http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/miptc.ico http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/images/logos/logo_judge.jpg 2013-5-14T10:03:58Z WLF Williams Law Firm weblog of legal news and observations, including a quote of the day and daily updates 2013-5-14T10:03:58Z 2013-5-14T10:03:58-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2013:2166 2013-5-14T10:03:58-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlc-legal.com You may never have heard of Julian Knight, but that's likely because not only is he down under, but he's also under sentence.  Seven of them.  Life sentences, that is.  Knight (I can't bring myself to put a "Mr." before his name) was an army cadet and in 1987, he clambered up a billboard overlooking Hoddle Street, a very busy street in Melbourne.  That's Melbourne, Australia, in case you haven't been following along.  As a disclaimer, I...]]> 2013-4-26T15:42:43Z 2013-4-26T15:42:43-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2013:2164 2013-4-26T15:42:43-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlc-legal.com People never cease to amaze me. Let's say you're a computer manufacturer in China, and you agree to sell, oh, say $2 million in computer parts to a computer company in the United States. Logistically, you've got one big problem on your hands. How do you get all of those parts from China to the US?They're too heavy for a plane and trucks don't float, so you choose a boat. Well, actually a freighter. You know, those great big boats with lots of containers to hold your computer ...]]> 2013-3-14T09:37:18Z 2013-3-14T09:37:18-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2013:2163 2013-3-14T09:37:18-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlf-law.com Well, Disneyland is in Orange County, after all, so the term "Pixie Dust" is considered jargon around here. Not legal jargon, mind you, but anyone who's gone to Disneyland understands. In this case, it means the words you use to get what you want.Let me give you the setup, even though the opinion is shy on details. Diane Marie Minish went to the Mount Madonna Center of the Hanuman Fellowship (a group that teaches the theory and practice of yoga). The Mount Madonna Center is a "...]]> 2013-2-21T18:16:04Z 2013-2-21T18:16:04-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2013:2162 2013-2-21T18:16:04-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlf-law.com You'll be happy to know that the 10¢ charge that Los Angelinos are required to pay to grocery stores for using a paper bag isn't a tax, even though the charge was imposed by the Los Angles County Board of Supervisors.  That's right, even though you get to pay more, it's really not a tax.Really.Let's think about this one for a minute.  Ok.  I'm done. How about you?  Convinced yet?  If not, then think about the argument that the County used to ...]]> 2012-9-05T09:05:56Z 2012-9-05T09:05:56-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2012:2161 2012-9-05T09:05:56-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlc-legal.com My friend Paul Riehle is an avid surfer; he's one of those guys who's up at the crack of dawn and out on his surfboard enjoying what we Californians know as the endless summer.  You can surf all year 'round here - of course you've got to wear something thicker than a 3/2 wetsuit in the winter, but as Jimmy Buffet says, "The weather is here.  Wish you were beautiful."  While Jimmy has a way with words, Paul's got a way with surfing.  In ...]]> 2012-4-30T08:50:15Z 2012-4-30T08:50:15-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2012:2158 2012-4-30T08:50:15-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlf-law.com How could a jury be so insensitive?  Certainly this jury is from one of those Judicial Hellholes!  This is exactly why we need tort reform ... runaway juries ... just like that McDonald's spilled coffee cup case.  You would expect to hear those comments after reading the first headline.  But there's a clue in the subheadline that may cause you to pause for a moment and think that there just might be more than the first headline communicates.You'd be right.  A...]]> 2012-4-27T08:56:14Z 2012-4-27T08:56:14-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2012:2159 2012-4-27T08:56:14-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlf-law.com Human trafficking is "modern-day slavery." And if you think it isn't happening near you, think again. The United Nations estimates nearly 2.4 million people may be the victims of this crime.  Please join me and my fellow Lawyer2Lawyer co-host and attorney, Bob Ambrogi, as we take a legal look at this troubling issue with Professor Bridgette Carr from the University of Michigan Law School, Attorney Ann Johnson from Houston, Texas and Mary C. Ellison, Director of Policy for...]]> 2012-4-19T21:08:04Z 2012-4-19T21:08:04-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2012:2160 2012-4-19T21:08:04-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlf-law.com Members of Congress and their staffers who travel at the expense of private organizations must follow a long list of legal restrictions and requirements.  However, there is a little known exemption that allows the same federal employees to travel with virtually no accountability and very little transparency.  Please join me and my fellow Lawyer2Lawyer co-host and attorney, Bob Ambrogi, as we welome ProPublica.org reporter Justin Elliott and Washington University Law Professor Kathleen ...]]> 2012-4-12T10:00:08Z 2012-4-12T10:00:08-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2012:2157 2012-4-12T10:00:08-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlf-law.com From the Obama Administration's decision on female contraception coverage, to the Congressional hearing on women's health featuring an all-male panel of witnesses, to the Rush Limbaugh/Sandra Fluke firestorm, legislation targeting women's health is causing quite the political controversy across the country. Please join me as I welcome Attorney Shari Rendall, Director of Legislation and Public Policy for Concerned Women for America and Attorney Gretchen Borchelt, Senior Counsel for He...]]> 2012-3-11T10:36:20Z 2012-3-11T10:36:20-08:00 tag:www.mayitpleasethecourt.com,2012:2155 2012-3-11T10:36:20-06:00 J. Craig Williams http://www.mayitpleasethecourt.com/ jcraig.williams@wlf-law.com Driving back from LA on Friday, traffic was stopped: dead stopped.  You know, the kind of stopped you just know will turn you and several thousand of your nearest friends into a 30-second segment on the 6:00 evening news, while the rest of us watching groan with an at-too-well understanding of your plight.Traffic started to move slowly on both sides of the freeway, but not in the middle.  Fortunately, I was on one of the the sides that was moving, not too far from the start of the traf...]]>