Yelp Lawsuit | Popular Review Site

What is Yelp?

Yelp is a user based website that allows consumers the opportunity to write a personal experience with a business. Whether this review is good or bad, it gets published. The idea being, that other users interested in the goods or services of a business, have a place to go to hear about past customer's personal experiences and feelings about that business.

According to their website, Yelp was founded in 2004. Their number one item in their 10 Things you should know about Yelp section is: "Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics." In another section of the website, the company is described as: "Yelp is an online urban city guide that helps people find cool places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play, based on the informed opinions of a vibrant and active community of locals in the know. Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great — and not so great — in your world."

The Yelp Lawsuit

Why is Yelp involved in a lawsuit? According to Fox News, a suit was filed against the San Francisco-based Yelp website for fraudulent reviews. A lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday, with allegations pertaining to extortion.

The extortion claim is that when Yelp gets a negative review for a business, they then contact that business and inform them that a negative review has been posted. The business owner then is given a chance to purchase an "advertising package" for several hundred dollars, where the website will remove the negative review, and give the business some ad space on the website. On some occasions, it is said that employees of the website will also write negative reviews themselves!

The Tools of an Attorney

The Quagmire

The other day I was thinking about Family Guy, the Fox animated series. I don't remember now... but my thoughts went to the character of Glenn Quagmire. Quagmire is one of my favorite character in Family Guy, and I got to wondering about the origins of his name. I thought, "You know what? His name must mean something... like awkward situation," or something similar.

I came to find out that the definition of Quagmire means:

• a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position : predicament

Sounds about right for an Attorney huh? That's exactly it, the quagmire is one of the most powerful tools a lawyer can have at his disposal. Put your opponent in a quagmire. If you can't argue or defend yourself... how can you win your case?

This becomes especially perplexing when a jury is involved in your case. Why? Because at the point you are rendered speechless by a crafty lawyer, the seed of doubt is planted. If the lawyer can evoke doubt in the jury, then the lawyer can also spin the facts.

I am sure this is one of the fundamental qualities they teach in law school. It would have to be. Mock trials and mock debates would play out like three dimensional mental chess matches. The pivotal move? Put your opponent in Quagmire.

In closing, here is a tip for all you law students out there. If you want to become the best attorney you can possibly be, learn the principals of utilizing the quagmire. Whether you are the defense attorney or the prosecutor, use intelligent and entrapping questions. Then attack (or defend) from a position of strength, on the basis of doubt.

Nicolas Cage Vs. Levin & Co. Management Inc.

Actor Nicolas Cage Files Lawsuit Against Agent-

Friday October 9, 2009, Nicolas Coppola (better known as Actor Nicolas Cage to the American) filed a $20 million lawsuit against former Agent Samuel Levin. Levin was terminated by Cage earlier this year. According to the press, the suit was filed in Los Angeles County, California, Superior Court. Cage is seeking damages for both breach of contract and professional negligence.

Although the actor brought in over $40 million between 2008 and 2009, he has claimed to be in "financial ruin." Rumored to owe the government over $6.6 million in back taxes, Coppola also has botched financial investments, including multiple high risk and very speculative real estate ventures. Levin is faulted for the misconduct of the actor's financial tax affairs, as well as a multitude of slipshod financial crises. Most of which is noted in the actor’s attorney's formal complaint.

Amongst assets the actor must now liquidate, is Midford Castle. He had purchased this Castle mid 2007 near Bath, in the southern United Kingdom. The media has said that Cage has three properties in the area.

Nicolas Cage fun facts:

• Cage's uncle is Francis Ford Coppola (of the Godfather movies).
• Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for his role in Leaving Las Vegas. Category: Best Actor in a Leading Role.
• His father August Coppola was a comparative literature professor.
• Ex-wives: Lisa Marie Presley and Patricia Arquette

15 Films you might know Nicolas Cage from:

1. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
2. Raising Arizona (1987)
3. Honeymoon in Vegas
4. Guarding Tess (1994)
5. It Could Happen to You (1994)
6. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
7. The Rock (1996)
   
8. Con Air (1997)
9. Face Off (1997)
10. City of Angels (1998)
11. Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
12. Windtalkers (2002)
13. Matchstick Men (2003)
14. National Treasure (2004)
15. Ghost Rider (2007)
    

The Lawyer Wasn't The One Lying?

Andrew Brzyski - Not a Lawyer.

I came across an interesting story tonight, while watching Dateline, about a man posing as a Lawyer. His name is Andrew Brzyski, and apparently he is only a lowly, lying debt collector. Not a lawyer or attorney, as he claimed to be.

Brzyski would call people in debt, and instruct them to send their payments to Attorney Andrew Brzyski. Dateline caught up with this guy and followed him to a grocery store across from the Debt collecting agency he worked for, where he was collecting money via Western Union wire. Final Claims Asset Locators is the name of company Brzyski was calling from and that Chris Hansen from Dateline was investigating. Brzyski would act as a third party and instruct the people in debt to wire the money to himself under the guise of an Attorney of the law. Read the whole story here.

Oregon Law on Twitter

Law Schools on Twitter?

In the quest for information on law schools, I was rather interested to stumble across a School of Law on Twitter. The University of Oregon has a Twitter site for its law school!

Now I'm sure there are many a law schools with Twitter accounts and what not... but since the University of Oregon's law school was the first one I found, it won the honor of having an image added to this blog, along with it's URL. If you are interested in checking it out, click here. You can also just go to http://twitter.com/Oregon_Law.

Along the Law School's tweets are these little tid-bits:

• "Oregon Law Welcomes New Adjunct Faculty Members..." (An adjunct faculty member is contract teacher or someone who is not tenured and a permanent teacher.)
• "Professor Michelle McKinley to Compete in National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend..."
• "Wayne Morse Center Welcomes Dale Jamieson as 2009-10 Chair of Law and Politics..."
• "It's A Family Affair for Oregon Law's 2009 Reunions: When Oregon Law's faculty, staff, student..."
• "Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Betty Roberts to Participate in Video Conference August 27..."

The Law School Twitter account has 690 followers. It appears to be updated on very consistant basis and is pretty through. The Law School also allows an RRS feed to be subscribed to. It's always interesting what kind law related things you can find out there. Even on social media sites such as Twitter.

Law Schools in California

Oak Brook College (Law School)

Looking for Law Schools in California? If so make sure to take a look at Oak Brook College. Never heard of it? I hadn't either.

The Oak Brook College of Law was founded in 1994. Oak Brook is founded on moral principles, with a focus of turning out lawyers and law graduates with professionalism and tact, based in an alternative educational style which has major emphasis on biblical teachings and biblical ethics. The focus is lay an educational foundation in both law and biblical ethics. Hence, an Oak Brook College of Law education is a hybrid of these two devices.

Oak Brook's curriculum is centered in three educational programs.

1. Paralegal
2. Juris Doctor
3. Legal Studies

Oak Brook's courses are correspondence based law school communications with a class schedule. The law school includes a peer education and interaction style of learning. According to the prospectus, Oak Brook College of Law is an unaccredited school registered under the California Committee of Bar Examiners of the state.

Oak Brook College of Law is based in Fresno, California. Business hours are 8:00AM to 3:00PM, for contact information. For more information on this Law School visit their web page at http://www.obcl.edu/.

The Ten Top 2010 Law Schools!

Law School

I decided to do a little looking at the average cost of Law Schools tonight. I wanted to see what the average law student pays for their education. In my search, I actually came across the top 100 law schools of 2010 (according to the website http://www.top-law-schools.com/rankings.html).

According to the site the top 10 law schools of 2010 are:

1. Yale Law School
2. Harvard Law School
3. Stanford Law School
4. Columbia Law School
5. New York Law School
6. UC Berkeley Law School
7. University of Chicago Law School
8. University of Pennsylvania Law School
9. Michigan Law School
10. Duke University Law School & Northwestern Law School (Tie)

Students looking to attend law school, on average will pay between $20K and $30K a year! Student loans are sky rocketing as well! On average, $80K is what the average student debt upon finishing. This cost is generally paid off quickly, due to the fact that most of these students will make over $100K a year starting. Right out of the gate! Not a bad deal huh? You've got to love the law.

(Photo Credit goes to Peter Skadberg of Grand Rapids)