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A three-year-old girl was thrown from a carnival ride last week at RodeoHouston, a yearly event near the Texas city. The child was riding the spinning contraption when she slipped under the safety belt and bar, eventually falling to the ground. Questions remain about the incident as representatives of both the rodeo and the family tell conflicting stories. RodeoHouston says the girl crawled under the safety mechanisms, while a family attorney claims she wasn’t properly belted in....

This week there is bad news and some more bad news in the housing market. The first bad news: new-home sales plunged last month by 33 percent to the lowest level on record, thanks to the ending of the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Which brings us to the second bit of bad news. In a report out June 23, the IRS says almost 10 percent of claims for the first time homebuyer tax credit were denied due to erroneous or fraudulent filings....

You didn’t come up with that fantastic business plan just to have someone else do it first. And you didn’t invent that device so that someone else could sell it without paying you. The business world can be a cut-throat industry, so how do you make sure someone else doesn’t steal your best business ideas? You turn to intellectual property laws. Here are three IP laws and how to use them to protect your business:...

Many states have been waiting for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Arizona immigration law for direction on what they should do with their own laws. And with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, these states now have an answer – immigration law is a federal issue, not something for the states to legislate or penalize. So Congress now needs to step up on immigration reform. Otherwise it’s the status quo for frustrated states, reports CNN....

Although a subpar meal isn’t likely to be sufficient grounds for a lawsuit, there are some circumstances in which a customer may consider pursuing legal action against a restaurant. At a TGI Fridays in New York, a holiday promotion featuring drone helicopters adorned with mistletoe hovering over patrons provides an example of such a circumstance. A photographer was injured when she was struck by a drone’s rotor blade in the nose, suffering a cut, reports Brooklyn Daily....

By now you are surely informed that Michael Jackson, in his infinite wisdom, disinherited father Joe Jackson in his will as noted in the Findlaw’s Celebrity Justice blog. You may think you know why this was the case, but what about how wills work, and what might be next? Most states require some basic circumstances to exist for a will to be held valid. Generally a will must be a written document, made by a “testator” of appropriate age (usually 18), of sound mind, unaffected by fraud or undue influence, and appropriately witnessed by two adults (three in Vermont, go figure)....

Louis Vuitton has no tolerance for counterfeiters, and neither does the U.S. International Trade Commission. The regulatory body has ruled in favor of the luxury brand in a counterfeit bag lawsuit brought against Jianyong Zheng and Alice Bei Wang and others. Zheng and Bei, who own multiple businesses in China, California and Texas, are accused of manufacturing and importing fake Louis Vuitton handbags adorned with the label’s signature Toile Monogram design....

Lululemon executives can breathe a sigh of relief now that a federal judge intends to dismiss a lawsuit brought by investors over quality-control issues with its yoga pants. Some of the investors’ legal claims against Lululemon included failing to disclose that its black Luon yoga pants were “too sheer” and “falsely touting its quality control,” Reuters reports. So what can small businesses learn from the Lululemon lawsuit? The investors claimed that Lululemon misrepresented the quality of its product and covered up an inability to address shortfalls, according to Reuters....

If one were to pay attention to such things, they would know that drinking Coca-Cola (or any high-fructose corn syrup soda for that matter) is not good for you, even under the best of circumstances. And we’re not sure if you’ve heard, but McDonald’s doesn’t have the greatest rep when it comes to its coffee. But when the Diet Coke is laced with an opioid, and the latte is more cleaning solution than steamed milk, things get even worse....

Multiple New York eateries have drawn criticism for changing their names to “Obama Fried Chicken.” Aside from questions about what such a name can be read to imply, this move begs the question: can the President’s name be used on businesses or products? As the New York Daily News reports, fast food joints in Manhattan and Brooklyn have taken the name Obama Fried Chicken. One used to go by S&T Fried Chicken, and the other Royal Fried Chicken....

Just in time for New Year’s Eve! Great Lakes Bar Control, a Toledo, Ohio beer tap cleaner, won a major victory in avoiding corporate sales taxes. The ruling will surely be applied to similar companies in the jurisdiction, and that is the plan, according to plaintiff’s attorney, who also represents others fighting this tax. That law firm should buy a round of drinks on the house at its next partner outing, at the very least for good mojo....

Budgetary cuts have hit state and local governments hard. One recent victim of the cuts is county-funded court reporters. Around 2012, many counties in California, including San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange, stopped providing court reporters in superior court, which is the court that initially hears civil suits. Litigants could still hire one, but at the cost of approximately $750 per day. Poor litigants, especially poor plaintiffs, couldn’t afford one. This saved counties approximately $4 million per year, which was a substantial savings for the court system, but merely shifted the burden to litigants....

We like to imagine that the issue of human trafficking is far from our own backyards, tucked away in some seedy alley or distant foreign country. But the truth is, it may be happening much closer to home. Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day – a reminder that the scourge of human trafficking is far-reaching, spanning cities, rural areas, and even suburbs from coast to coast. It’s also known to coincide with popular sporting events like the Super Bowl....

Drivers are often responsible for car accidents. But what about the people who sold them the cars? Car dealerships could be on the hook for car accident injuries if they occur during a test drive, if they are due to a car malfunction, or a variety of other reasons. Here are some common questions, and answers, regarding car dealership lawsuits: Who’s Liable for a Car Accident During a Test Drive? In most cases, the dealership will have an insurance policy that covers accidents during test drives without worrying about who is at fault....

The hot food lawsuit, will it ever go away? As a result of this type of regularly re-occurring litigation, the nation is sharply divided: do people just need use their heads about handling hot food, or on the other side of this fried divide, do restaurants really need to serve food at a temperature that would cause third degree burns? The issue has even made it into country music lyrics:...

Your small business should care about its cybersecurity as much as Fortune 500 companies do. And just in case you’re wondering, your business can always do more to beef up its Internet security profile. Not only can focusing on cybersecurity save employers money and boost goodwill, it can help prevent businesses from being sued after a cyberattack. 1. Be a Password Prince. Being a password prince requires you to hold dominion over all passwords that allow access to your business’ network....

Guest post by Jennifer K. Halford, Esq. The number of questions I have received from business owners about employee dress codes has increased since Disney’s recent change to its grooming policy. How employees are dressed and groomed can have a direct financial affect upon a business. A customer may judge a business based upon one employee interaction. Thus, you want your employees to look their best. Yet, employers with dress codes have been sued for discrimination....

Transgender state workers will now get equal workplace rights. Transgender New York employees will be protected from discrimination in the workplace under New York law. It is the first step toward including gender identity and expression protections in state law. This comes on the heels of New York lawmakers rejecting a bill that would have made their state the sixth to allow gay marriage, and a similar decision by Maine voters last month....

State Sen. Hiram Monserrate Hiram Monserrate may be headed back to court after he was convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge for dragging his girlfriend through his apartment lobby. But this time lawmaker plans on going back to court to fight his expulsion from the Senate. He is filing a suit in federal court to block a special election March 16 to replace him. According to the Associated Press, the New York Senate voted 53-8 voted to oust Monserrate....

Children grow up so fast don’t they? As a parent, you’ve made all the important decisions for your autistic child. You signed the permission slips. You’ve seen all the doctors. You managed his money and his schooling very carefully. What should you do when your autistic child turns 18? Conservatorship If you think your child will not be able to make personal, legal, or financial decision on his own, you may want to consider filing for conservatorship....