Greyhound, Other Driver Sued Over Accident

A terrible accident occurred last week on Highway 99 in Fresno.  For some reason, a suit has already been filed against Greyhound and another driver involved in the accident which also killed three women (girls) and the Greyhound bus driver.

McDonough Holland Closure Affects Valley Cities

In mid-June, the story broke that Sacramento staple McDonough Holland & Allen was planning to close near labor day.

McDonough had a large base of municipal work.  Unfortunately, Valley cities such as Paso Robles and Davis (and no doubt many others) have been left scrambling to choose a course of action.

Some view McDonough's timing as a positive - in Atherton (a non-Valley city), some council leaders view this an an opportune time to test the legal market for new services.  There is obviously logic to this line of thinking.  The economy has certainly affected attorneys; there are many "starving" lawyers jockeying for more clients.  Not to mention, due to the state budget, local agencies are under immense budget constraints.

I suspect that as time goes on, municipalities will take a closer look at the attorney services and pricing they are receiving.  But they should also remember the old saying, "You get what you pay for."

New Exceptions to the DMCA

Just the letters "DMCA" strike fear into the hearts of many.  No, its not a weapon of mass destruction, but rather the dreaded Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Back in 1998, personal computers and the internet were emerging as a viable source of communication for the everyday person.  DVD's were slowly but surely coming into the marketplace.  CDs had already been available for a decade, but more media was moving away from analog and into digital formats.

As with any new technology, Congress had to protect us - from ourselves.  So Congress felt compelled make it a crime to circumvent copy protection on digital formats, with few exceptions.

What did that mean to you and me? Well back in 1998, not a lot. There were no iPods, portable DVD players, smartphones, Youtube, etc.  But today, if you would like to take a DVD you just purchased at retail and rip it to your iPod, unless it came with a digital copy, you have to break the encryption on the DVD, and consequently, you have to break the law that is the DMCA.

The DMCA is ridiculously vague in my opinion, and I am glad to see that the Copyright Office carved out several more exceptions to the DMCA today.  Specifically, I was glad to see the exception which allows a person to circumvent copy protection on cellphones - also known as jailbreaking.

See the official listing in the Federal Register.

1st Filipina-American Nominated for Chief Justice Cal. Supreme

This will affect all Californians, no matter where in the state you reside. It's great to see diversity in the courts, especially the highest court in California.

1st Filipina-American nominated for chief justice - San Jose Mercury News

CASE Files Complaint with PERB

Another union has filed an unfair practice charge against the Governor. This time, the union for attorneys, administrative law judges (ALJs), and hearing officers filed on behalf of their 3,800 members, alleging a violation of the Dills Act.  Click here to read the complaint.

State lawyers union sues to maintain full wages - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee: "California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment"

Public Employee Relations Board Abbreviations

Tim Yeung, who maintains the California PERB Blog, has posted a collection of the abbreviations found in PERB decisions.

Tim's blog is an excellent source of information on PERB.