Lawrence is an attorney and CEO of Law Commentary. His legal background includes corporate and general business law, litigation, transactional matters, and law practice management. His litigation experience has included complex matters involving antitrust, insurance bad faith, and medical malpractice. On the transactional side, Lawrence has worked with buy-sell agreements, Regulation D disclosures, stock option plans, and business matters. Lawrence draws on his legal and business experience to help make court decisions, litigation, legislation, public policy, and other legal developments more accessible to the general public and to give readers clear context for understanding the law and how it affects businesses, consumers, and communities.
A San Bernardino County jury awarded former Walmart truck driver Jesse Fonseca $34.7 million after finding the retail giant defamed him when terminating his employment on accusations of workers' compensation fraud. The verdict, reached on November 15, 2024, includes $25 million in punitive damages, reflecting the jury’s view of Walmart's...
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a high-profile class-action case, declining to decide whether federal courts can certify classes that include both injured and uninjured members.
In Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis, the court had initially agreed to consider whether a federal court could approve a damages...
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The California Supreme Court has issued a ruling clarifying the standards for convicting accomplices under the state's felony murder law, potentially altering the sentences of hundreds of inmates currently serving lengthy prison terms despite not directly committing homicide.
The felony murder rule is a legal doctrine that allows prosecutors to...
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a major Second Amendment challenge to Maryland’s law banning certain semiautomatic rifles, including the AR-15. The Court's brief, unsigned order offered no explanation, leaving the 2013 Maryland statute in effect.
This decision underscores the Court’s cautious approach toward Second Amendment disputes,...
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Boeing Co. has reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, potentially allowing the aerospace giant to avoid criminal charges stemming from two fatal crashes of its 737 Max aircraft. The crashes, involving Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019, resulted...
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A federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s effort to revoke Harvard University’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), preserving the university's ability to enroll international students. Harvard University filed a lawsuit last Friday challenging the administration’s decision, arguing it was retaliatory and violated multiple constitutional...
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sparked controversy this week by mischaracterizing the fundamental legal right of habeas corpus during a Senate hearing, incorrectly asserting it was a presidential authority to deport immigrants.
Habeas corpus, a cornerstone of the U.S. legal system, is a constitutional protection against unlawful detention. It allows...
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The Justice Department has initiated an investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo regarding accusations that he gave misleading testimony to Congress about his involvement in reporting COVID-19 nursing home deaths. The inquiry, initially reported by The New York Times, emerged as Cuomo actively campaigned to become mayor of...
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The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump's administration to end temporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States, reversing protections established by President Joe Biden. In an unsigned emergency order issued on Monday, the Court lifted a lower court's injunction that...
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday maintained a block on President Donald Trump's deportation efforts targeting Venezuelan migrants under a rarely invoked wartime statute from 1798, emphasizing the administration’s lack of proper legal procedure.
In a brief, unsigned opinion, the Court agreed with attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union...
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A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed criminal charges against disbarred attorney Tom Girardi, famously known for representing plaintiffs in high-profile cases, including the landmark environmental contamination lawsuit depicted in the film "Erin Brockovich." Girardi, 85, had been accused of misappropriating more than $3 million from clients. He was already...
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The Supreme Court grappled on Thursday with a pivotal legal question raised by the Trump administration concerning the authority of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions. This judicial power, which temporarily halts government policies across the entire country, is at the center of a high-stakes dispute over former President Donald...
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Lawyers for Wisconsin Judge Hannah C. Dugan have moved to dismiss federal charges against her, arguing that she is entitled to judicial immunity for actions taken from the bench. The motion, filed Wednesday in a federal court in Milwaukee, came a day after Judge Dugan was indicted by a federal...
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California Governor Gavin Newsom has called on cities and counties across the state to adopt a sweeping ban on homeless encampments, intensifying his administration’s efforts to address the state’s homelessness crisis. On Monday, Newsom released a model ordinance for local governments, urging them to prohibit camping on public property, including...
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A federal judge has ordered the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was detained for over six weeks in a Louisiana immigration facility after co-authoring an opinion piece critical of her university's response to the Israel-Gaza conflict. U.S. District Judge William Sessions, sitting in Burlington,...
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