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There’s a thin line between creative marketing (which is good) and illegal marketing (which is obviously bad). Just ask national pizza chain Papa John’s, which is fending off a $250 million lawsuit brought by a class of plaintiffs. In the Papa John’s spam case, some franchise owners used a third-party text-messaging service called OnTime4U to send out promotions, reports CNN Money. OnTime4U is also being sued. But customers who received the text messages say they never signed up for them – they just called to order pizza....

Product liability claims can extend well beyond the manufacturer of a product. The parties that can be held liable for injuries caused by defective products or failures to warn include the: Manufacturer Manufacturer of a component, or single piece of the product Assembler, or installer Wholesaler Retail store that sold the product What Did the Other Teen Do, Allegedly? The teen that is being sued for negligence is alleged to have encouraged the two other teens to play with the sword so that she could film it for social media....

A Labor Department report released this week accuses a federal OSHA program of failing to improve employee safety in particularly dangerous industries, and neglecting to properly monitor workplaces with histories of safety problems, including fatalities. The report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General spotlights employees’ rights to a workplace that is reasonably free of safety and health hazards, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) responsibility to ensure the safety and health of America’s workers, by setting and enforcing workplace safety standards....

A new recycling law in San Francisco will affect the way the City’s residents take out the trash. Literally. The ordinance requires residents, businesses, restaurants, and apartment complexes to separate food waste from trash. The food waste must then be composted. San Francisco already composts more than 500 tons per day, keeping 72% of its garbage out of landfills through recycling of cans, bottles, construction material, and cooking oil. The new law would be a step in reaching San Francisco’s aggressive recycling goal of having no garbage diverted to landfills within the next decade....

Have you ever gotten a shady phone call from someone claiming to be a government agent? Individuals get these calls all the time, with fraudsters claiming they are calling on behalf of tax or other authorities. But businesses too are targets for scammers, and ABC News reports on the latest trick aimed to deprive your business of its hard-earned money. Consider this a warning about workplace warning posters. The scam has to do with labor and safety regulation posters....

Time is supposed to heal all wounds. But that’s not the case for Eric Giray, who claims he was beaten by a school bully eight years ago – and has just filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against the school and the alleged bully. Giray, now 19 and a sophomore at Brandeis University, alleges a fellow student bullied him for years while they attended the Calhoun School, a prestigious institution on Manhattan’s Upper West Side....

Trademarks allow businesses to communicate to customers where goods and services originate. Your business spent time, sweat and money to make what you sell. Connecting the product to your company in the consumer’s mind is vital to attracting and keeping business. Here are 6 common misconceptions and mistakes businesses make regarding trademarks. Failing to properly search existing trademarks. Simply looking at what is already registered is not enough. Neither is disregarding owners whose registrations have been “cancelled” or “abandoned....

Tyler Madoff was pulled out to sea back in July while he was on a hiking tour in Hawaii. Now his parents have filed a lawsuit against the tour company for wrongful death. Madoff’s disappearance made headlines after he was pulled out to sea by a tidal wave. He was participating in a hiking and kayaking trip with Bold Earth Adventures and Hawaii Pack and Paddle. He hasn’t been seen since he was swept out to sea....

Thinking about getting an uncontested divorce? You’ll want to know some basics first. Many couples who are ready to end their marriage will pursue an uncontested divorce, thinking it’s a shortcut to living happily apart for ever after. But it may not be quite as simple as you think to get a “quickie” divorce. Before you and your soon-to-be ex start down this path, here are five things you’ll want to consider about an uncontested divorce:...

Earlier this month, the ACLU and National Immigration Law Center filed suit in federal court, arguing that a new Utah immigration law was unconstitutional, inviting racial profiling and violating the Supremacy Clause. Late last week, federal Judge Clark Waddoups stepped in, granting the plaintiffs a temporary restraining order, effectively preventing the controversial law from being enforced until the court says otherwise. Amongst other things, the Utah immigration law made it mandatory for law enforcement to verify citizenship of those arrested for felonies and serious misdemeanors....

If there was ever a group of laws that made it difficult for those in the hospitality industry, it surely wouldn’t surpass the hardships imposed by Utah liquor laws. Though they were slightly relaxed in 2009, they still prove to be a confusing mixture of time restrictions, licensing levels, and state owned liquor stores. And don’t forget about the new ban on happy hour and drink specials. In fact, Utah’s happy hour ban has renewed nationwide interest in the state’s liquor laws, which are considered to be the strictest in the country....

Will Washington legalize marijuana? Supporters sure hope so. A group called New Approach Washington has turned in more than 340,000 signatures to the state legislature in support of Initiative 502. Initiative 502 will legalize marijuana and create an infrastructure of state-licensed growers, processors and stores. The initiative would also impose a 25% excise tax. After the initiative is sent to the Washington State Legislature, representatives must take action during the 60-day legislative session....

So, you have a court date. Much like the other kind of date, “what should I wear?” is not an altogether silly question. Believe it or not, judges have had to send people home for inappropriate attire, including daisy dukes, flip flops, and do-rags. Whether you are protesting a traffic ticket, your alimony settlement, or are on trial for robbing a bank, considering what to wear to court may help you get the system on your side....

When a loved one is killed by the intentional or negligent actions of another, a criminal conviction may bring justice. However, sending the defendant to jail won’t cover the loss of a family member’s care and support. To receive civil compensation, victims’ surviving family members can file wrongful death lawsuits. Normally, the person who is injured would sue for damages. However, in a wrongful death lawsuit, the victim obviously isn’t in a position to bring a lawsuit....

Following the revelations that multiple Uber policies failed to track employee access to customer data – including its so-called “God view” that let employees spy on the rideshare app’s users in real time – the company has agreed to implement a comprehensive privacy program in order to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. The policy must be in place for the next 20 years, and includes regular, independent privacy audits. The FTC had been investigating Uber’s response to the “God view” program (which FTC attorneys claim was only enforced for about eight months) and a massive data breach in May 2014 wherein over 100,000 names and license numbers of Uber drivers were stolen....

Americans really hate airline fees, a new FindLaw.com survey reveals. And who can blame them? Airlines are increasingly charging fees for services that were once included in the typical flight experience. Nowadays, some airlines are charging for carry-on bags, and even for window and aisle seats. So just how many Americans hate these add-on airline fees, and is there anything consumers can do about them? LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS AS AN AIR TRAVELER...

A fourth-story balcony of a Berkeley, Calif. apartment complex collapsed late last night, killing six young people and critically injuring seven others. The victims, many of whom were from Ireland and working and studying in the country, were celebrating a birthday when the apartment deck collapsed. Local police, fire officials, and building inspectors are investigating the accident, and a criminal investigation is unlikely at this time. Latin for Possible Lawsuit With so little information about the cause of the collapse, it is tempting to for lawyers to go to a legal doctrine known as res ipsa loquitur, which is Latin for “the thing speaks for itself....

Can you sue over a pet injury? You probably know that there are laws about what happens when your pet attacks or injures someone else. But what if your precious pug or favorite feline gets injured because of another animal’s (or human’s) actions? Suing over injuries to one’s pet raises some interesting legal issues. Here are a few you may want to consider: Legally, animals are generally considered property. This is how pets are usually dealt with in legal disputes like deciding pet custody in a divorce battle....

Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest cruise ship company is adding an all you can drink package to some of its ships. Several of Carnival’s competitors have already offered a similar drink package, and Carnival will try out the package on select ships before deciding whether to adopt it on all, reports USA TODAY. For almost $50 a day, the all you can drink package will allow vacationers access to unlimited wine, beer and spirits as well as sodas and non-alcoholic frozen cocktails....

Getting on the scale after the Thanksgiving holiday is never fun. But with Christmas coming up and Resolution Season just around the corner, perhaps you’ve already got a plan for getting back in shape. As opposed to the post-holiday weigh-in, a fitness plan that includes a fancy new health tracker or health tracking app can be fun - you can see, and share, your workouts and progress. As with any sharable or social tech, however, you may want to be careful about how much information you put out there....