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Elizabeth Banks’ “Walk of Shame” is getting her sued. An indie producer is fighting Banks in court, accusing her of stealing the recently released comedy from him. “Walk of Shame” is hardly a smash hit, but did Banks steal the movie idea? From Screenplay Pitch to Big Screen Claiming someone stole your movie idea is hardly novel, but Dan Rosen seems to think Banks turned his 2007 screenplay pitch into her recent “Walk of Shame,” reports The Hollywood Reporter....

There are a lot of ‘first times’ to look forward to in life, but catching your first misdemeanor charge is not one of them. Being charged with a misdemeanor offense is not something to take lightly. You can go to jail, face serious fines, and endure severe life disruptions that can have an effect on your family, career, friendships, and other obligations. At the outset, there are a few things you should know....

A federal appellate court has upheld Florida’s controversial “Docs v. Glocks” law, barring doctors from asking patients about gun ownership. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a prior decision by a Florida federal district court, declaring the law to be a “legitimate regulation” of doctors’ professional conduct in the state, reports Reuters. Critics worry that this law chills physicians’ free speech rights with regard to firearms, placing their licenses on the line if they broach the subject of guns....

The Federal Trade Commission is accusing T-Mobile of placing bogus charges on its users’ bills, adding up to hundreds of millions of dollars. In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court, the FTC claims T-Mobile allowed its customers to be victimized by third-party billing schemes known as “cramming.” According to the FTC’s complaint, T-Mobile retained up to 40% of the amount charged to customers by these third-party companies. What is ‘Cramming’?...

A “supervisor” in a Republican Party financed operation to register voters in Virginia has been arrested for voter fraud after allegedly throwing out voter registration forms into the dumpster. A local small business owner reportedly saw the suspect, 31-year-old Colin Small, tossing a bag into the trash at the shopping center where the local GOP headquarters is located, reports NBC. The bag was later found to contain eight voter registration forms....

A man tweeted a photo of a boy he killed this weekend, leading police to him. Trevius Williams,16, was picking up bread for his mom at the corner store when he was fatally struck by a car in Jacksonville, Florida, reportedly driven by Keenan Mikel Slaughter, 19. Photos of the bleeding corpse, posted by the driver, went viral and led police to the perpetrator. The graphic images infuriated Williams’ mother, Connie Cole....

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is the current head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and front-runner for the French presidency. He is also accused of attempting to rape a hotel maid. Strauss-Kahn was pulled off an Air France flight on Saturday and booked into a New York jail. And on Monday, his situation got worse when a judge in Manhattan Criminal Court denied him bail, forcing him to remain behind bars. Here’s why....

Why wait until you’re 15 to understand what it’s like to hitchhike from coast to coast? You don’t need to be in middle school to feel the yearning and aspirations of 1940s New York City cafe society, right? Surely a tale about two fishermen of varying ages wouldn’t be lost on a nine-year-old. All are semi-compelling arguments for translating canonical books for a younger audience. Unfortunately for the publishers of those kid-friendly classics, none of those is a legal defense to copyright infringement....

The results of a recent study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health is creating high hopes for states with medical, and recreational, marijuana laws. The results explain that states with medical marijuana laws report fewer traffic fatalities than states without them. There is an across the board average reduction of 11 percent fewer traffic fatalities. While the study could not reach this conclusion, a senior author on the study suggests that the lower fatality rate could be associated with the substitution of marijuana for alcohol among younger drivers....

Meningitis is a relatively uncommon infection but a recent outbreak of a fungal variety of the disease has health officials worried. The infections are linked to steroids that are given for back pain and administered through a spinal injection. So far four people have died from the infection and more than 30 have been infected. Cases have been reported in five different states but more people could be affected. The steroid was apparently contaminated with a fungus and batches of the drug have been shipped to 23 states, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....

Heiress Paris Hilton may have legal troubles that transcend U.S. borders, but the reality star does know how to do one legal thing right: trademark her catch phrase “that’s hot”. The Paris Hilton Hallmark settlement was announced late last week, drawing to a close the case which pitted Paris against the feel-good cardmaker for damages over $500,000. E! Online reports on the settlement: “Hallmark had contended the card was a parody protected under the First Amendment and fair-use laws, but that argument was shot down by a federal court of appeals, paving the way for a December trial....

For Pfizer, Prempro has been a significant source of problems. In 2009, when the company bought Wyeth, the original manufacturer of the menopause drug, it inherited a host of lawsuits. Prior to 2002, more than 6 million women took Prempro to help manage symptoms of menopause, reports Bloomberg. That year, a study was released, linking the drug to breast cancer, heart attack and stroke. More than 10,000 claims have been filed against Wyeth, now Pfizer....

The California Supreme Court announced this week that on March 5th it will hear oral arguments in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8. The state ballot measure effectively banned same-sex marriage in the state after it was approved by California voters in November 2008. California’s highest court will hold a three-hour hearing on March 5, 2009 (9:00 a.m. to noon) at its courthouse in San Francisco. The court has also announced that, in light of the high level of public interest in the Prop 8 cases, it has designated the public affairs cable network The California Channel to provide a live television broadcast of the March 5 oral arguments....

Rising college tuition costs mean that higher education is getting further out of financial reach for many Americans, and the popularity of student loans has skyrocketed in recent years, according to data released Wednesday by a national public policy center. In recent years, steep rises in the cost of a college education have well outpaced increases in salaries and family incomes, especially for middle-income and low-income families, according to Measuring Up 2008: The National Report Card on Higher Education, from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education....

The New York Police Department settled another lawsuit involving widespread surveillance of Muslim communities in New York, New Jersey, and beyond. The spying program, which spanned a decade and targeted hundreds of individuals, businesses, and mosques, failed to produce a single, actionable lead in a criminal investigation. It did, however, consist of several constitutional violations, which the NYPD has promised to correct under the settlement, as well as compensate victims monetarily....

Even though it’s never appropriate to drive under the influence, it’s important to understand your legal rights so that you can make informed decisions. With DUI checkpoints popular nationwide, you may be subject to police scrutiny after a few drinks. At some point, you may even have to decide whether to comply with a breathalyzer request or a field sobriety test. If this is ever the case, this is what you need to know....

The United States Supreme Court refused a request to hear arguments regarding whether or not a consumer can bring a case for false advertising about flushable wipes. The plaintiff had prevailed at the appellate level, and now defendant Kimberly Clark Corporation’s hopes are down the drain. Jennifer Davidson, a consumer, brought a class-action lawsuit in a California district court for false advertising of Scott Naturals Flushable Moist Wipes, claiming its ads violated California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law....

Undercover sex stings are common ways for law enforcement to make arrests for solicitation, prostitution, and other sex crimes. But as some “innocent” victims of undercover sting operations can attest, there are limits to how much an undercover officer can push his or her suspect. Here are a few guidelines that separate legal sex stings from illegal police activity: In many cases, when an individual is arrested as a part of a sex sting or other undercover police operation, he or she will claim that the police made him or her commit the crime....

Looks like Wesley Snipes’ tax evasion conviction is going to stick. Currently serving out a 3-year sentence, Snipes was hoping that the United States Supreme Court would come to his rescue, overturning his conviction and releasing him back into the world. His dreams were crushed on Monday morning, with the court summarily denying his appeal without comment. Wesley Snipes’ tax evasion conviction stems from his failure to file and pay federal income taxes on more than $37 million over a multi-year period, reports Reuters....

Charlie Sheen and his lawyer sought to amend the order of protection against him so that he can care for his wife Brooke Mueller after her wisdom teeth surgery. We wrote about how Charlie Sheen and his wife Brooke Mueller got into an altercation on Christmas that led her to claim that he put a knife to her throat and threaten to kill her. That led to Charlie Sheen to spend the better part of Christmas Day in a Colorado jail cell after being arrested on domestic violence allegations....