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Thinking about advertising your new product via a fake news site like in the acai berry scheme? If you do, you may run afoul of the FTC. The FTC has recently started to crack down on acai berry schemes. The fake news sites look to be from legitimate news sources like NBC, CNN, Fox or USA Today, but are actually not affiliated with the outlets at all. The ads in question look to be real news stories, but are actually simply clever advertisements disguised as news stories designed to catch customers....

When police departments low on officers are turning to green-card holders to fill their ranks, you know many small businesses are doing the same. But when the White House is cracking down on hiring undocumented workers, you also know you need to be careful. In some states, employers who hire undocumented workers could lose their business licenses, so there is even more of a burden to stay on the right side of employment laws....

Whether you’re bringing on a new hire or renegotiating a current employee’s contract, you need to stay on the legal level in negotiations. As Forbes reports, many employers are getting pretty brazen with how they (mis)treat potential employees in salary negotiations or interviews. But you don’t want to begin your employee-employer relationship to begin on tenuous or legally shaky ground. To make sure your business is on the right side of negotiations, check out these five legal tips for negotiating employee contracts:...

Anna Nicole Smith’s former long time boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, along with two of her doctors, will stand trial later this year for illegally supplying the deceased star with drugs. The Playboy model died of an overdose from a cocktail of prescription drugs in 2007. Smith died in a hotel room in Florida shortly after the birth of her daughter Dannielynn and the death of her adult son Daniel also from a drug overdose....

If you’ve been making anti-American jokes on Twitter, it’s time to stop. The Department of Homeland Security may be after you. British tourists Leigh Van Bryan, 26, and Emily Bunting, 24, were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport last week after going through customs. Agents arrested the pair and interrogated them for 12 hours. They were then deported over Twitter jokes. Those jokes were made by Bryan, who tweeted at a friend, “Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?...

The California State Assembly has approved a bill allowing persons convicted of drug felonies to receive federal food stamps. The legislation was approved by the State Assembly in a 42-23 vote and was sent to the Senate. The bill allows California to opt out of a law that under federally funded programs, people convicted of drug felonies are banned from receiving aid after they leave prison, the Associated Press reports....

A California bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients got a large show of support last week – or at least a large removal of opposition. The California Medical Association (CMA) dropped its long-standing opposition to allowing doctors to help patients end their lives. Instead, the CMA will take a neutral stance on SB 128, or the End of Life Option Act, but removing their opposition may make it easier for the bill to become law....

Fashion brand Cole Haan landed in some hot water for a Pinterest contest when it received a letter from the FTC alleging violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC interpreted the pins as endorsements for the company’s “Wandering Sole” contest and dinged Cole Haan for not clearly communicating that there was a financial incentive to win a shopping spree. So what can small business owners learn from Cole Haan’s FTC warning letter?...

This is definitely not news to smile about. A dental company has recently settled claims over fraud in Medicaid billing with the United States Department of Justice. The press release by the DOJ has announced that FORBA Holdings LLC (which operates 69 clinics nationwide known as “Small Smiles Centers”) will pay $24 million dollars, plus interest in order to settle claims of fraud in Medicaid billing for dental services allegedly provided to “low-income children that were either medically unnecessary or performed in a manner that failed to meet professionally-recognized standards of care....

There were 2.2 million American in jail or in prison in 2013. That’s a lot of people. It’s not surprising that the effects of incarceration would be felt by the children of the parents locked up behind bars. According to a 2010 Pew study, 2.7 million children had at least one incarcerated parent. These children often suffer adverse health and educational effects of having a parent in jail. Price Tag on Prison Poverty is the most prevalent effect of having an incarcerated parent....

On September 26, 2014, Noah Smith frantically called his father. He told him he had taken some pills, and that “his heart was racing, that he could not think straight, and that he was desperately afraid something was very wrong with him.” Noah then collapsed, and died of cardiac arrhythmia. The pills he took were Stay Awake tablets, caffeine pills sold over the counter at gas stations nationwide. Now Noah’s family is suing A&Z Pharmaceutical Inc....

Reproductive technology has come a long, long way, and it does not seem to be slowing down. Unfortunately, the law has been unable to keep up the same pace, which has led to quite a bit of legal uncertainty surrounding embryo ownership and use. If you are considering freezing your embryos, consider the following three legal issues before getting started. Sure, you can, and probably should, sign a contract with your partner-in-embryo-creation about how, when, and if, the embryos can be used....

Tech geeks are asking questions about the first ever Google car crash over the weekend, which occurred when the company’s self-driving car rear-ended another vehicle near Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters. Built on a set of lasers and imaging systems, since the Google self-driving car has hit the streets (it’s logged 160,000 miles), one of the largest questions has been about responsibility. Much like with this incident, everyone wants to know who, ultimately, is responsible for a self-driving car crash?...

We recently covered the rise of sites like Yelp reviewing businesses. We specifically looked at how to avoid being defamed by customers. The post offered pieces of advice for business owners concerned about defamatory reviews. One piece of advice: if a customer complains, you should confirm, confess and correct; and go the extra mile for a trying customer, but not the extra hundred miles. But what to do about customers who leave comments that clearly cross the line into untrue, spiteful and legally actionable claims?...

If you’ve been injured at school, your first thought may be physical recovery. But your second or even third thought should be about your legal options. You may be able to sue the person who caused your injury, along with school staff and maybe even the school district for the injuries you’ve incurred, but you’ll probably need a bit of legal guidance. Here’s a basic legal primer on being injured at school and a few factors that may affect your potential legal claims:...

Technology makes it increasingly easy for a husband or wife to snoop around their loved one’s digital accounts. But, tracking your spouse’s digital and physical movements may be crossing a line. Reading a spouse’s e-mail may seem innocent enough, but it can land you in some trouble. In fact, one Michigan man faced a harsh price for some digital spying: felony charges. He found out that his wife was cheating on him by reading some of her e-mails....

Football would be a different game if they allowed 12 players on defense instead of 11. That doesn’t mean it was wise of Sal Alosi, New York Jets’ coach, to intentionally trip a player on the opposing team. The NFL is reviewing the matter. The NFL isn’t alone is reviewing the tape as millions of people have been searching for the “Jets coach trips player” video. Alosi, the Jets’ strength and conditioning coach, tripped Miami cornerback Nolan Carroll as he ran out of bounds while covering a punt....

Query: What is legalese? If you answered “the language used by lawyers, judges, bloggers, and others who work in the in the legal profession,” you’ve likely been following along with our weekly series Legalese From A to Z. Each week, we’re taking a quick look at quality bits of legalese such as query (definition: a formally phrased question). In this week’s Legalese from A to Z, we take on five legal terms that begin with the letter “Q”:...

An innocent, unarmed man who was shot 16 times by officers in Washington state is seeking $20 million for his injuries, from which he’ll likely never fully recover. Dustin Theoharis, 30, was lying in bed in his basement apartment when two officers – a King County sheriff’s deputy and a state Department of Corrections officer – stormed in while pursuing a suspect. In a moment of confusion, they opened fire and shot Theoharis 16 times....

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed suit against the Anoka-Hennepin School District in a Minnesota federal court this week, arguing that the school’s anti-gay policy and its alleged failure to punish anti-LGBT bullying violates the law. This isn’t the first time the district has been accused of such activity, with the Departments of Justice and Education recently opening up an investigation into similar allegations as a result of a group of gay student suicides in the last two years....