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The Latest Breaking News from Westlaw

Agreement That Children "Shall Be Raised in the Orthodox Jewish Tradition" Is Unenforceable

In Connecticut Superior Court Judge Eddie Rodriguez's opinion in Breiner v. Breiner (handed down Sept. 15 but just posted on Westlaw), the dispute was about whether plaintiff mother had breached an agreed-to provision in a 2017 parenting plan, "The parties agree the children shall be raised in the Orthodox Jewish…

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Apparent Neo-Nazi Pleads Guilty to Trying to Burn Down Church That Was Hosting Drag Queen Story Hour

From a Justice Department press release dated Oct. 24, but just posted on Westlaw a few days ago: An Ohio man pleaded guilty yesterday to violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and to using fire and explosives to commit a felony, all in connection with his attempt to burn down…

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Singular "They" in Court

From D.C. v. Casa Ruby, Inc., decided May 1 by D.C. trial judge Danya A. Dayson, but just posted on Westlaw: Therefore, specifically, as to each Third-Party board member Defendant, there must be factual allegations sufficient to support an inference or conclusion that the board member either intentionally, rather than…

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Court Refuses to Block Indiana Law That Bans "Instruction … on Human Sexuality" to Public K-to-3rd Students

From Smiley v. Jenner, decided by Judge James Patrick Hanlon (S.D. Ind.) on July 28, but just posted on Westlaw: A new Indiana law prohibits public schools and their employees from providing instruction to students in prekindergarten through grade 3 on human sexuality. Kayla Smiley—a teacher who works for the…

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Nevada Magistrate Judge Recommends Rejecting Internet Preservation Challenge—And Why It's Wrong

The first opinion on Westlaw in response to a motion to suppress based on my model motion.

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Sanctions Issued in Case Where Lawyers Cited ChatGPT-Hallucinated Precedents

From today's opinion in Mata v. Avianca, Inc., by Judge Kevin Castel (S.D.N.Y.), which stems from an incident blogged about here last month (and see this follow-up): In researching and drafting court submissions, good lawyers appropriately obtain assistance from junior lawyers, law students, contract lawyers, legal encyclopedias and databases such…

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"Optimists Sometimes Do Not Fare Well When They Gloss over Problematic Facts"

From Basulto v. Netflix, Inc., decided May 25 by Magistrate Judge John Goodman, but just posted on Westlaw: In this defamation lawsuit against Defendant Netflix, Inc. and other Defendants, certain Defendants known as "the Foreign Defendants" filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction…. As explained below, the Undersigned…

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Lawyer Explains How He Used ChatGPT to Produce Filing "Replete with Citations to Non-Existent Cases"

"Can you show me the courts opinion in Varghese v China Southern Airlines"? "Certainly! ... I hope that helps!"

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When AI poses an existential risk to your law license

Episode 459 of the Cyberlaw Podcast

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A Lawyer's Filing "Is Replete with Citations to Non-Existent Cases"—Thanks, ChatGPT?

The lawyer's colleague, who drafted the filing, says he relied on ChatGPT to draft the filing and provide the text of the cases, and neglected to check them.

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Court Refuses to Enforce United Arab Emirates Child Custody Decree That Disfavored Christian Parent

From Al Namani v. Watson, decided last year by Judge Daniel Klau (Conn. Super. Ct.), but just posted on Westlaw: General Statutes § 46b-115ii bars a Connecticut family court from enforcing a foreign court judgment that is "repugnant to the public policy of this state." Citing this statute, the respondent…

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I'd Like a Real Translation, Please

From ABC Corp. v. Partnerships & Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified on Schedule A (one of the many recently filed cases involving alleged mass copyright infringement by apparently off-shore businesses), decided Dec. 19 by Judge Joan Gottschall (N.D. Ill.) but just posted to Westlaw: Before the court is plaintiff's motion for leave…

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Court Reverses Denial of Unemployment Compensation to Employee Fired for Religious Objection to Vaccination

From Washa v. Actalent Scientific, LLC, decided two weeks ago by Minnesota Court of Appeals Chief Judge Susan Segal and Judges Peter Reyes and Randall Slieter, but just posted on Westlaw: Actalent Scientific employed Washa and placed him as a medical lab technician with North Memorial Clinics. On January 3,…

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Libel Lawsuit Against Case Law Repository for Its Not Noting That a Case Had Settled

Leagle.com publicly distributes a wide range of court opinions, precedential and nonprecedential, from all over the country. Unlike Westlaw, Lexis, and Google Scholar, it is Google-searchable, so when a party's name is Googled, any opinion mentioning the party is likely to come up. [1.] John D. Thomas had been involved…

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Roman Polanski Can't Block IMetPolanski.com Site

From the WIPO Arbitration & Mediation Center Administrative Panel Decision in Polanski v. Uziel (Arbitrators Brian J. Winterfeldt, Warwick A. Rothnie & Marie-Emmanuelle Haas), decided two weeks ago but just posted on Westlaw: In 1977, the Complainant [film director] was arrested in the United States and charged with unlawful sex…

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Private Employee's Claim That He Was Fired for Political Tweet Can Proceed Under California Statutes

In Surdak v. DXC Technology (decided Dec. 20 by Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. (C.D. Cal.), but just posted a few days ago on Westlaw), plaintiff claimed he was fired (1) because of his "complaints … that he was not being paid all his wages" and (2) "in retaliation for posting…

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North Dakota A.G.: Teacher Training Funds Program Open to Teachers at Private (Including Religious) Schools

From a formal Attorney General opinion (no. 2022-L-07) responding to a query by the North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board; it is dated Nov. 29, but was just posted on Westlaw: … [Y]ou ask (1) whether private school teachers who are also mentors may participate in the Teacher Support…

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Threatening Political Condemnation for Political Opposition Isn't Criminal Coercion

In People v. Cannata, decided a year ago but just posted on Westlaw, defendant was being prosecuted for violating New York's third-degree coercion law, which in relevant part reads, A person is guilty of coercion in the third degree when he or she compels or induces a person to engage…

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If Parody Seems to Imply That the Parodied Person Is Responsible for Racist Actions, Can That Be Libelous?

From Corso Ventures, LLC v. Paye, decided Sept. 7, 2021 by Judge Karen Held Phipps (Ohio Ct. Com. Pl. Franklin County), but just posted several days ago on Westlaw; it's now on appeal. {In January of 2020, Defendant Jordan saw a story on the local news that the Short North…

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[UPDATED] Is Sixth-Grader Telling Classmate His Hairstyle Makes Him Look Like Trump "Harassment, Intimidation, or Bullying"?

UPDATE: But wait! It turns out the decision was overturned on appeal, see below. (I've changed the title to a question; it originally said such a statement was indeed "harassment, intimidation, or bullying," summarizing the initial decision.)

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Call of Duty: Warzone Doesn't Infringe Warzone Strategy Game

From Activision Publishing, Inc. v. Warzone.com, LLC, decided last month by Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha (C.D. Cal.), but just posted on Westlaw (presumably because it has just been appealed); this seems quite correct: Warzone.com develops and makes available to the public a browser-based game titled Warzone. Warzone is a free-to-play,…

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O.J. Law, Back in Court

This time in a decision by Judge Veronica Barisich (Nev. Dist. Ct. Clark County), handed down in February but just posted on Westlaw; an excerpt: [16.] There are only few factual disputes. Plaintiff [Malcolm Lavergne] is a Nevada attorney who has represented O.J. Simpson since 2009 regarding his robbery-related convictions,…

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Judge Can Be Member of N.Y. ACLU Affiliate, but not One of Its Directors

From a decision of the N.Y. Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, handed down on Jan. 27 but just posted on Westlaw: The inquiring full-time judge asks if it is ethically permissible to serve on the board of directors of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). As the organization's website…

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Distinguishing Uses of Slurs in a Government Workplace

From In the Matter of Ruggiero, decided last month by the N.J. intermediate appellate court: Ruggiero was accused of workplace misconduct and the County sought to terminate her. That sanction was first rejected by a hearing officer and then an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The ALJ found a six-month suspension,…

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Evil, God Helmet, and Trademark Law

From Murphy v. King Size Productions, decided Mar. 17 by Judge Michael Fitzgerald (C.D. Cal.), but just posted on Westlaw: Defendants produce a fictional television show named "Evil" that airs on a streaming platform called Paramount+…. The [June 20, 2021] Episode revolves around a device called the "God Helmet." The…

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