EloquentBaseModel.php

<?php

class BaseModel extends Eloquent
{

    public $timestamps = false;
    /**
     * Validation rules
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $rules = [];

    /**
     * Validate the model or the data passed to the method.
     * 
     * <code>
     *     $user = new User;
     *     $user->fill($data);
     *     $user->validate();
     *     $user->save();
     * </code>
     * or
     * <code>
     *     $user = new User;
     *     $user->validate($data);
     *     $user->fill($data);
     *     $user->save();
     * </code>
     * 
     * 
     * @param array $data
     * @return bool
     * @throws ValidationException
     */
    public function validate($data = null)
    {
        if (is_null($data)) {
            $data = $this->toArray();
        }

        $validator = Validator::make($data, $this->rules);

        if ($validator->fails()) {
            throw new ValidationException($validator);
        }
        // Validator passed
        return true;
    }

    public function validateSave($data) {
        try {
            $this->fill($data);
            $this->validate();
            $this->save();
        } catch (ValidationException $e) {
            throw $e;
        }
    }
}

/**
 * @link http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/javascript-ajax/combining-laravel-4-and-backbone/ Combining Laravel 4 and Backbone
 */

class ValidationException extends Exception {

    protected $messages;

    /**
     * We are adjusting this constructor to receive an instance
     * of the validator as opposed to a string to save us some typing
     * @param Validator $validator failed validator object
     */
    public function __construct($validator)
    {
        $this->messages = $validator->messages();
        parent::__construct($this->messages, 400);
    }

    public function getMessages()
    {
        return $this->messages;
    }
}