The back and forth over predictive coding continues.… Continue reading »Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Tags: Andrew Peck, Computer-assisted review, Da Silva Moore v. Publicis Groupe et al., Document Review, E-Discovery, Electronic Discovery, Federal Judges, Judge Andrew J. Peck, Judge Andrew Peck, Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck, Predictive coding, Richard Flamm, S.D.N.Y., Technology, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin
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Most Topular Stories
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Predictive Coding Debate Rages On: Judge Peck Stays Discovery in Groundbreaking Case
Above the Law16 May 2012 | 1:52 pm -
Kirpans in the Courts
Slaw16 May 2012 | 10:41 amToronto will be the first court in Canada which will have a formal policy for the kirpan, a ceremonial dagger worn by observant Sikhs. Other courts in Canada may allow the kirpan, including the Supreme Court of Canada, but do not yet have formal procedures in place. The arrangement came about through cooperation between The World Sikh Organization of Canada, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Toronto Police, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ministry of the Attorney General. Curtis Rush of the Toronto Star explains, The policy was developed as a settlement of two separate human… -
Legal Productivity Webinar Thursday : I’m speaking on how to develop business through the Internet
Real Lawyers Have Blogs15 May 2012 | 10:56 pmThe Legal Productivity Free Webinar Series continues this Thursday. I’ll be speaking on How to Develop Business Through the Internet. Attorneys have always gotten their best work by virtue of relationships and their word of mouth reputation. The Internet has not changed this. You’ll learn how many lawyers are saving time and money by using the Internet to: Enhance their reputation; Grow their network of relationships; Establish themselves as subject matter experts; and Get not just clients, but high-quality clients. We’re on this Thursday, May 17 from 12 to 1 ET. Click here… -
Kostick v. Nago: Reply Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction
JD Supra Hot Docs - Newsworthy Legal Filings From the Source10 May 2012 | 10:28 pmCase Name: Kostick v. Nago Document Name: Reply Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction Post Date: 05/10/2012 Filing Date: 05/08/2012 Document Summary: This is the final brief (the Plaintiffs' reply to the Chief Election Officer and Reapportionment Commission's Memorandum in Opposition to the Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction) in the federal court lawsuit challenging Hawaii's use of "permanent resident" as its reapportionment population basis. Kostick v. Nago, No. 12-00184 (complaint filed Apr. 6, 2012). The U.S. -
FINRA Issues May 2012 Disciplinary Actions
Lawyers.com Blog16 May 2012 | 1:05 pmThe Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issues a report on disciplinary and other actions involving registered brokers, investment advisers and brokerage firms every month. Follow this link to the FINRA website for the entire report for the month of May 2012 as well as to access earlier time periods.Here are the Florida related actions for May 2012.Global Transition Solutions, Inc. (CRD #21622, Peoria Heights, Illinois) and James Edward Zogby (CRD #2549557, Registered Principal, Placida, Florida) were censured and fined $10,000, jointly and severally. The firm and…
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Above the Law
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Predictive Coding Debate Rages On: Judge Peck Stays Discovery in Groundbreaking Case
16 May 2012 | 1:52 pmThe back and forth over predictive coding continues.… Continue reading »Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Tags: Andrew Peck, Computer-assisted review, Da Silva Moore v. Publicis Groupe et al., Document Review, E-Discovery, Electronic Discovery, Federal Judges, Judge Andrew J. Peck, Judge Andrew Peck, Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck, Predictive coding, Richard Flamm, S.D.N.Y., Technology, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin -
L’Affaire LeBoeuf: The Latest Links and News
16 May 2012 | 12:51 pmDewey & LeBoeuf is preparing itself for the afterlife: it’s shedding overseas offices, sending partners packing, and finding new takers for its real estate (and its pension obligations). Continue reading »Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Tags: 1301 Avenue of the Americas, 1301 Sixth Avenue, Alan Waldenberg, Arnold & Porter, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Charles Landgraf, Chris Clark, Christopher Clark, Christopher J. Clark, David Miller, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Dissolution, DLA Piper, ERISA, Foreign Offices, Greenberg Traurig, Greenberg Traurig Grzesiak,… -
House Rules: Sometimes The Customer Isn’t Always Right
16 May 2012 | 12:20 pmSometimes the worst ethical violations come from your customers… Continue reading »Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Tags: Copyright, Copyright Infringement, David Mowry, House Rules, In-House Counsel, In-house counseling, Intellectual Property, IP, Legal Ethics, Piracy, Technology, Trademarks -
Did These Columbia Law Students and Their Professor Prove That Texas Executed An Innocent Man?
16 May 2012 | 11:26 amAn exhaustive new report from Columbia Law School persuasively argues that Texas executed an innocent man. We talked with one of the student authors about how the project shaped her law school experience. Continue reading »Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Tags: Capital Punishment, Carlos DeLuna, Carlos Hernandez, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Columbia Law School, Crime, Death Penalty, Deaths, James Liebman, Law Schools, Los Tocayos Carlos, Murder, Shawn Crowley, Texas, Violence, Wanda Lopez, Wrongful Conviction -
Quote of the Day: And Steroids Are Obviously a Critical Tool of the American Baseball System
16 May 2012 | 10:46 amCoffee is essential during trials — how else are the jurors supposed to stay awake? Continue reading »Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.Tags: Baseball, Brian McNamee, Caffeine, Coffee, Columbia Law, Columbia Law School, Daniel C. Richman, Daniel Richman, Judge Reggie B. Walton, Judge Reggie Walton, Juror, Jurors, Jury Duty, Jury Misconduct, Law Professors, Perjury, Quote of the Day, Reggie B. Walton, Reggie Walton, Roger Clemens, Sleep, Sleeping, Sports, Trials
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Slaw
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Kirpans in the Courts
16 May 2012 | 10:41 amToronto will be the first court in Canada which will have a formal policy for the kirpan, a ceremonial dagger worn by observant Sikhs. Other courts in Canada may allow the kirpan, including the Supreme Court of Canada, but do not yet have formal procedures in place. The arrangement came about through cooperation between The World Sikh Organization of Canada, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Toronto Police, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ministry of the Attorney General. Curtis Rush of the Toronto Star explains, The policy was developed as a settlement of two separate human… -
(US) Ebook Pricing Antitrust Suit (Definitely) Not Dismissed
16 May 2012 | 8:04 amThose following the US antitrust litigation against Apple and five of the big publishers in respect of ebook pricing by now will have seen Judge Cote's decision to deny the defendants' motion to dismiss the class action suit by consumers. The Opinion & Order, In Re Electronic Books Antitrust Litigation 11 MD 2293 (DLC) makes for quite interesting reading. I read a PDF of the Opinion last night, and the Opinion's also been uploaded to Scribd. It's been a long while since I've read one of these, but it's evident from the Opinion that Judge Cote had no… -
Big Data and the Inevitable Clash With Privacy
16 May 2012 | 6:12 amBig data is a hot trending tech issue. Wikipedia defines big data as "a term applied to data sets whose size is beyond the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, manage, and process the data within a tolerable elapsed time. Big data sizes are a constantly moving target currently ranging from a few dozen terabytes to many petabytes of data in a single data set." The initial issue with big data is the ability to actually work with massive data sets – how to store, search, and manipulate it. But the tools to do that are becoming more sophisticated, and attention is… -
Connecting the Dots: Justice System Reform and Medical-Legal Partnerships
16 May 2012 | 4:00 amProbably the most interesting thing happening in the BC legal world just now is the Justice Reform Initiative launched by the BC government back in early February. The review is chaired by Geoff Cowper, QC, of Fasken Martineau. The terms of reference for the initiative are ambitious. According to the government’s press release: “He [Geoff Cowper] will identify the top issues that are affecting the public’s access to timely justice and what can be done to ensure the efficiencies already underway have the desired impacts while respecting the independence of the judicial system.” The… -
Only Lawyers Shall Do the Lawyering
15 May 2012 | 7:37 pmThe Quebec Court of Appeal recently rendered a decision clarifying the restriction set out at section 128(1)(a) of the Act respecting the Barreau du Quebec ("Act"), which reads: 128. (1) The following acts, performed for others, shall be the exclusive prerogative of the practising advocate or solicitor: (a) to give legal advice and consultations on legal matters; […] According to this section and in order to ensure the protection of the public, certain acts are reserved for lawyers called and registered with the Bar. The illegal exercise of the legal profession reserved to…
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Real Lawyers Have Blogs
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Legal Productivity Webinar Thursday : I’m speaking on how to develop business through the Internet
15 May 2012 | 10:56 pmThe Legal Productivity Free Webinar Series continues this Thursday. I’ll be speaking on How to Develop Business Through the Internet. Attorneys have always gotten their best work by virtue of relationships and their word of mouth reputation. The Internet has not changed this. You’ll learn how many lawyers are saving time and money by using the Internet to: Enhance their reputation; Grow their network of relationships; Establish themselves as subject matter experts; and Get not just clients, but high-quality clients. We’re on this Thursday, May 17 from 12 to 1 ET. Click here… -
Best in Law Blogs : The LexBlog Network : May 15, 2012
15 May 2012 | 5:30 pmThe big news of the week comes as the NLRB’s rules on “quickie” or “ambush” union elections were struck down because of a lack of quorum. Lee Beck and Brennan Bolt each do a good job of explaining it. Also, on LXBN, we have an LXBN TV with Victoria Pynchon providing excellent advice to young female lawyers and an LXBN Roundtable breaking down MySpace’s settlement with the FTC. Total posts on the LexBlog Network today: 203. California’s Long Awaited Brinker Decision on Meal and Rest Period Obligations – Brian Gross and Brittany Maly of Cooley Manion… -
Facebook here to stay : Majority of lawyers will use
15 May 2012 | 12:10 pmMark Zuckerberg in New York during Facebook’s road show. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters) With Facebook’s IPO coming this week you can’t get away from all the news and talk about Facebook. Is all the hullabaloo warranted? Should you care as a lawyer or law firm? Yes. I used to think Facebook was not worth a lawyer’s time. How could a lawyer use a forum where people shared personal notes and pictures to grow professionally or from a business development standpoint? I didn’t get it. I still didn’t get it when Steve Rubel told me at a Knicks game two years ago that… -
Best in Law Blogs : The LexBlog Network : May 14, 2012
14 May 2012 | 4:44 pmIt seems like the NLRB can’t get anything through, as today their new “quickie” election rule was struck down by the District Court for D.C.—coming on the heals of their posting rule facing the same fate. Seth Borden comments on the story. Total posts on the LexBlog Network today: 164. District Court Strikes Down National Labor Relations Board’s New ‘Quickie’ Election Rule – New York lawyer Seth Borden of McKenna Long & Aldridge on the firm’s blog, Labor Relations Today U.S. Supreme Court Denies Cert in Robbins v. Texas: What Happens When… -
Don’t law schools have an obligation to teach law students how to use the Internet?
14 May 2012 | 12:12 pmI just finished speaking with a class at the University of Washington Law School. (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) It was class for mostly 3L’s entitled ‘Practical And Professional Responsibility Issues in the Small or Solo Law Practice.’ The course description in the catalogue: This course examines the practical, ethical and personal issues which are unique to small firm and solo law practice. Issues to be explored include capitalization and financing of the small/solo practice; selection of practice focus; marketing; client relations; trust account management;…
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JD Supra Hot Docs - Newsworthy Legal Filings From the Source
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Kostick v. Nago: Reply Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction
10 May 2012 | 10:28 pmCase Name: Kostick v. Nago Document Name: Reply Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction Post Date: 05/10/2012 Filing Date: 05/08/2012 Document Summary: This is the final brief (the Plaintiffs' reply to the Chief Election Officer and Reapportionment Commission's Memorandum in Opposition to the Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction) in the federal court lawsuit challenging Hawaii's use of "permanent resident" as its reapportionment population basis. Kostick v. Nago, No. 12-00184 (complaint filed Apr. 6, 2012). The U.S. -
Kostick v. Nago: First Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
10 May 2012 | 10:22 pmCase Name: Kostick v. Nago Document Name: First Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief Post Date: 05/10/2012 Filing Date: 04/27/2012 Document Summary: This is the First Amended Complaint in the federal court challenge to Hawaii's state reapportionment plan. This lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, and challenges under the Equal Protection Clause the State of Hawaii's practice of excluding military personnel, their families, and university students who pay nonresident tuition from the population count when reapportioning the state legislature.The U.S. -
Sears Tooth Agreement: Sears Tooth Agreement
10 May 2012 | 8:05 amCase Name: Sears Tooth Agreement Document Name: Sears Tooth Agreement Post Date: 05/10/2012 Filing Date: 05/10/2012 Document Summary: Sears Tooth Agreement in respect of costs in family proceedings Contributor: Paul Summerbell [Full Profile | Docs Posted] -
Karissa A. Ronkin v. Andy B. Vihn: Complaint
7 May 2012 | 1:22 pmCase Name: Karissa A. Ronkin v. Andy B. Vihn Document Name: Complaint Post Date: 05/07/2012 Filing Date: 05/07/2012 Document Summary: PRESS RELEASEContact: Devon M. Jacob, EsquireDate: May 07, 2012Phone: 717.7372430, Ext. 102Email: Dmjacob@Dennisboylelaw.comMetro Transit Police Officer Sued For Physically Assaulting a Woman Who Criticized HimIncident Caught On Video Gone ViralIn a potentially explosive civil rights case involving police brutality, false arrest and violations of the First and Fourth Amendments – all caught on videotape – a former D.C. resident has filed a federal lawsuit… -
In re: Nadya Suleman: Chapter 7 Petition for the Octomom
30 Apr 2012 | 8:42 pmCase Name: In re: Nadya Suleman Document Name: Chapter 7 Petition for the Octomom Post Date: 04/30/2012 Filing Date: 04/30/2012 Document Summary: Nadya Suleman a.k.a. the Octomom has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The petition is what bankruptcy attorneys call a "bare bones" filing, usually filed in an emergency to stop a lawsuit or a foreclosure. A "bare bones" filing usually consists of just the petition and the list of creditors with a supplemental to list all of the debtor's assets and debts.Ms. Suleman filed this without an attorney, which is not a particularly…
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Lawyers.com Blog
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FINRA Issues May 2012 Disciplinary Actions
16 May 2012 | 1:05 pmThe Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issues a report on disciplinary and other actions involving registered brokers, investment advisers and brokerage firms every month. Follow this link to the FINRA website for the entire report for the month of May 2012 as well as to access earlier time periods.Here are the Florida related actions for May 2012.Global Transition Solutions, Inc. (CRD #21622, Peoria Heights, Illinois) and James Edward Zogby (CRD #2549557, Registered Principal, Placida, Florida) were censured and fined $10,000, jointly and severally. The firm and… -
State of Washington Directs Insurance Companies on Regulations Relating to Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Consumer Assistance
16 May 2012 | 1:01 pmPursuant to provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA"), which requires insurers and health plans to provide information about the appeals process to consumers, as well as make consumers aware of their state's health insurance consumer assistance or ombudsman programs in denial notices, Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner advised that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner's Consumer Protection Division as the current health insurance consumer assistance… -
Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hit with wage, discrimination lawsuit
16 May 2012 | 12:56 pmCosmopolitan of Las Vegas hit with wage, discrimination lawsuitfrom Las Vegas Review-Journalhttp://www.lvrj.com/business/cosmopolitan-of-las-vegas-hit-with-wage-discrimination-lawsuit-151669755.htmlSimon W. Johnsonswj@swjlawoffice.comLaw Office of Simon W. JohnsonMartindale, Avvo, Justia, LawGuruLinkedIn, Twitter, FacebookServing Cleveland and Ohio, 44124 -
State of Washington Directs Insurance Companies on Regulations Relating to Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Consumer Assistance
16 May 2012 | 12:55 pmPursuant to provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA"), which requires insurers and health plans to provide information about the appeals process to consumers, as well as make consumers aware of their state's health insurance consumer assistance or ombudsman programs in denial notices, Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner advised that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner's Consumer Protection Division as the current health insurance consumer assistance… -
Settlement of lawsuit over New York taxi rider frisks
16 May 2012 | 12:52 pmSettlement of lawsuit over New York taxi rider frisksfrom Chicago Tribunehttp://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-15/news/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-newyorkbre84e1hf-20120515_1_frisks-livery-robbery-inspection-program-passenger-searchesSimon W. Johnsonswj@swjlawoffice.comLaw Office of Simon W. JohnsonMartindale, Avvo, Justia, LawGuruLinkedIn, Twitter, FacebookServing Cleveland and Ohio, 44124
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Beth’s Blog
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Akilah Institute for Women: Social Media Workshop
16 May 2012 | 8:24 amAkilah workshop View more presentations from Beth Kanter After the ACE leadership training, I had the opportunity to spend a day in Kigali. I volunteered to do a Social Media and Professional Networking workshop for second year students at the Akilah Institute for Women. The mission is to empower young women in East Africa to transform their lives by equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to find meaningful employment and launch ventures in the fastest growing sectors of the economy. The organization was founded by Elizabeth Dearborn Davis and Dave Hughes. I… -
Social Media, Networking, and African Women’s Leadership Training in Rwanda
15 May 2012 | 8:00 amFor the past ten days, I’ve been in Rwanda, Africa. I was honored to be a trainer as part of the launch of the ACE Leaders Project, a program developed by the Institute of International Education Sub-Saharan Regional Office and supported by the Packard Foundation. The project is under the visionary leadership of Cheryl Francisconi who is the director of IIE’s office in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and has vast expertise in developing, designing, and implementing transformative leadership programs for several decades. The project mobilizes leading women’s organizations and… -
Need Answers: LinkedIn Has Them
14 May 2012 | 8:44 amNote from Beth: I’m just finishing up an intensive training here in Rwanda. I was out in a rural area where Internet connectivity was a huge challenge, so was not able to blog, But now that I’m back in Kigali with a good Internet connection, expect to hear more about my experience teaching social media and the Networked NGO. Right before I left for this trip, Geri Stengel, shared a guest post about nonprofits and use of LinkedIn that was of interest to many folks. So, when Geri offered up this second post about nonprofits and LinkedIn, I couldn’t… -
Are You Being Left Behind as Technology Ushers In a Whole New Approach to Philanthropy? #CoFLA
4 May 2012 | 7:25 amNote From Beth: Just before I left for Rwanda, I caught some interesting discussion threads about organizational adoption of networked ways of working on Twitter coming from the #COFLA hashtag as a result of the Council on Foundations gathering in Los Angeles. I discovered that it was Larry Eason from DotOrgPower and his colleague, Shelley Wenk, offered to write this summary of the discussion as a guest post. When I landed, I was able to get the guest post from Shelley via email and publish it because Rwanda has one of the better Internet connectivity infrastructures for the countries… -
Attention Data Nerds: Nonprofits Miss Out on the Power of LinkedIn: Learn How to Tap It
3 May 2012 | 8:02 amNote from Beth: By the time you are reading, I’ll probably have been on a jet plane for far longer than I want to be and maybe have landed in Rwanda. Once I recover from the journey, expect read reports about the Networked NGO in Rwanda and use of social media to support Women’s Rights organizations. If you’re motivated to go deeper on LinkedIn after reading this summary, you will want to check out my curated list of nonprofit and LinkedIn resources here. Nonprofits Miss Out on the Power of LinkedIn: Learn How to Tap It – Guest Post by Geri Stengel …
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Legal Blog Watch
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Gay Judge Candidate Rejected by Va. House Due to 'Advocacy' for Gay Rights
16 May 2012 | 1:18 pmI am a native Marylander but I have lived in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., for almost two decades. I like it here quite a bit, but Virginia is quirky in that it is sharply divided in pretty much every way between the D.C. suburbs in Northern Virginia and everywhere else. As I observed here, Once you travel 100 miles south of D.C. and hit Richmond, you enter old-school Virginia -- the Virginia that makes you realize that you are in a state that was a full-blown part of the Confederate States of America. Day-to-day, the cultural differences between Northern Virginia and the rest of… -
Wednesday's Three Burning Legal Questions
16 May 2012 | 8:00 amHere are today's three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: I was at the local park and some dude started complaining that I was making too much noise and keeping his friend from sleeping. Then he picked up a pooper scooper and began swinging it at me, so I picked up my own pooper scooper to defend myself and engaged in a pooper scooper duel for about 30 minutes. Are you kidding me?? This has to be some kind of crime, right? Pooper scoopers can hurt! Answer: It must be some crime, you are right, but the blawgosphere seems to have no record… -
Things You Can't Do on a Plane: Vol. 18
15 May 2012 | 1:20 pmYou might think that after Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9, Volume 10, Volume 11, Volume 12, Volume 13, Volume 14, Volume 15, Volume 16 and Volume 17 of Things You Can't Do on a Plane, that we'd have exhausted the list of things you can't do on a plane. Nope! The list grows daily. Here are three more things I've recently learned that you cannot do on a plane: Attempt to smuggle 49 live reptiles in your luggage on an international flight. Passengers may not pack 31 spiny-tailed lizards and 18 geckos into their suitcase. This is true even… -
Life is an Open-Book Test ... Unless You are a Juror
14 May 2012 | 1:21 pmI've heard it said that "Life is an open-book test," and I believe that this has become even more true as the Internet, Google, smartphones and other fundamental features of the digital age have become ubiquitous. In the year 2012, when you want to understand something, or define something, or test something, or check someone's background, you typically have instant access to the tools you'd need to do so. If you are truly interested, you will take the 10 seconds needed to get an answer or to learn how you can get an answer... unless you are serving on a jury. If you are serving on… -
Monday's Three Burning Legal Questions
14 May 2012 | 12:29 pmHere are today's three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: I'm just minding my own business, walking down the street and doing some texting in my home town of Fort Lee, N.J. Why are the police eyeing me so much? Answer: Because you are committing the offense of TWW. The scourge that is "Texting While Walking" will now carry with it an $85 fine in the town of Fort Lee. (CBS News, Texting while walking banned in N.J. town) 2) Question: I'm enjoying a strawberry Fruit Roll-Up. They are made with real fruit -- Did you know that? It…
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taxgirl
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Treasury Department Email A Hoax
24 Apr 2012 | 5:44 amYou have to give spammers and schemers credit for trying. They just won’t give up! This morning, my inbox was chock full of versions of the following email, which has been making the rounds since 2010: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, 1500 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, DC 20220 Tel: +1-(202) 622-2000 Fax: +1-(202) 622-6415 Monday, April; 23, 2012 READ INSTRUCTION This email is to notify you about the release of your outstanding payment worth USD15, 500,000.00 only. The U.S. Department of the Treasury in collaboration with the HM Treasury has scheduled a… -
Mammoth Bill Makes IRS Play Border Control
23 Apr 2012 | 5:35 amAnd here I thought, in an election year, that nothing would get done. In the blink of an eye, the Senate has managed to pass a bill that does practically everything. The bill, which has the descriptive title, “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” or “MAP-21″ is called, in shorthand, the “Highway Bill.” It’s about 1,865 pages long. The official summary alone is 2,650 words: by the time it was engrossed in the Senate, the bill was 317,182 words long – or about four times longer than the first Harry Potter book. Of course, it’s… -
IRS Targets Unscrupulous Preparers, Bogus Refunds
22 Apr 2012 | 9:40 amClaiming bogus tax refunds can be easy. After all, nobody’s looking, right? Wrong. The IRS is cracking down on tax evasion by targeting unscrupulous tax preparers. And they might be headed for your town – they’re already making waves in mine. Last week, the United States asked federal court to bar three [entity display="Philadelphia" type="place" active="true" key="pa/philadelphia"]Philadelphia[/entity]-area tax preparers from preparing federal tax returns for others. Those preparers are Deron Joe, Edmund Dassin and James Tokpawhiea, who prepared tax returns from their… -
Stirring the Pot: Could Legalizing Marijuana Save the Economy?
20 Apr 2012 | 9:52 amOn April 2, One L. Goh allegedly went on a shooting spree inside Oikos University in Oakland, California, killing seven students. That same day, federal agents were otherwise occupied, raiding a business less than a half a mile away. That business, Oaksterdam University, is a medical marijuana training school in a location where it is considered legal for state and local purposes. There’s some sad irony here. One is, of course, not directly related to the other. But you can’t help but look at the two events – on the same day, just blocks away from each other – and… -
The Great Working Mom Debate Isn’t About Kids, It’s About Money
19 Apr 2012 | 11:13 amI was finishing up with a colleague at the office when I saw my cell phone light up. It wasn’t a number that I recognized so I let it go. The office phone rang a few minutes later and my assistant advised that it was the school. Of course it was. It was a dental emergency. I scrambled a little bit to get my things and headed out. I’m at the dentist now with my MacBook Air propped up on my lap, still working. I’m lucky in that I have a job that allows me to dash away for last minute emergencies and the occasional not-so-much emergency like parent teacher conferences and…
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NTEN
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Sharing Our Way toward Equality: Social Media and Gay Rights
15 May 2012 | 6:56 amBy John Hoffman, Director of New Markets, ZeroDivide Since the moment that President Obama stated that he supports same-sex marriage, there’s been a flurry of social media activity, both pro and con, on the issue. It’s obvious by now that social media has played a huge role in shaping Americans’ attitudes toward LGBT issues. But I would go a step further. Despite the unavoidable struggles and setbacks that lay ahead, the inherent qualities of social media make the passage of same-sex marriage and equal rights for LGBT individuals and families inevitable. Here’s why: 1. Social media is… -
Google Drive: Does It Matter?
14 May 2012 | 10:48 amTJ Rainsford Chief Technology Officer 501cTECH Google Drive is still brand new and not without limitations, but its capabilities are pretty hard to ignore. On April 24, Google announced the much anticipated Google Drive service, a cloud-based "disk drive" where individuals and organizations can store there documents, spreadsheets and a host of other electronic files. That may sound like a big deal but organizations and individuals with Google accounts could do that already using Google Docs. So does Google Drive really matter? In short, the answer is yes! -
Member Round Up: Change and Opportunities!
11 May 2012 | 2:23 pmFlickr:MarkusramWe can feel it - the season is changing! How do we know? NTEN members are providing more educational opportunities, asking for more help on amazing projects, and announcing even more technology tools than ever before. With all the change going on, make sure you learn about all the ways NTEN members are making a difference in the world. Have more news to share? Drop us a line or include your links in the comments!Women rule! And Women Who Tech just created an awesome infographic that details exactly why women rule. For example, did you know that women represent 56% of the… -
Engaging Volunteers in Technical Roles
11 May 2012 | 11:54 amWould you trust a volunteer to help maintain your organization's servers? Okay, probably not, but what about taking out an iPad to collect constituent data? Or setting up wi-fi hot spots after a disaster. Volunteers are the lifeblood of many a nonprofit, and there are many ways you can engage them in technical roles – but it requires a special skill set to manage them. We'll explore the pros and cons of a volunteer workforce supporting technology at our upcoming webinar, "Engaging Volunteers in Technical Roles". Learn more and register today >> In this webinar, you'll learn: How to… -
Developing a Cloud Migration Strategy, Part 2: Process, Costs & Things to Consider
10 May 2012 | 2:57 pmMatthew Eshleman Director of Professional Network Services Community IT Innovators The promise of the cloud is that you don't have to worry about servers anymore. The reality of the cloud is that you have a lot of other things to think about. We may have jumped the gun a little by discussing what systems to migrate in part 1 of this look at developing a cloud migration strategy, but now we're going to ask and answer the question of How to Migrate. Migrating to a cloud based application or service is different from installing some software or server in your office. It is imperative that…
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Robert Ambrogi's LawSites
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North Carolina Bar Drops Casemaker for Fastcase
15 May 2012 | 5:04 pmIn the continuing battle between Fastcase and Casemaker to win over the hearts (and business) of state bar associations, score one for Fastcase. And a big one, at that. Today, the North Carolina Bar Association announced that, effective June 1, Fastcase will replace Casemaker as the legal-research service it offers its members. Making that particularly notable is that the NCBA has been with Casemaker since 2001, when it was one of the first bar associations to provide access to a legal research service as a member benefit. One of the factors cited in the announcement for making the switch is… -
Lexis Launches ‘Practice Advisor’ for Financial Restructuring and Bankruptcy
3 May 2012 | 6:05 amLeana Fisher was an associate in the financial restructuring practice group at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius the first time a partner asked her to draft a reorganization plan for a debtor. Uncertain of what to do, she dove into PACER in search of examples and burned the midnight oil cobbling together a plan. When she presented it to the partner the next morning, he questioned why she had included various provisions that were inapplicable to their client. She had no good answer. Flash forward many years, and Fisher is now the director in charge of a product she believes will help other lawyers… -
Easy Way for Anyone to Add You to their Contacts
2 May 2012 | 7:00 amWarning: You might just go ape over ContactMonkey. It lets you provide your contact information to others in a way that makes it easy for them to add you to their contacts — no matter what program they use for their contacts and no matter what device or operating system they are on. Visitors to my profile need just click to add me to their contacts. You get a unique web address for your contact information. Put the address in your email signature, on your business card, on your website, or wherever. When someone goes to that page, they see your full contact information. But the better… -
An All-New WordPerfect, Now With Bates Numbering
26 Apr 2012 | 5:50 pmI will admit that I have been among those who wonder why some lawyers adhere so loyally to WordPerfect. I was once one of them, but I went with the tide and made the switch to Microsoft Word long ago. Today, however, as I read the announcement of the all-new WordPerfect Office X6 released today by Corel, I wondered anew why we all so quickly abandoned WordPerfect. You can say this about WordPerfect: It tries harder to meet the word-processing needs of lawyers than any other word processor out there. In this latest version, one of the major new enhancements is the addition of Bates… -
Email Encryption, Made Idiotically Easy
25 Apr 2012 | 1:51 pmDo you encrypt confidential client email? You should, of course. But do you? The problem with encryption is that it can be cumbersome. In fact, both encryption and decryption can be a hassle. Now there is a free application that makes encrypting and decrypting emails so easy that, well, even a lawyer can do it. Called Enlocked, it works with Outlook, web-based email clients and even Apple and Android mobile devices. Enlocked adds a "Send Secure" button in Outlook. To use it with Outlook, simply download the plugin, install it and restart Outlook. Now, when you compose an email, a…
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Sentencing Law and Policy
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Big win at polls for medical marijuana supporter in Oregon AG race
16 May 2012 | 7:17 amAs highlighted in this Reuters article, which is headlined "Supporter of Oregon medical pot law wins attorney general race," a significant primary victory for a vocal supporter of medical marijuana suggests the 2012 election cycle might be a real turning... -
NY legislature, responding to contrary court ruling, quick to make CP viewing criminal
16 May 2012 | 6:28 amAs reported in this new Reuters story, headlined "N.Y. Senate passes bill to make viewing child porn on Internet a crime," legislatures have a way of moving fast when it comes to going after people who view the wrong kind... -
Continued great reporting on the toughest state in incarceration nation
16 May 2012 | 6:00 amAs noted in this post from this past weekend, the New Orleans Times-Picayune is published a huge eight-part series on the severity of punishment and prison overcrowding in the Bayou state. This series is titled "Louisiana Incarceration: How We Built... -
Ninth Circuit panel grudgingly allows Arizona execution to go forward
15 May 2012 | 2:17 pmAs reported in this AP article, the Ninth Circuit "is refusing to block an Arizona execution scheduled for Wednesday." Here is a quick summary of all the action: Separate three-judge panels of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in... -
"Can a sex-offender ever have a fresh start?"
15 May 2012 | 1:58 pmThe question in the title of this post is the headline of this notable commentary by Ronnie Polaneczky appearing in the Philadelphia Daily News. Here is how it begins: Twenty-seven years ago, Dale Bickerstaff did a horrible thing. He was...
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Legal Talk Network
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Transgender Family Law in the Courts
16 May 2012 | 9:28 amAdvocates for the transgender community say this segment of the population faces an extremely difficult time in court because of bias and misunderstanding, especially in cases of parental rights and protection for transgender youth. Lawyer2Lawyer co-host and attorney, Bob Ambrogi breaks down the difficulties the transgender community faces every day with Attorney Jennifer L. Levi, the director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project and Attorney Elizabeth E. Monnin-Browder from Ropes & Gray and a former GLAD attorney. Jennifer and Liz also discuss their new book, Transgender Family… -
Women Who Opt Out: The Debate over Working Mothers and Work-Family Balance
15 May 2012 | 1:00 pmBernie Jones, Associate Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School, discusses her new book, “Women Who Opt Out: The Debate over Working Mothers and Work-Family Balance.” -
The BP Oil Spill Case and Large Volume E-Discovery
15 May 2012 | 10:15 amHow do you efficiently handle large volume e-discovery in a high-profile case? Digital Detectives co-hosts, Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc., and John W. Simek, Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, get expert advice from Joe Mulenex, the Regional Technical Director for Avansic, who assisted the discovery team for the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in the BP Oil Spill case. Joe discusses the biggest challenges of handling documents and the importance of project management. He also shares his biggest e-discovery take away from this case. Special Thanks to our… -
Evaluating and Negotiating Workers’ Compensation Claims
14 May 2012 | 12:26 pmClosing a workers’ compensation claim involves a two-step process: evaluation and negotiation. On Ringler Radio, host Larry Cohen joins colleague, Teddy Snyder, Esq. and Attorney Sylvia Lopez from Bakersfield, California, to talk about closing workers’ compensation claims. They explore the risks and advantages to a claimant and employer in closing a workers’ compensation claim, the importance of rated age and how a structured settlement can give injured workers the best of both worlds. Click here to view the embedded video. Watch all the Legal Talk Network Videos on our YouTube… -
Advanced Searching and Technology Assisted Review
11 May 2012 | 10:58 amIdentify the best practices for conducting smart searches by listening to The ESI Report. Host and Attorney and Director of Thought Leadership at Kroll Ontrack, Michele Lange, gets expert advice for conducting smart searches and exploring advanced search options to increase the effectiveness of your search protocol from Harris T. Berenson, E-discovery Counsel for Hughes Hubbard & Reed and Alex C. Gross, Legal Consultant at Kroll Ontrack. Then on the Bits & Bytes Legal Analysis segment, Kroll Ontrack Legal Consultant, Mark Thompson, analyzes recent court opinions discussing the hot…
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Balkinization
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"Secondary" Consumer Boycotts: Breakdown of Civil Society or Pillar of First Amendment Values
16 May 2012 | 11:02 amTheresa J. LeeBradley Smith and Jonathan Adler both recently raised the hue and cry that secondary consumer boycotts are leading to the demise of civil society. As with boycotts, the political and the economic regularly overlap in our current political climate. And in many cases, that interaction is lauded as a vindication of the First Amendment.In that vein, there is already a highly regulated area of law dealing with the interaction of the political and the economic: campaign finance. In Citizens United, the Court rejected the idea that resources from the economic marketplace should not be… -
Tenure and the Law School
15 May 2012 | 4:20 pmLaw schools face increasing pressures to reduce the costs of legal education. While few people like to talk about it, tenure must be a key component of any cost assessment. In many law schools, salaries comprise a large portion of the annual budget. Tenure is especially expensive because it means an institution grants a (virtually) lifetime appointment without any guarantee that the individual who is tenured will continue to produce at a rate that justifies the salary paid. Tenure is also costly because it reduces an institution’s flexibility: the institution cannot (easily) move somebody… -
Con Law in the Round
15 May 2012 | 5:58 amA few weeks back, I (along with Anna Law and Tom Keck) joined Howard Gillman, Mark Graber, and Keith Whittington for a panel at the Midwest Political Science Association meeting on their new constitutional law casebook, American Constitutionalism: Vol. 1 – Structures of Government (Oxford, 2013)(Vol. 1 out now; Vol. 2 – Rights and Liberties, will be available soon).These books are primarily aimed at undergraduate courses in Constitutional Law and Civil Rights and Liberties (known in political science departments as “the sequence”: structure and powers in the fall; rights and liberties… -
Party Discipline and Congressional Rules
14 May 2012 | 6:55 amI'll be part of a Symposium at Notre Dame on Gridlock this Fall, which gives me an opportunity to revisit my interest in the internal procedures of Congress. If you start with the premise that gridlock is a problem that should be fixed (not an assumption everyone shares, of course), then there are a couple of options. The first would be a reform of the Senate filibuster, which I've written about before. Another involves weakening party discipline in Congress to make bipartisanship easier. This is the issue that I want to explore as part of the Constitution-in-practice.There are two ways to… -
The Roots of the Living Constitution
14 May 2012 | 2:59 amMy latest article, The Roots of the Living Constitution, is now available on SSRN. It discusses David Strauss's theory of common law constitutionalism as developed in his important 2010 book, The Living Constitution (Oxford University Press) and compares it with the theory of constitutional change in my recent book, Living Originalism (Harvard University Press 2011).Last fall, Jim Fleming held a conference at B.U. Law School on our two books, and each of us was asked to write about the other's book. These essays will appear in a symposium in B.U. Law Review later this year. This is my essay…
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Simple Justice
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Welcome to the Other Side
16 May 2012 | 4:14 amTempe criminal defense lawyer Matt Brown wrote of his frustration. The criminal justice system is broken. Many judges are little more than prosecutors in robes. The courts fuss and fume when you need an extra week or two to make a decision. They push you into whatever plea comes your way. Matt goes on to vent on the ironies and wrinklies of the broken system, how it's a machine designed to efficiently move defendants from arrest to conviction. Whenever anyone uses language like "fuss and fume," it tells me that emotions have overcome reason. This is the mistaken language of… -
Cash is the Crime
16 May 2012 | 3:24 amRadley Balko posts about a car stop in Monterey, Tennessee, where a brave police officer, Larry Bates, caught a heinous criminal. The person driving the car, George Reby, was no criminal. He wasn't arrested. Reby was stopped for speeding, though it's unclear whether he was given a ticket. It may have slipped the officer's mind as he struggled with the vicious criminal, wrestled the criminal until, exhausted and spent, the criminal was subdued. The name of the vicious criminal in the accusatory charges against it? $22,000 in United States Currency.From… -
Without Pics, It Never Happened
15 May 2012 | 3:19 amIt's an internet meme, the Rules of the Internet. It's a funny joke to most, though in a peculiar way it has always carried a kernel of truth. But as Max Kennerly found out after trial, the joke is on us. Last Friday, after 15 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in favor of our client on all six questions — relating to the nature of the agreement, damages, whether our client breached his obligations, whether defendants would get a set-off, and when the statute of limitations began to run — and awarded him $4.17 million in damages. The vote was… -
An Epidemic of Furtive Movement
14 May 2012 | 4:45 amIt would be a New York joke if it didn't mean that 684,000 people were stopped on the streets of New York and frisked last year. In 2003, cops stopped and frisked 160,851 people and recovered 604 guns. This proved that stop and frisked worked, even if it meant the sacrifice of the right to be left alone of more than 150,000 people. Last year, they recovered 780 guns, proportionately negligible, which again proves that stop and frisk works. Mayor Bloomberg explains that the reason so few guns per capita were seized is that people are afraid to walk around the… -
Cincinnati Police Chief Says Tasers Can Kill
14 May 2012 | 3:21 amJames Craig, of "I'm a Phoenix fame," heads up the 1000 member Cincinnati police department. While that number of officers is slightly more than the number needed to change a New York light bulb, it's still a big city police department, which makes James Craig's announcement matter, as he's the first top cop to admit the obvious: Tasers sometimes kill people.From Cincinnati.com: In light of a recently released scientific study that shows the electronic Taser stun guns can cause cardiac arrest and death, the leader of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s…
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Law Blog
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And Then There Were None: Dewey’s Landgraf Exits
16 May 2012 | 10:25 amUPDATE: Apparently a few employees are still roaming the halls at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP's Manhattan offices. Make that 100, to be precise. On Wednesday the firm amended its WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) filing with the New York state Department of Labor to reflect the following: there are 533 total employees, not 433, as stated in the initial May 8 filing. All but one 100 are still out of a job, though. . . -
Survey Says Post-Recession Shifts Are Here to Stay
16 May 2012 | 9:35 amIn the years since the 2008 financial downturn forced law firms to trim lawyers and discount services, one question has loomed large: will the changes be permanent? Unfortunately, yes, according to a new poll of law firm leaders out Wednesday from the consulting firm Altman Weil Inc. -
Fired for a Sin or for a Blessing?
16 May 2012 | 8:54 amJarretta Hamilton began teaching at Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, Fla., in 2008, got pregnant with her then-fiance, got married, was fired and filed a discrimination lawsuit. -
In Sleepy Clemens Trial, Jurors Keep Nodding Off
16 May 2012 | 7:09 amThe trial of former ex-ace Roger Clemens on charges he lied about steroid use is in its fifth week, and already two jurors have been booted for sleeping on the job. -
Chris Clark, Dewey’s White-Collar Head, Leaves for Latham
16 May 2012 | 6:34 amChristopher J. Clark, the head of Dewey's white-collar defense practice, will join Latham & Watkins LLP as a partner. Unlike many other partners who've jumped off the Dewey ship, Mr. Clark is moving to Latham solo.
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Blawg Review
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Blawg Review on Facebook!
14 May 2012 | 11:00 amIf you know all about Dave! (that's Dave with an exclamation point) you know that he's been Simpsonized. He's a bona fide comic character! Dave! had aleady hosted four unique presentations of Blawg Review, a clever chart format showing his programming skills, a back-to-school special while he was a law student, a bar exam nail-biter when he knew the feeling, and a flashback to the early days of the worldwide web. Crazzzzy! Whenever we see an opportunity for a Blawg Review that would be enhanced by his mad geek skillz, we turn to Dave! Today, being the 28th birthday of Facebook co-founder and… -
More Than A Woman
7 May 2012 | 8:00 amGirlfriends of the Court, Melissa and Kate, on Amicae Curiae present this week's Blawg Review #320 to mark the 600th birthday of Joan of Arc and the anniversary of the Seige of Orleans. Opening for the ladies in Australia are the incomparable Bee Gees! -
Canajun, eh?
30 Apr 2012 | 11:05 amOn this day, the bicentennial of statehood for Louisiana, one might wonder why not enlist a Cajun blogger to host Blawg Review #319. Instead, we've got this Canajun trial warrior to remind us that this day historically marks the Louisiana Purchase. How so? As most Americans know, the Louisiana Purchase encompassed all or parts of fifteen current states and small parts of what is now two provinces--few Canadians are aware of that! But what about the French and the British? Napoleon Bonaparte, upon completion of the agreement stated, "This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the… -
Make It Count
23 Apr 2012 | 7:45 amDan Hull @Whataboutparis, inspired by Shakespeare, inadvertently channels Hunter S. Thompson in this week's Blawg Review #318.My name is Dan Hull. I practice law to (1) make money, (2) ensure that every day will be different than the one before, (3) to use everything I have practicing law so I can feel alive, (4) to serve sophisticated purchasers of legal services who "get it"--corporate clients with in-house counsel normally represented by much larger firms--and to put them first, and (5) treat my law practice and firm and as not just a shop but also as a laboratory for new ideas. -
Letter from Birmingham Jail
16 Apr 2012 | 6:16 amMark Bennett hosts Blawg Review #317 on his blog, Defending People, to commemorate this date in 1963 when Martin Luther King Jr wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail. That letter is reproduced in full in this week's Blawg Review, as Bennett says, it's worth it. In our view so are the many links to current law blog posts selected for this thoughtful presentation. The times have changed but the issues remain the same. What's going on?
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ABA Journal Daily News
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Given Choice Between Law School and Cleveland Browns, Ohio State Grad Bids Goodbye to Football
16 May 2012 | 12:52 pmGiven the choice between a football career and the law, an Ohio State University graduate has nixed a chance to try out for the Cleveland Browns. Former linebacker Andrew Sweat tweeted that he didn't want to take a chance of suffering a severe concussion in the National Football League, the New York Daily News reports. He had already had several in college play. Above the Law urged him to give football a try, but as a CNN article notes, he might make more, in the long run, as a lawyer. And, as Sweat points out, he's more likely to retain… -
Bar Seeks DA’s Disbarment, Cites Hair Transplant Loan, Money Given to Friend and Ex Parte Contact
16 May 2012 | 12:10 pmThe State Bar of California is seeking disbarment of the district attorney in a remote county, contending that he has failed to disclose as required information related to his job. Del Norte DA Jon Alexander should have publicly disclosed, the bar contends in an attorney disciplinary case (PDF provided by Times-Standard) filed Tuesday, a $6,000 loan he received in 2010 from a defense attorney to pay for a hair replacement procedure and a $14,000 loan he made in 2009 to the county's assistant chief probation officer, at a time when Alexander was public defender in Del Norte County. The… -
Help Pick the Legal Novel of the Year; Vote for One of Three Harper Lee Prize Finalists
16 May 2012 | 10:47 amAfter reviewing some 40 submissions, judges have selected three finalists for the 2012 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. Now you can help them pick the winner by voting in the poll accompanying this post through July 8. Those up for the prize this year are: Michael Connelly, author of The Fifth Witness; Robert Dugoni for his book Murder One; and David Ellis for Breach of Trust. This is the 2nd Annual Harper Lee Prize, which is sponsored by the ABA Journal and the University of Alabama Law School. The prize is given annually to a book-length work of fiction… -
Claimed Fla. Sunshine Law Advice re Hospital Merger Talks Costs Law Firm $6M
16 May 2012 | 10:05 amA public taxing district board for a New Smyrna Beach, Fla., says the advice it got from an Orlando lawyer concerning compliance with the state's Sunshine Law has proven expensive. After a state court judge nixed a planned 2010 merger with Adventist Health Systems over 21 closed-door meetings over a 16-month period, the Bert Fish Medical Center and the Southeast Volusia Hospital District sued attorney Jim Heekin and his law firm, Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor and Reed. The hospital board claims to have wasted $3.4 million in district administrative and legal fees and lost another $19.1… -
Have You Ever Asked a Particularly Bold Question on a Job Interview? Did It Succeed or Backfire?
16 May 2012 | 9:51 amLast week at the Careerist, Vivia Chen took note of a post at Forbes' Crossing Borders blog in which the post's author, Maseena Ziegler, described a bold interview move she used repeatedly while in her 20s. At the end of the interview, when her interviewer would ask her if she had any questions, she would ask: "If you didn’t offer me this job, what would the reason be?” And the interesting thing? "Every single time I asked it at the end of the interview, I ended up with a job offer," Ziegler wrote. Chen is skeptical of whether such a…
