Daily Archives: March 14, 2013 - 5 results

Wrapping up the third week of testimony in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill trial, marine engineering expert Edward Geoffrey Webster testified that the rig was out of compliance with international and federal safety codes. Webster’s testimony focused on Transocean, the company that owned Deepwater Horizon and trained its crew. He specified that Transocean violated safety codes by disabling the rig’s safety and alarm systems, neglecting basic maintenance of the blowout preventer and failing to train its crew for worst-case scenarios. …

  All news radio WTOP (103.5 FM and 107.7 FM) in Washington, D.C. interviewed Lawyers.com Editor-in-Chief Larry Bodine on Internet viral sensation the “Harlem Shake.” Read the WTOP article below. You can also listen to the radio interview in the accompanying audio podcast. ‘Harlem Shake’ artists unlikely to win copyright suit, lawyer says by Neal Augenstein, wtop.com WASHINGTON – Two recording artists whose music was sampled in the viral Internet hit “Harlem Shake” would likely not win if they took …

Former football star Deion Sanders on Tuesday was granted full custody of his sons, ages 11 and 13, as part of a bitter divorce from his wife, Pilar. The estranged couple was given joint custody of their 9-year-old daughter. Sanders, 45, was one of the top defensive backs of all time in the National Football League, and also sustained a 9-year Major League Baseball career during the off-season. His time in the majors included stints with the New York Yankees, …

  Illinois is the only state with a total ban on allowing gun owners to carry their weapons in public. But a federal court recently threw out this law as going too far, and violating the Second Amendment. Now, the Illinois legislature has a looming deadline to pass a concealed carry weapon statute that’s less restrictive. With the strong emotional differences in the fight over guns, state lawmaking has become a house divided. Lawyers.com supervising producer John McCarthy’s presents the …

Debtors going through bankruptcy can boost their chances of a successful outcome with one simple step, according to a new study: apologize. Judges are more likely to look favorably on a repayment plan and accept discretionary spending budgets if the person filing for bankruptcy says they’re sorry, University of Illinois law professors Jennifer K. Robbennolt and Robert M. Lawless found in their research. Apologies have been shown to improve outcomes in criminal and civil disputes, but there had been little …