Scams

Maybe cash really is king.

The IRS isn’t the only government agency to warn people about 'pig-butchering' scams.

This was entirely predictable.

The law school is working with law enforcement on the issue.

Avoiding getting scammed isn’t hard. Always be on the alert.

* Surprise, surprise. The federal government isn’t such a great steward of the Trail of Tears. [AP]

* Litigator and writer Jonathan Shapiro speaks with Deborah Kalb about his novel Deadly Force (affiliate link) and his latest legal TV show, Goliath, which premieres next month. [Books Q&As]

* Thoughts on fixing our broken government from Philip K. Howard, Covington partner turned author and reform advocate. [Wall Street Journal]

* The biggest scams you need to know about, before it is too late. [Pawn Hero]

* How to get juries to feel an acquittal in their gut. [Katz Justice]

* American history is owed to booze. [Law and More]

The SEC told people to be on the look out for newsletter scams like this...

Hackers taking advantage of neurotic lawyers.

* George Zimmerman was arrested for aggravated assault and domestic violence with a weapon. His lawyer said his client “has not been lucky with the ladies.” He hasn’t been lucky with being a decent human being, either. [USA Today]

* Lawrence McCreery, the Hawaii lawyer who licked a client’s ear and inspired the judge on his case to call him a “dirty old man,” has had his harassment conviction upheld on appeal. Get excited, he’s still got a law license, ladies. [Associated Press]

* We may soon see same-sex marriage bans in three states struck down, as the Fifth Circuit “appeared poised” to do so after oral arguments on Friday. Roberta Kaplan, our 2013 Lawyer of the Year, delivered a standout performance in arguing against Mississippi’s ban. [BuzzFeed]

* What do Sidley Austin, Baker & McKenzie, Reed Smith, Hogan Lovells, and Skadden Arps have in common? Their names were used in phishing emails to scam people out of their money. Some might say that’s business as usual. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

* An arrest was made in the forcible rape of a woman — presumably a law student — that took place in the stacks of the Southern University Law Center’s library last semester. The accused rapist is currently behind held without bond. [WBRZ]

If you're thinking of going to law school, please READ THIS FIRST.

The authorities call it a scam, I call it hilarious.

Are you aware of the latest scam preying upon foreign companies that purchase from Chinese suppliers? Columnist Dan Harris has the details.

Hurricane Sandy may bring out scammers looking to take advantage of people suffering through the disaster. Watch out!

One man's crisis is another man's golden opportunity. Keep reading to see how a new batch of criminals is trying to cash in on folks already worried about Megaupload-related copyright liability. It's actually quite a clever plot…

If you have watched political campaigns all of your life, or if you are just a student of modern political history, you’ll notice that the poor are rarely talked about on the campaign trail. We can talk about the rich (or at least our so-called envy of them), and the middle class is like the […]

* What kind of a lawyer can’t spot a Nigerian scammer before being bilked out of millions? If you fell for that, please hit me up. I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. [Washington Post] * Will Juliette Youngblood, the self-proclaimed “luckiest girl in the world,” still feel the same way if her […]

That’s the question essentially posed in a long and interesting New York Times article, Law Students Lose the Grant Game as Schools Win (which we previously mentioned on Saturday; yes, we do post on weekends). The piece is by David Segal, who also wrote a big and buzzy piece back in January, Is Law School […]

By the middle of second semester of that first year, everyone saw the system for what it was. We were furious. We realized that statistically, because of the curve, there was no way for many of us to keep our scholarships. But at that point, you’re a year in. They’ve got you. You feel stuck. […]

Usually when we talk about the crushing price of legal education, we focus on law school administrations who are raising tuition even as the legal economy continues to falter. Occasionally, we look at prospective law students themselves — a group of people who are evidently too addled to act with rational self-interest. Always, the American […]