Legal

It's a good question, really... Over at Popehat, Patrick has this to say about Joel Rosenberg's defense fund: Note that this is not tax-deductible. The government does not encourage its subjects to stand up for the blameless. Well, why the hell not? As far as I can tell, the tax rule for legal expenses is that the expenses are tax deductible only if they are business or income … [Read more...] about Can’t Deduct Defense?

Scott Greenfield is more familiar than I with the history of Joel Rosenberg's recent conflicts with the Minneapolis police department, leading up to Joel's arrest, and in his latest post Scott offers this important bit of background: For a fellow who sincerely believes in principles, there comes a point, a threshold if you will, where he decides to take a stand.  … [Read more...] about Smell the Retaliation

I need to beg my legal readers for some information. I've been arguing with some guy in another blog's comments that if the airport passenger checkpoints were operated by private security firms instead of a government agency, we'd have a better chance of suing the screeners when they do something wrong. My argument is based on the fact that the TSA's employees benefit from … [Read more...] about Infobleg – Suing Government Contractors?

It's still October, but it's not too early to get into a Thanksgiving atmosphere. Jimmy John's is suing Halsted Street Deli (a local sandwich shop here in Chicago) over the names of two sandwiches. Jimmy John's uses the sandwich names "Turkey Tom" and "Hunter's Club" while Halsted Street Deli uses "Tom Turkey" and "Hunt Club".I don't know. I understand that trademarks … [Read more...] about Turkey Tom Lawsuit

Deep inside the cynical exterior of a Miami criminal defense lawyer...beats the heart of a true believer. Brian Tannebaum wins his case, and shows us that sometimes not even the federal government can send a man to prison for doing nothing wrong. This was not about an acquittal, a framed verdict form on an office wall, or an "attaboy" from my colleagues. This was about how the … [Read more...] about Not Even Close