Lawblog - VerdictOne.com:

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage, known as Proposition 8, is unconstitutional. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling (PDF), said Proposition 8's limitations on access to marriage took away rights from a vulnerable minority without benefiting parents, children or the institution of marriage. "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote…more...

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I previously blogged about how advisors can learn from the Super Bowl through the Super Bowl indicator. Marketers are another group of professionals who can take a tip from watching the Super Bowl ads. The Trust Advisor lists three tips...more...

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A federal appeals court has affirmed the life sentences given to seven participants in an international child pornography trafficking ring, but it has vacated a $3.3 million restitution award against one of the defendants on behalf of one of the victims. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a lengthy opinion (PDF) Monday, said it didn't find the life sentences so "grossly disproportionate" to the defendants' crimes as to violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But it did order the trial court to reconsider whether the actions of the one defendant against whom the…more...

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Earlier today (February 7, 2012), a federal appeals court panel ruled California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the Unites States Constitution. A more detailed discussion will be posted shortly.more...

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A Harvard Business School graduate who is a certified public accountant rather than a lawyer will be the new CEO of Pepper Hamilton. The 350-attorney Philadelphia-based law firm has announced that it is bringing in Scott Green to oversee its business strategy and operations, according to Forbes and the Philadelphia Business Journal. The 49-year-old Green formerly worked in banking and for Weil Gotshal and WilmerHale, where he has been executive director since 2007. All legal department heads, practice group leaders and office managing partners will report to Green, along with the leaders of nonlegal management entities within the firm. He…more...

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Georgia’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s assisted suicide law yesterday, stating the law is “unconstitutional under the free speech provisions of the United States and Georgia constitutions.” The court found the Georgia law unconstitutional because it targeted only people...more...

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The Internal Revenue Service recently published PLR 201204016, stating that an organization (Organization) was required to file Form 990. Organization was exempt under Section 501(c)(3) and had claimed an exemption from filing Form 990 under Section 1.6033(a)(2)(g)(i). Organization stated it...more...

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The electrical cord can fray near the base of the lamp, posing a fire or shock hazard to consumers.more...

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Only a quarter of a century ago, a Time magazine article on the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution found that the founding document of this country had influenced the national charters of 160 of the 170 countries then in existence. Today, a study by by David S. Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Mila Versteeg of the University of Virginia has determined that the document is far less influential, reports the New York Times (reg. req.). “Among the world’s democracies,” the study concludes, “constitutional similarity to the United States has clearly gone into free fall. Over the 1960s…more...

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A co-agent has a claim for declaratory relief relating to the behavior of the other co-agent. Mother appointed her son and her daughter as co-agents under a Florida durable power of attorney. Suspecting that her brother was mishandling their mother’s...more...

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