Archive for the ‘law’ Category
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Looks like Yelp will be dealing with extortion lawsuits quite a bit this year.
Now, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman goes on and on about how he knows what his sales force says when it makes cold calls on business owners. The thing is that Jeremy Stoppelman doesn’t know what his sales force says when it makes cold calls on business owners.
Check out this recent interview in the BidnessWeek magazine:
“BW: The plaintiff in the class action suit (Long Beach, CA-based veterinarian Cats & Dogs Hospital Inc) says that a Yelp salesman named Kevin repeatedly promised to make negative reviews go away if he would advertise on Yelp. Have you disciplined Kevin for breaking the company’s sales policies, and how many times have you had to discipline or fire salespeople for such transgressions?
“Stoppelman: We’ve never had to discipline a salesperson* about the issue that was laid out in the lawsuit.”
Salespeople (or “Account Executives”) spin and lie all the time, they think its their job to do so. In fact, it IS their job to do so. That’s how they make their money, right?
An alcohol-fueled Yelp XXX-Mas party, from back in the day:
via Yelp.com
Now, Yelp has this post-solicitation survey for you, the business owner. It has several functions, but one purpose, certainly, is to make you, the business owner, look like an idiot when you later file your extortion lawsuit. Why? Because you answered all the relevant queries, check out the questions in #4, in Yelp’s favor. Is this kind of survey going to be enough to carry the day for Yelp’s lawyers? We’ll see.
Unless there are audio recordings of all the phone calls sitting around somewhere, Jerry has no way to prove what he’s alleging, right?
Here’s a modest proposal:
1. Fire all the salespeople(the so-called EA’s) and just do without the business sponsorships or what have you. Make money in a different way. (Make less money in a more honest way, is what I’m saying); or
2. Record all of the cold calls that your sales crew makes. So, hello, may I speak with the owner, do I have your persimmon (mmm… persimmon) to record this conversation, etc… This will cut into revenue, possibly. (You’ll make less money in a more honest way, is what I’m saying.)
All the talk of Yelp’s internal corporate structure and church/state separation betwixt sales and content don’t mean a thing if you don’t know what your sales crew says to make commish. Right, Jeremy?
*Looks like Jerry has access to a lawyer or two as well, huh? How many hours of expensive coaching did Jerome pay for? Perhaps salesman Kevin is just “one bad apple?” Stay tuned…
Tags: account executives, ads, advertising, ae, arizona, attorneys, blackmail, blog, business, ca, californis san francisco, call, Cats & Dogs Hospital, CEO, class action, cold call, court, extortion, inc, Jeremy, Jeremy Stoppelman, jerome, jerry, Judge, kevin, lawsuits, layers, long beach, Owners, post, reviews, sales, stars, Stoppelman, suit, veterinarian, yelp
Posted in advertising, law | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera can’t abide companies that don’t prove their claims. So today he’s going after Intelligender LLC because of its “in-home fetal gender prediction product“ that you can get at Walgreens. For the record:
“IntelliGender, the Plano, Texas, creator of the “Boy or Girl Gender Prediction Test,” says scientists isolated certain hormones that when combined with a “proprietary mix of chemicals” react differently if a woman is carrying a boy or a girl. It claims that within 10 minutes of taking the urine test, a woman will be able to tell her baby’s gender. The specimen will turn green if it’s a boy, and orange if it’s a girl.”
The question is about accuracy, primarily.
San Francisco’s Happy Warrior:
As always, follow the action on the Twitter.
Herrera demands proof of accuracy, safety claims by IntelliGender in-home test
City Attorney invokes authority under Unfair Competition Law in seeking evidence for marketing claims by gender prediction test sold in S.F.
SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2010) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera today invoked his legal authority under California’s Unfair Competition Law to demand substantiation for advertising claims by Intelligender LLC that its in-home fetal gender prediction product, which is sold and marketed in San Francisco, is “totally safe” and over 90 percent accurate.
“California law empowers public sector attorneys to seek proof for marketing claims for products sold to the consumers they’re responsible to protect,” said Herrera. “Intelligender is a product that came to our attention in which some of the advertised claims are dubious, and for which supporting evidence is notably unavailable to potential customers. Women and families interested in purchasing products like this are entitled to see the evidence that will enable them to be better informed consumers.”
According to Herrera’s letter to the Plano, Tex.-based manufacturer:
“The IntelliGender Test purports to accurately identify the gender of a fetus as early as 10 weeks after pregnancy, and well before ultrasound confirmation of fetal gender is available to expectant mothers. However, according to online reviews of your product, it appears that your advertising claim that the IntelliGender Test is ‘over 90% accurate’ is questionable. Additionally, as your product packaging does not identify the contents of the IntelliGender Test, there are concerns about the safety and proper means of disposal of the Test.
“The San Francisco City Attorney hereby requests that you provide evidence of the facts supporting the advertising claims of IntelliGender listed below, pursuant to California Business and Professions Code §17508, which empowers city attorneys to request substantiation of purportedly fact-based advertising claims. For all claims listed below indicating that scientific methods were utilized, please include full reports of experiments, methods, results, and outcomes, in addition to the CVs and biographies of the clinicians retained to perform these trials and tests.”
Herrera asked that Intelligender provide documentation responsive to his request by the end of the month, noting that we would consider seeking “an immediate termination or modification of the claim,” as state law provides, if the information were not forthcoming.
All the deets after the jump.
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Tags: 17508, 3105 New Britton, accuracy, attorneys, boy, Business and Professions Code, california, city attorney, City Hall, dennis herrera, dennis j herrera, dr., drive, Evidence, gender, girl, home, in home, inelligender, Intelli Gender, kit, law, LLC, plano, prediction, pregnancy, product, proof, public sector, Rebecca Griffin, reports, San Francisco, sex, stick, test, testing, texas, twins, tx, ultrasound, Unfair Competition, walgreens
Posted in law | No Comments »
Monday, February 15th, 2010
First of all, let’s acknowledge the fine performances of all the competitors at our recent Mavericks Surf Contest 2009-2010 and especially that of Chris Bertish. As it turned out, his victory was overshadowed somewhat by discussion of the giant “rogue” sneaker waves* that injured a dozen or so spectators.
Mad props:
Having said that, let’s take a look at higher-def footage of the problem, ably shot by KRON VJ (video jockey) Haaziq Madyun. And here’s the reverse angle. And ganderize your eyes on this bird’s-eye view of the scene. If this were the Olympics, this would be the Olympic Village:
via dwan.mac click to expand
O.K. then. Comes now MSV’s Matriarch and area Realtor Katherine Clark to say:
And let’s hear from MSV CEO and former lawyer Kier Beidling:
“Bringing common sense is a must for anyone who shows up to watch from the beach.”
Fair enough, but isn’t this your temporary awards stand getting demolished by a tiny tsunami? Was “common sense” used to place it there?
And wasn’t this formerly-underwater piece of sound equipment placed exactly where you wanted it to be?
via dwan.mac
So please let’s go easy on any more nagging, patronizing Respect The Ocean talk coming from MSV, considering that MSV and its sponsors appeared to be just as unaware as some of the spectators.
In other words, if this unsecured P.A. loudspeaker ended up killing a fan, all the DANGER: HEAVY SURF signs in all Christendom wouldn’t save your hides from a dead-bang, seven-figure wrongful death lawsuit. (If you think you see a bunch of people people in the water around the speaker in the video, your guess is correct.)
So that is exactly “how on Earth we [MSV] could be responsible for people willfully going to the ocean.”
(Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Huh? Think, McFly!)
In other words, from the 2/16/10 Santa Cruz Sentinel:
“The Maverick’s contest organizers probably realize that, in retrospect, it was unwise to put scaffolding and platforms in an exposed area and then allow spectators too close to the high tide line and a seawall along the Pillar Point coastline.”
You see? That’s why the party line of having MSV reps repeatedly bleating about how spectators just need some common sense doesn’t wash.
Now do I think that this fellow (people never seem to let go of their cameras or their beer, huh?) and others who got banged up by the surf on their own will win any possible lawsuits their shysters file? No.
via dwan.mac
But do I suppose that things could be handled differently by Mavericks Surf Ventures the next go around?
Yes.
(Contrary to what you might have heard, no post mortem meetings with county (or other) authoritahs are scheduled this week. But they’ll be coming soon.)
*Or surge or whatever. It’d be nice to have one descriptive term to cover all these different words…
Tags: $10, 09, 2009, 2010, 24, 4, airship ventures, Alex Martins, ambulance, Andrew Marr, Anthony Tashnick, at&t, bags, Bagworks, barracuda networks, Bart Willems, Bay Club, beam, beer, Ben Andrews, big, big wave, bones, bourbon, brewing, Brock Little, broken, bullitt, california, cam, cancelled, Capture Technologies, Carlos Burle, channel, Chris Bertish, CLIF BAR, Co., Colin Dwyer, competition, contest, county, Danilo Couto, Darryl Virostko, Dave Wassell, day, december, Doc’s ProPlugs, el nino, email, Ericsson, Evan Slater, feet, FLO TV, flooded, foot, fuel, FUEL TV, Garrett McNamara, giant, going rogue, Grant Baker, Grant Washburn, Greg Long, half moon bay, hospital, inc, injuries, Ion Banner, Jamie Mitchell, Jamie Sterling, Jane Sutherland, jeff clark, Jeff Clark Surfboards, jetty, jim, Jim Beam® Bourbon, Joao De Macedo, John Whittle, Josh Loya, Katherine Clark, Katherine Kelly Clark, Kealii Mamala, Kenny Collins, KRON, lawsuit, Lawton Smith, lawyers, leg, Mark Healey, Matt Ambrose, mavericks, mavericks surf contest, Mavericks Surf Shop, mavericks surfing contest, mavericky, Mike Gerhardt, Moose Guen, MVision, myspace action sports, Nathan Fletcher, Nic Lamb, November, Oceano Hotel, park, Peter Mel, pov, princeton, princeton by the sea, real estate, realtor, Rickshaw, rogue, Russell Smith, Rusty Long, Ryan Seelbach, Sam’s Chowder House, San Francisco, sarah palin, sea wall, season, seawall, Shane Desmond, Shawn Rhodes, Sierra Nevada, sneaker, Sony, spa, Sponsors, Stormsurf.com, suf, surf, Surfer Magazine, surfing, text, thanksgiving, The Corporate Law Group, Tim West, tsunami, Tyler Fox, Tyler Smith, Vertical Response, Video, wave, waves, whiskey, wipeout, wipeouts, youtube, Zach Wormhoudt
Posted in law, sports | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Our three-term City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera has just released the news about how San Francisco recently won a little compensation to pay for all the extra work it’s doing to bring poorly-rated CitiApartments / Skyline Realty* to justice. Keep in mind that these penalties are not to punish (’cause that part will come later). No, no, this $50K is just to pay us back for the extra expenses we recently incurred due to relentless foot-dragging from the infamous Lembi Family et alia.
Poor Judge Munter had to spend half of the hearing deciding how to divvy up the penalties among all the interrelated defendants. Oh well.
Read all about it here, or below.
San Francisco’s Happy Warrior: His middle name is Jose, his son speaks Mandarin Chinese and he’s been working on gay legal issues for donkey’s years, at least since the 1990’s - do you think all that might help him if he decides to run for Mayor in 2011?
Pwned:
Herrera wins Court sanctions against CitiApartments for “obfuscation, delay.” Landlords’ defiance in the face of City Attorney’s ‘Herculean efforts’ triggers order to cooperate with discovery, pay $50K sanction
SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 2, 2010) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera has won Court-ordered sanctions against a labyrinthine web of defendants involved in the operation of CitiApartments and Skyline Realty, the residential property management and investment behemoth Herrera first sued in 2006 for its stunning array of unlawful business practices. The order, which was signed by San Francisco Superior Court Judge John E. Munter last month and obtained this morning, compels each of the two-dozen corporate, trust and individual defendants currently named in the suit to respond to discovery requests in compliance with rules of civil procedure, and to pay sanctions to the City totaling $50,129.50, which reflects San Francisco’s fees and costs to pursue its motion to compel. Munter’s order requires all of the defendants to comply with the order by Feb. 19, 2010.
“CitiApartments deserved to be sanctioned for its continued defiance in this case, and I’m gratified to Judge Munter for calling these tactics exactly what they are — ‘obfuscation, delay and meritless objections,’” said Herrera. “I hope this sanction sends a message to Frank Lembi, Walter Lembi and all of the defendants responsible for CitiApartments’ lawless conduct that there is a limit to judicial patience, and they’ve reached it. This has been a long, difficult case to address what is perhaps the most egregious corruption of San Francisco’s residential housing market in modern history. We remain committed to pursuing this case aggressively, and I hope these sanctions are a tipping point that hastens our progress toward a just outcome.”
All the gritty nitty, after the jump.
*Let me tell you something here, whenever you’re paying your monthly rent to “LSL Property Holdings II DE LLC” or something, don’t be surprised when you have trouble getting your deposit back. This case is a morass. Anywho, your defendants:
“Skyline Realty Inc., Citiapartments Inc., Citi Funding Group Inc., Citisuites LLC, Lembi Group Inc., Lembi Group Partners LLC, Urban Property Management, Inc., Citiwide Rentals, Inc., Frank Lembi, Walter Lembi, David Raynal, Taylor Lembi, Frank Lembi As Trustee Of The Frank E. Lembi Survivor’s Trust Dated February 17, 1984, As Restated On June 2, 1999, Frank Lembi, As Trustee Of The Olga Lembi Residual Trust Created Under The Provisions Of Part Three Of The Lembi Family Trust Dated February 17, 1984, Walter Lembi, As Trustee Of The Walter And Linda Lembi Family Trust Dated June 30, 2004, David Raynal, As Trustee Of The David M. Raynal Revocable Trust Dated May 9, 2002, 737 Pine DE LLC, 737 Pine B10 DE LLC, 737 Pine B10 Mezz DE LLC, 1155 LLC, Gaylord Hotel LLC, LSL Properties B14 DE LLC, LSL Property Holdings II DE LLC, LSL Property Holdings II Mezz LLC, Nob Hill Tower DE LLC, Nob Hill Tower Mezz DE LLC, Prime Apartment Properties LLC, Prime Apartment Properties B10 DE LLC, Prime Apartment Properties B10 Mezz DE LLC, Trophy Properties B10 DE LLC, Trophy Properties IV DE LLC, Trophy Properties IV B8A LLC, Trophy Properties IV Mezz DE LLC, Trophy Properties V LLC, Trophy Properties V DE LLC, Trophy Properties VI LLC, Trophy Properties IV B8A Manager LLC.”
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Tags: 2009, 2010, 737 Pine, attorney, B14, B8A, citi apartments, Citi Funding Group, citiapartment, CitiApartments, Citisuites, Citiwide, City, city attorney, complaint, county, david, David M. Raynal, David Raynal, de, dennis herrera, dennis j herrera, Family, frank, Frank E. Lembi, Gaylord, hotel, II, inc, judge. munter, landlord, law, lawsuit, lawyer, lembi, LLC, LSL, management, Manager, Mezz, milln, Nob Hill Tower, Olga, partners, Pine B10, Prime Apartment, properties, Raynal, realty, Rentals, Restated, san francsico, skyline, Survivors, taylor, Trophy, Trophy Properties, trust, Trustee, Urban Property, walter
Posted in law | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
The anti-abortion mobile billboard trucks seen below, in town for Saturday’s West Coast Walk for Life, could be banned from the Streets of San Francisco, IMO. Here’s how to do it:
Step One: Amend San Francisco Police Code section 680 to make it look more like the City of West Hollywood’s Municipal Code section 11.441. Basically, that would mean, instead of banning “commercial advertising” on vehicles, we’d be banning all advertising, banning all mobile billboards.
Step Two: Start writing tickets.
What’s that you say, what about the First Amendment ‘n stuff? Well, let’s read up on a recent case from the California Court of Appeal called Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, et al. v. City of West Hollywood (B201721). You see, this animal-loving guy from S.H.A.R.K. got busted for driving his animal-rights mobile billboard advertising truck around town. He sued West Hollywood after he got cited but he lost. Why?
Here Come Da Judges (the bulk of them, anyway):
“The city concedes that SHARK was engaged in noncommercial speech but maintains its ordinance applies to both commercial and noncommercial speech. SHARK, however, argues that the term “advertising” applies only to commercial speech. We agree with the city that the ordinance applies to both commercial and noncommercial speech.
“The term “advertise” is not limited to calling the public’s attention to a product or a business. The definition of “advertise” is more general: “to make something known to[;] . . . to make publicly and generally known[;] . . . to announce publicly esp[ecially] by a printed notice or a broadcast…”
So it looks like West Hollywood has a green light to stop both commercial and non-commercial advertising trucks from roaming its streets. What’s preventing San Francisco from doing the same thing?
Click to expand. On the Embarcadero:
And Market Street:
Just asking.
(Brace yourselves, more these trucks like these are on their way. Get used to it…)
How West Hollywood does it, after the jump
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Tags: 2010, 6th, 8m78856, abortion, advertising, annual, anti, ban, california, choice, crowd, illegal, law, legal, license, los angeles, march, march for life, market, mobile billboards, parade, plate, prop, rain, San Francisco, SFPD, shark, size, street, thousands, trucks, walk for life, west coast, west hollywood
Posted in advertising, law | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Fresh from flacking his book on the Daily Show, UC Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo is coming to the 415 to flack his book at the Commonwealth Club on Wednesday, January 27th.
See?
Tickets are still available. But be aware that “attendees are subject to search.”
Can’t imagine why…
Anyway:
“Crisis and Command: Presidential Power in the 21st Century” 6 p.m. program
Cost: $12 members, $18 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Also know: Attendees subject to search. In association with the International Relations MLF.
John Yoo, Law Professor, UC Berkeley; Author, Crisis and Command
Allen Weiner, Co-director, International Law Program, Stanford Law School – Moderator
At the Department of Justice, Yoo played a large and controversial role in shaping the Bush administration’s policy in the war on terrorism, arguing that prisoner of war status under the Geneva Conventions does not apply to “enemy combatants.” He further asserted executive authority to undertake “enhanced interrogation techniques” regarded as torture by the current Justice Department. Yoo will trace the history of presidential power.
Location: SF Club Office, 595 Market Street
Time: 5:15 p.m. check-in,
Tags: 2010, 595 market, administration, Allen Weiner, Berkeley, book, bush, commonwealth club, Crisis and Command, Daily Show, enemy combatants, Geneva Conventions, Geroge, interrogation, January 27th, john yoo, law, memo, Presidential Power in the 21st Century, professor, San Francisco, san francsico, street, techniques, torture, UC, uc berkeley, Wednesday
Posted in law, protests | No Comments »
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Once again, our little town is getting some attention from the Roberts Court – an order just came down from the U.S. Supremes about their temporary ban on broadcasts of Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, San Francisco’s Proposition 8 / gay rights case.
It’s interesting to note that vaunted Vaughn R. Walker, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, was working on this very issue of cameras in the courtroom just few months back.
San Francisco City Hall Examiner Sweet Melissa Griffin makes a point as Judge Walker looks on, as seen last year:
The Future is Coming, of course, so we’ll have federal trials on YouTube sooner or later…
Filling up the void of information comes attorney Ted Olson. Get his punta de vista from this morning below.
UPDATE: And get the text of his opening statement after the jump.
Ted Olson to Make Opening Statement in Prop. 8 Trial/Avail Info
Trial on Unconstitutionality of Prop. 8 Begins in U.S. District Court; Plaintiffs To Testify First For latest information, visit equalrightsfoundation.org
The federal trial over the unconstitutionality of Proposition 8 will begin Monday, January 11 with an opening statement by attorney Theodore Olson, who with David Boies is leading the legal team assembled by the American Foundation for Equal Rights to litigate the case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Opening statements will be followed by testimony from Kris Perry, Sandy Stier, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, who comprise two couples who wish to be married but who were denied marriage licenses because of Proposition 8.
– For courthouse access information, visit:
https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cand/09cv2292/
– For information about remote viewing locations, visit:
http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org/news/watch-prop-8-trial-live/
– Visit http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org/ for updates regarding
potential broadcast of trial, photos, any available footage, court
filings, live tweets from the courthouse and more.
– Plaintiff’s case is outlined at
http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org/legal-filings/plaintiffs-trial-brief/
Olson and Boies notably represented George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore respectively in the 2000 Supreme Court case that decided the presidency.
At trial, Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, will weigh witness testimony, a multitude of documents and other evidence, and arguments presented by some of the nation’s most distinguished attorneys.
“This unequal treatment of gays and lesbians denies them the basic liberties and equal protection under the law that are guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the plaintiffs’ suit states.
According to the suit, Prop. 8:
– Violates the Due Process Clause by impinging on fundamental liberties.
– Violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
– Singles out gays and lesbians for a disfavored legal status, thereby
creating a category of “second-class citizens.”
– Discriminates on the basis of gender.
– Discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.
Olson and Boies will also point out the “crazy quilt” of separate, unequal and unconstitutional classifications of people that Prop. 8 has compelled the California government to create:
– Opposite-sex couples who have full marriage rights
– Same-sex couples who have no marriage rights
– Same-sex couples married between May and Nov. 2008 whose current
marriages are recognized, but who will be unable to remarry if widowed
or divorced
– Same-sex couples married in other states who may petition California
for recognition.
The defendants have the burden of demonstrating that Prop. 8 is narrowly drawn to serve a compelling government interest. Olson and Boies will demonstrate at trial, however, that the initiative fails to advance even a single legitimate interest. Tellingly, when asked by Chief Judge Walker at an Oct. 14 hearing to identify any harm to opposite-sex marriage that would result from marriage equality, the defendants’ attorney answered “I don’t know.”
The case against Prop. 8 has proceeded with uncommon speed toward trial. In an order issued after the first hearing in the case, Chief Judge Walker stated: “Given that serious questions are raised in these proceedings … the court is inclined to proceed directly and expeditiously to the merits of plaintiffs’ claims. … The just, speedy and inexpensive determination of these issues would appear to call for proceeding promptly to trial.”
“More than 30 years ago, the United States Supreme Court recognized that marriage is one of the basic rights of man,” the suit states, referring to the Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia.
Chad Griffin, board president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, noted that near the time when the Supreme Court struck down interracial marriage bans with its 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision, a Gallup poll found that 73 percent of Americans did not approve of interracial marriage.
While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown were named defendants in their official capacities, along with other state and county officials, Prop. 8 is being defended in court by a prominent conservative organization, the Alliance Defense Fund. Gov. Schwarzenegger earlier filed a brief that did not dispute the unconstitutionality of Prop. 8, and called for swift action by the courts. Attorney General Brown, the state’s chief law enforcement officer, filed a brief agreeing with the plaintiffs’ position that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional.
The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) are participating in the case as amici (friends of the court) in support of the plaintiffs. The City and County of San Francisco, led by City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, are supporting the plaintiffs’ team as co-counsel, with a specific focus on the negative impact Prop. 8 has on government services and budgets. Herrera and Stewart led the legal battle toward the California Supreme Court decision that struck down California’s previous same-sex marriage ban.
The American Foundation for Equal Rights Advisory Board, which was announced January 9th, includes Julian Bond, Lt. Dan Choi, Margaret Hoover, Dolores Huerta, Cleve Jones, Stuart Milk, David Mixner, Hillary Rosen and Judy Shepard. For more information, see http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org/press-releases/american-foundation-for-eq ual-rights-names-advisory-board/.
Olson is a former U.S. Solicitor General and is widely regarded as one of the nation’s preeminent constitutional lawyers, and has argued 55 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. Boies ranks as one of the leading trial lawyers of his generation, having secured landmark victories for clients in numerous areas of the law. This is the first time they have served alongside each other as co-counsel.
Kris Perry and Sandy Stier have been together for nine years and are the parents of four boys. Perry is Executive Director of First 5 California, a state agency that promotes education and health for children under five. She holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MSW from San Francisco State University. Stier is Information Technology Director for the Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services Agency. She is originally from Iowa and is a graduate of the University of Iowa. Perry and Stier first tried to marry in 2004, after the City of San Francisco began issuing licenses. They live in Berkeley, CA.
Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo have been together for eight years. Katami is a fitness expert and business owner who graduated from Santa Clara University before receiving his graduate degree from UCLA. Zarrillo is the General Manager of a theater exhibition company. A native of New Jersey, Zarrillo graduated from Montclair State University. Having wanted to marry each other for more than two years, they considered options including traveling to other states for a “civil union,” but felt any alternative fell short of marriage. They live in Burbank, CA.
They have issued the following joint statement: “We and our relationships should be treated equally under the law. Our goal is to advance the cause of equality for all Americans, which is the promise that makes this nation so great.”
Source: American Foundation for Equal Rights
Web Site: http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org/
(more…)
Tags: .elissa, 2009, 4, 450 Golden Gate, 8, Associate Professor, ave, blogger, Blogs, building, california, cameras. courtroom, chief, City Hall, civic center, Civil Liberties Director, conference, Content Provider, court, courts, davis, district, District Court, eff, eight, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Eric Goldman, Examiner, Executive Director, federal, First Amendment Coalition, Gay, griffin, Howard Mintz, James Bettinger, James R. Bettinger, Jennifer Granick, Jeremy Fogel, journalist, judges, Kelli Sager, Kelli L. Sager, Knight Fellowships, law school, lbgt, Legal Affairs, LGBT, Marilyn Huff, Marilyn L. Huff, marry, media, melissa griffin, New Media, news, Ninth Circuit, Northern District of California, November, perry, Peter Scheer, Phillip Burton, pico, PICO Committee, program, prop, Proposition, Public Information and Community Outreach Committee, reporter, reports, right, San Francisco, San Jose Mercury News, Santa Clara, scwarzenegger, Social Media, Stanford University, street, supremem, Susan Illston, Susan Y. Illston, sweet, sweet melissa, Sweet Melissa Griffin, Ted Olson, tenderloin, TheSweetMelissa.com, Tremaine, turk, twitter, U.S., university, Vaughn R. Walker, Vaughn Walker, Wright, Writer
Posted in law | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
California’s fifth or sixth-best law school will be getting a new leader as of July 1, 2010, when Howard University’s Frank H. Wu will become the dean at U.C. Hastings in San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin.
Frank’s no stranger to the bay area, having taught at Stanfoo and also having worked for Mofo (that’s the nickname for San Francisco’s historic white-shoe law firm Morrison and Foerster, srsly) representing tenants against landlords pro bono back in the 1990’s.
Meet Frank Wu:
Click to expand
Per SFGate:
“Wu, a Michigan native, has said he changed his career plans from architecture to law as a teenager in response to the racially motivated* murder of a young Chinese American man in Detroit in 1982.”
“First, he said the curriculum should be structured to ensure graduates have real-world legal skills when they leave, such as taking depositions, negotiating deals, and reading balance sheets.
Second, students should be prepared to work in a global economy that is driven by Pacific Rim nations. “The global economy is not the future. It’s here and now,” he said. “I see us recruiting students and placing them in Seoul and Saigon.”
Additionally, Wu said the school is too reliant on state funding and he intends to launch its first capital campaign.”
Bon courage, Frank Wu.
All the deets after the jump.
*How about partially racially-motivated instead? If you kill somebody with a baseball bat in San Francisco these days and then admit it to the cops, you’re going to do some hard time, no doubt. But back in the day if you and your stepson killed somebody with a baseball bat in Detroit, Michigan, well, you might have been able to walk with probation and a $30/week restitution plan. It all had to do with a runaway judge and some county prosecutors who made a plea bargain deal and then no-showed the sentencing hearing, and later on, some feds who got caught committing prosecutorial misconduct. Why do voters support mandatory minimum sentencing and three-strikes type laws in the aughts? Because of cases like that of Vincent Chin in the 1980’s. Just saying.
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Tags: 198, 200, American, asian, book, chancellor, chinese, civic center, dean, district, Frank H. Wu, Frank Wu, hastings, hyde, mcallister, pacific rim, Race in America Beyond Black and White, students, tenderloin, UC, uc hastings, university of california, vincent chin, yellow
Posted in law | No Comments »
Monday, December 21st, 2009
San Francisco’s recent audit of office materials supplier Office Depot has prompted City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera to take action today. See the deets below and the .pdf after the jump.
And follow all the action on the Twitter.
San Francisco’s Happy Warrior certainly is unhappy with the Office Depot today.
Herrera Issues Demand Letter to Office Depot in Wake of S.F. Controller’s Audit
City Attorney prepared to ‘vigorously pursue’ $5.75 million in overcharges plus interest, costs and attorney’s fees
City Attorney Dennis Herrera has issued a demand letter to Office Depot expressing his intention to “vigorously pursue” at least $5.75 million in overcharges together with interest, attorney’s fees, and costs incurred by the City in conducting the audit. The demand letter follows the release of an exhaustive audit report by the Office of City Controller Ben Rosenfield. The Controller’s 96-page audit concluded that, among other overcharges, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based office products supplier failed to provide the City with contractually mandated discounts for items covered by the 5-year contract, which was valued at some $18 million.
Wrote Herrera: “Any resolution of this matter must include compensation to the City for the costs of the audit, and for attorney’s fees, as well as full reimbursement for price overcharges, with interest…If the City is unable to obtain a satisfactory informal resolution of this matter, I will not hesitate to pursue the matter in court. Further, if court action becomes necessary, rest assured that my office will vigorously pursue the City’s claims to the fullest, including seeking civil penalties and debarment, if appropriate.”
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