Mike Trout to the Phillies?!
And now that I have your attention … Mike Trout will undoubtedly be the most sought-after free agent in baseball when he becomes a free agent in 2020. But an obscure loophole in California labor law could let him out of his rookie contract sooner. Section 2855 of the California Labor Code mandates that no…
Court Orders Ban Hammer on BitTorrent Defendant
I didn’t think it was possible to be ban someone for life from the internet, but it can really happen. It’s not just something moderators say on Reddit or 4chan anymore. A federal judge in Oregon ordered a BitTorrent defendant banned for life from using “BitTorrent or the Internet for the copying or downloading of unlicensed copyrighted…
Election Day 2015: Philly’s Future in the Balance
The primary election is happening here in Philadelphia and across the Commmonwealth tomorrow, May 19, 2015. Pennsylvania holds closed primaries, which means a voter can only vote for candidates in the party in which he or she is registered. That said, Philadelphia has effectively been a one-party town for so long that the Democratic primary…
Goodnight, Sweet Prince
The news of the Prince Music Theater’s closing hit me pretty close to home. Although the Prince had been floundering for years, it’s still a sad day for the arts in Philadelphia. In late 2010, after years of staving off creditors, the Prince filed Chapter 11. With guidance and counsel from Slepner Law, the Prince…
Prince Music Theater on the ropes?
This article calls attention to the fact that the Prince Music Theater’s days may be numbered. Back in October 2010, I represented the Prince in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. As the months (and years) wore on, we fought against every one of TD Bank’s efforts to foreclose on the building and shut down the…
Bankruptcy Court deemed “essential”
At least the Bankruptcy Court for E.D. Pa. is. See the order: http://www.paeb.uscourts.gov/sites/paeb/files/NoticeofOperation.pdf.
4-15-13
The tragedy in Boston yesterday had special significance for me despite being a proud Philadelphian and Fishtowner, as it no doubt did for the thousands of people across the country and the world who spent a good portion of their youth and early adult years in Boston. I went to Brandeis University, which, for those…
Election
My first foray into electoral politics was in high school, where I ran for student council treasurer on a platform that I have mostly forgotten (although I do recall something having to do with a Coke machine). Despite being backed by the best campaign video ever (set to The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”), I…
So that happened
There are no words to discuss yesterday’s events in Connecticut that do not sound trite. But if we are just talking policy, my feeling is that a major overhaul of the American mental health system would be a huge step in preventing future mass shootings. (Go ahead, call me trite. Or a liberal. I’ve been…
Double secret probation
My alma mater is in the news again. This time, the Association of American Law Schools put Villanova Law School on a two-year probation following the grade inflation morass of 2011. Villanova, as you may recall, was embroiled in a grade-inflation scandal in 2011. It was one of the first of many such unpleasant events…
