get an answer… unless you are serving on a jury. If you are serving on a jury, however, the normal rules of life in the 21st century no longer apply, and you must get each and every scrap of information needed to do your job directly from the proceedings in the courtroom so that your ultimate verdict is determined solely by the evidence. Need to look up what a key word means? Too bad — -put that cell phone down!! The Palm Beach Post has an interesting article on the rise of "juror mischief," i.e., jurors who revert to the "open book" mentality that governs most of their lives…
• Monday’s Three Burning Legal Questions
  Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: I’m just minding my own business, walking down the street and doing some texting in my home town of Fort Lee, N.J. Why are the police eyeing me so much? Answer: Because you are committing the offense of TWW. The scourge that is "Texting While Walking" will now carry with it an $85 fine in the town of Fort Lee. (CBS News, Texting while walking banned in N.J. town) 2) Question: I’m enjoying a strawberry Fruit Roll-Up. They are made with real fruit — Did you know that? It says so right on the label. How many grams of strawberries are in a strawberry Fruit Roll-Up, anyway? Answer: There are a total of 0.0 grams of strawberries in a strawberry Fruit Roll-Up. But there are some "pears from concentrate" in there, if that makes you feel any better. (Consumerist, General Mills Must Defend Claim That Fruit Roll-Ups Are "Made With Real Fruit") 3) Question: I live in Manhattan and have a child ready to start kindergarten. I just received a letter telling me the public elementary school that my child should be attending…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• In Which I Win Rudy Giuliani’s Yankees Tickets
  Bracewell & Giuliani’s Basis Points blog is holding a haiku contest, with the winning entry receiving Rudy Giuliani’s "primo" Yankees seats (second row directly behind home plate) plus a gourmet meal in the Legends Club for the Yankees’ May 23 game against the Kansas City Royals. Before you start breaking out your award-winning lines of haiku from high school, you should know that the haiku that will win these tickets must be Yogi Berra-related: But here’s the curveball. We don’t want just any haiku. We want one that is clever, well-written and relates to Yogi Berra in some fashion, such as his career, a quote attributed to him, or a made-up quote for him (written, of course, in five-seven-five syllable haiku structure). Here is my entry. I look forward to seeing you all at the Legends Club in New York on May 23! Why I Love Being a Baseball Manager I cannot tell you What you don’t already know You don’t know nothing
• Friday’s Three Burning Legal Questions
  Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: Some loser cut my bike lock with bolt cutters and stole my bike. I was looking on Craigslist for a new one when I saw my stolen bike being offered for sale! Can I just meet up with the thief, pretend to take my stolen bike for a test ride, and never come back? Answer: It belongs to you, so yes, although the police advise citizens against trying to recover stolen property on their own. (NBC Washington, Vigilante Bicyclist Gets His Stolen Bike Back) (via The Consumerist) 2) Question: I saw your post explaining that there are limits on what you can name your baby (e.g., "Toilet Queen" is not permitted), but how about on name changes for adults? Can I change my name to Tyrannosaurus Rex? Answer: No problem. (FOX News, Nebraska man changes name to Tyrannosaurus Rex) 3) Question: I feel like the judge’s law clerk — not the judge — is doing all the work and making all of the decisions in the federal race discrimination case I brought. Can I file a "Motion for Disclosure of Chamber of Papers"…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Monson Trial End in Conviction and With No Additional Lawyers Stabbed With Pencils
  The trial of Joshua Monson ended yesterday when he was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder. Also of significance — particularly to the lawyer representing him in the trial — Monson was stymied from stabbing a fourth lawyer with a pencil. On three separate prior occasions in court, Monson had stabbed his (soon-to-be former) lawyer with a pencil. Detecting a trend, the court in Monson’s murder trial imposed stringent security measures for the trial, which thankfully proved to be effective. As discussed here, the court overseeing Monson’s trial required this "Hannibal Lecter of stabbing lawyers with pencils" to be seated at a separate table from his attorney, strapped to a chair with one hand additionally restrained, and wearing "an electric stun cuff that corrections officers can activate if he gets out of line." The Herald reports that the courtroom furniture was also rearranged in such a way as to keep the restraints out of the sight of jurors. The Herald also notes what must have been a harrowing moment just before the jury’s verdict was read, when Monson reached out to shake his attorney’s hand and thank him. This final exchange proved to be stab-free, as a corrections officer…
• Thursday’s Three Burning Legal Questions
  Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: Our high school wants to display the Ten Commandments but the local American Civil Liberties Union is now making a huge stink about it. What can we do? Answer: Have you considered just displaying six of the Ten Commandments? (The Blaze, Judge suggests 10 Commandments be reduced to 6) 2) Question: Unbeknownst to me, my evil wife, with whom I am in a domestic dispute, concealed the hardware of a .40 caliber gun, a magazine loaded with two rounds of ammunition and a firing pin within a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. The Mickey Mouse was in my carry-on baggage as I tried to board a flight and the TSA found it, along with the gun and everything else. Is this going to be a problem? Answer: No, and in fact you won’t even miss your flight. Just tell the TSA that you didn’t know about the gun and that it is your wife’s fault. They’ll be cool with that and send you on your way. (CBS News, Family dispute behind big airport security scare?) 3) Question: Some guy just pulled a gun on…
• Southwest Passenger’s Lawsuit Demands Clear Definition of Who Is a ‘Customer of Size’
  Southwest Airlines has a "Customers of Size Policy" that states: Customers who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat(s) should proactively book the needed number of seats prior to travel. The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats and measures 17 inches in width. The purchase of additional seats serves as a notification to Southwest of a special seating need. Most importantly, it ensures that all Customers onboard have access to safe and comfortable seating. You may contact us for a refund of the cost of additional seating after travel, provided the flight does not oversell (which means having more confirmed Customers than seats on the aircraft). Southwest adds in its Q&A about the Customers of Size policy that the armrest is the "definitive gauge" for a Customer of Size. "Customers who are unable to lower both armrests and/or who encroach upon any portion of the adjacent seat should proactively book the number of seats needed prior to travel," it states. For travelers like Kenlie Tiggeman who are close to the line of being a Customer of Size, however, Southwest’s policy is inadequate because it is adjudicated by a representative at the gate who simply eyeballs…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Wednesday’s Three Burning Legal Questions
  Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: I am the tourism director for a county in Florida. It struck me one day that it would be pretty awesome if our county owned a yacht, so without consulting anyone else I used $710,000 in county funds to buy us a yacht. Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon — Answer: Enough, Mr. Costanza! (UPI.com, Official: Buying county a yacht was wrong) 2) Question: I got drunk and asked my girlfriend to use her hot hair iron to straighten my penis. After I badgered her enough she actually did it, which I now deeply regret. Did she commit an assault on me? Answer: You asked her to do it, so there is no assault here. (The Local, Squeezing penis with hot iron ‘not assault’: court) 3) Question: Quick question before I head out on a hunting trip in Texas: Can I kill a Bigfoot if I find…
• Early Settlers in the Blawgosphere Begin to Turn 10 Years Old
  Last month, The Volokh Conspiracy, which launched on April 10, 2002, celebrated its 10th birthday. On Sunday, May 6, Howard Bashman’s How Appealing blog similarly turned 10 years old. Neither of these blogs can claim to be the oldest legal blog out there, as that distinction appears to be held by Walter Olson’s Overlawyered blog, which launched on July 1, 1999 and will become the first blog teenager this summer. Other than outliers such as Overlawyered, however, the first wave of legal blogs really started to appear on the scene in late 2001 and 2002, and the recent birthdays marking a decade of blogging at The Volokh Conspiracy and How Appealing are just the beginning of many 10th birthdays that will be coming in 2012. Back in 2007, Bob Ambrogi attempted to determine, in a post here at LBW, "Who Was the First Legal Blogger?" Ambrogi crowned Overlawyered with that title, and documented the birthdays of many of the other earliest legal blogs. Checking the archives of the longest-running legal bloggers that he knew of, Amrogi identified the following blog birthdates, from youngest to oldest — notably, every one of the blogs below is still active: SCOTUSblog, Oct. 1, 2002…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Tucker Max Explains ‘Why You Shouldn’t Go to Law School’
  I have spent a decent amount of time through the years reading the various exploits of Tucker Max on his TuckerMax.com website. Don’t head over to TuckerMax.com if you are easily offended — indeed, the entire site is prefaced with the following introduction/warning: I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead. But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way. I share my adventures with the world. They are known as … THE TUCKER MAX STORIES. After quickly attracting an audience to his unique brand of "fratire" years ago, Tucker Max branched out into writing books (three New York Times best sellers to date) and co-wrote and produced a movie based on his life. Prior to Max’s various successes in the media world, he attended and graduated from Duke Law School in 2001, but apparently did not practice law or work in a law firm other than a summer associate position at Fenwick & West. Perhaps predictably, the stint at Fenwick & West ended after a…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Monday’s Three Burning Legal Questions
  Here are today’s three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: We just ate dinner at a restaurant and the service was poor. Despite that, the restaurant is insisting that we pay a gratuity of 17 percent that was automatically added to our bill per the restaurant’s policy. We paid the bill and refused to pay the gratuity, but now they have locked the doors to the restaurant, won’t let us leave, and have called the police. Who is going to be in trouble when the cops get here — the restaurant or us? Answer: Tough question. You are not abiding by the restaurant’s policy but it also sounds like you are being held against your will. Are you sure you don’t want to just pay the gratuity and fight about it later? (Consumerist, Diners Say They Were Locked Inside Restaurant For Refusing To Pay Automatic Gratuity) 2) Question: I found a discarded lottery ticket in a garbage can here in Arkansas, and it turned out to be a million-dollar prize winner! "Finders keepers" applies here, right? Answer: No, finders keepers doesn’t fly in Arkansas, sorry. (The Associated Press, Woman Who Lost Ark. Lotto…

Birmingham Lawyers

Birmingham Attorneys

• Farewell to TabletLegal, the ‘iPad + Lawyers’ Blog
  I welcomed TabletLegal ("iPad + Lawyers") into the blawgosphere here back in early 2010, so I probably ought to bid it farewell as it shuts down a little over two years later. On Jan. 27, 2010, Apple announced that the first iPad would be available in March 2010. Three days later, Portland, Ore., business attorney Josh Barrett launched TabletLegal, a blog that would allow him to "discuss lawyers using the iPad, applications for the iPad and other developments specific to the iPad in the legal profession." Since that original post, Barrett has cranked out over 150 additional posts about the use of the iPad by lawyers over the past two-plus years. Several of Barrett’s posts on TabletLegal (here and here, for example) have been profiled here at LBW. This week, Barrett wrote that a combination of new demands on his time (such as opening his own firm), and a growing disconnect between what his readers wanted to read and what he wanted to write, had led him to conclude that it was time to shut down TabletLegal. "TabletLegal has become that extra app on my home screen, the distracting choice, gumming up my ability to get the stuff I want…

Birmingham Lawyers