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District court’s holding that Congress lacked constitutional authority to enact a provision under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which provides for the civil commitment of a sexually dangerous person already in federal criminal custody in lieu of release upon service of full sentence, is reversed and remanded as the provision comes within the legitimate scope of congressional power conferred by the Necessary and Proper Clause of the federal Constitution....

A woman who operated an illegal marijuana farm in the northeastern United States is apparently guilty of a crime of illegally growing pot, but not for aiding and abetting, according to the First Circuit. The federal appeals court determined that a jury should not have been allowed to convict Darlene Ford for letting her husband borrow her assault rifle for target practice merely because she “had reason to know” of his felonious past....

Challenge to Florida Bar Peer Review In Zisser v. Fla. Bar, No. 10-11974, a constitutional challenge to the confidential peer review part of the Florida Bar’s certification rules, the court affirmed judgment for defendants where 1) the district court correctly reasoned that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine deprived it of jurisdiction to decide plaintiff’s as-applied challenges; and 2) Shahawy and similar cases did not fit these circumstances because “unlike hospital staff privileges, which provide physicians with the ability to employ their skills at a hospital, board certification provides no such benefit and is irrelevant to an attorney’s ability to practice or appear before any court....

Tough times, like in our current economy, can call for tough measures, especially for small and solo law firms. Splitting costs with another small or solo firm can help you balance your budget – but some cost-splitting agreements may get you in trouble. As a reminder, here are three ways you can – and can’t – split costs and fees, if you’re thinking of joining forces with another law office:...

Non-Indians think they know better than Indians what is best for Native American children, said lawyers for the Navajo Nation in arguments before a federal appeals court. It’s a bold argument, but goes to the heart of the case in Brackeen v. Bernhardt. Under the Indian Child Welfare Act, Indian tribes have priority over non-Indians in Native American adoptions. Last year in Texas, a trial judge struck down the Act. Now the tribes are defending ICWA in the U....

Back in October the villainous Marriott’s Nashville Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center was slammed by the FCC for jamming convention-goers’ Wi-Fi signals, ostensibly to push them into paying the hotel for Wi-Fi access at between $250 and $1,000 per head. That led to a $600,000 fine and a three-year consent decree, but the hotel did not admit malice – they maintained that their purpose was to protect the public from rogue hotspots that steal data and transmit malware to unsuspecting users....

Apple violated Samsung’s patents on older model iPhones and iPads according to a U.S. trade agency opinion issued Tuesday, a violation which has prompted a ban on sale of most older model iPhones and iPads. In an order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), the federal agency barred the import and sale of the AT&T models of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G, reports Reuters....

Can you speak a language other than English? Can you do so well enough to attract speakers of that language as potential clients? If so, it may just be a matter of expanding your marketing to reach that demographic. If not, you may want to consider setting up an account with a remote translation service and virtual receptionist, then marketing to certain demographics in your area. (Just always make sure your ads are ethical)....

DUI defense lawyers: do you need more clients? Cross your fingers, because they could be coming in droves. According to The New York Times, the current universal limit of 0.08 was adopted by all fifty states and the District of Columbia after President Bill Clinton signed a bill in 2000 that conditioned highway funding on adopting the lower limit. However, the standard in most of the industrialized world is even lower — at 0....

If you’re a lawyer who helps shady characters invest in high-end real estate or aids anonymous L.L.C.s looking to buy up Manhattan penthouses, the feds may have you in their sights. The Treasury Department announced last week that it will start identifying and tracking secret buyers of high-end real estate and will soon turn its focus to the real estate agents, bankers, and attorneys who assist in the deals. The news comes from the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which issued new Geographic Targeting Orders last week....

Every enterprise hits rough patches. Sales go down. Key employees quit. Lawyers sue. It’s part of doing business. A “company catastrophe,” however, is more than a rough patch. It’s like when a hurricane hits. Here’s how to survive a real one. Two Hurricanes Valeria Quinones did it – twice. She opened a restaurant in Puerto Rico in the face of two hurricanes that paralyzed the island. The death toll from Hurricane Maria is still rising....

Law is built on a system of precedent, which can make it difficult to adapt to a changing society. This emphasis on “the way things have always been” isn’t just part of case law and statutes. It’s part of the way many law firms are run. But if large firms’ recent financial troubles are any indicator, stagnancy is problematic. For smaller law firms, the habits are no less ingrained, but it is easier to make important changes....

PACER, your favorite tool for getting federal court documents, may not be your favorite for long. CourtListener, a service of the Free Law Project, now offers every free written order and opinion that is available on PACER. And unlike the court’s preferred provider, CourtListener does not require a user account with the typical conditions. The service does not replace PACER, but it makes research a lot easier and cheaper. The Free Law Project also threw in a bonus: a legal scraping toolkit....

As high-profile shootings stunned the world, a lesser-known shooting incident was changing social media law. It happened in Ocean Beach, a small town in Southern California. It is most famous for the pier – the longest on the West Coast. It’s also where Jeffrey Renteria was shot, and where his shooter tried to get his private Facebook information. Lance Touchstone said he needed it for his criminal defense; a state appeals court said, more or less, not over the law’s dead body....

The new Samsung 9 laptop has PC enthusiasts going gaga. Many computer users complain that they have so few choices when it comes to stylish, lightweight computers made from strong materials. The Samsung 9 may be the computer that fits the bill. It is lighter and thinner than the Apple MacBook Air. It packs a 1.4GHz second-gen Core i5 processor and a battery that lasts up to 6.5 hours, along with 4GB RAM, a 128GB solid-state drive....

Benedictine monks are celebrating – as circumspectly as monks do – after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the Louisiana case against unlicensed coffin-makers. According to The Associated Press, counsel for the St. Joseph Abbey announced that SCOTUS has refused to hear the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors appeal of the Fifth Circuit’s opinion, allowing “entrepreneurs” in all the field of things that contain dead bodies to flourish....

Big news from the Senate this week: Stephanie Dawn Thacker has been confirmed as a judge for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, writes The Hill. Thacker was nominated by President Barack Obama in September 2011 to fill the vacancy left by the death of Judge M. Blane Michael earlier that year. She was nominated upon recommendation by Senator Jay Rockefeller, who praised her humility and intellectual honesty this week at her confirmation....

Maybe you learned to practice law before hacking became the scourge of institutions everywhere, including the government. If that’s the case, you’re probably having a difficult time understanding why you should worry about monetary risks associated with being incompetent in technology. Here’s one reason to consider: you could be in violation of your professional duties. It’s true. Technological incompetence is the latest ethical violation for which attorneys are finding themselves attending an ethics hearing....

Us youngins sometimes forget that there is this world, this off-line world, in which many people exist, especially once we’ve begun a career that requires us to be online every day. We buy everything online (except suits), we keep in touch with friends and family online, and we do all of our research and writing online. Yet, not everyone lives their entire life online. We’ve preached the merits of a strong online presence, including social media accounts and law blogs, but if you were in need of a lawyer, would you go with a random face on the Internet or someone recommended by a friend?...

This Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit ruled that it would not rehear the case of Gavin Grimm, the Virginia high school student who sought to use the boy’s bathroom until a furor rose with parents threatening to vote out the school board unless Grimm was barred from using the boy’s bathroom. The Circuit’s refusal to rehear the case en banc, which essentially obligates Gavin’s school to let him begin using the boy’s bathroom again – or it will at least guarantee that this fight will move up to the Supreme Court....