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When seeking out electronic data, litigators need to be aware of the various places that relevant data, especially other electronic communications, may be stored. When it comes to ediscovery, there’s more than just email. In addition to email communications, when litigating against a business entity, there are likely to be instant messaging platforms, as well as internal and external social media communications, not to mention raw data on employment, finances, and other trackable metrics....

In an age when a black lawyer became President of the United States, it is surprising that black attorneys are the least represented ethnic group at American law firms. According to a new survey, law firms have made little progress in diversity hiring. Only three percent of lawyers – including associates and partners at more than 300 firms – are black. “Black lawyers are the least represented at every level,” the ABA Journal reported....

There is a bit of misguided mythology out there about the nature of blogging. It seems that a fair number of netizens still operate under the notion of blogging as some romantic voyage into inner expression. There may have been a time when that was the predominant paradigm. Not anymore. That is, not if you’re trying to run a business. Today, blogging is as much a business as it is an art....

A federal suit filed in August by a former camper at a Missouri summer camp alleges that the director sexually abused him for seven years, and that the camp’s founder and CEO knew about the inappropriate contact with campers. The Kanakuk Kamp is a Christian summer camp founded by “Promise Keeper” Joe White. “Kamp” director Peter D. Newman pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2010 for molesting more than 20 boys, reports The Dallas Morning News....

Old West Annuity & Life Ins. Co. v. Apollo Grp., No. 09-10994, concerned the government’s appeal from the district court’s allocation of surplus proceeds from the sale of real property in a foreclosure action. The court of appeals affirmed, on the grounds that 1) the district court correctly concluded that Florida law supplied the pertinent alter ego test; 2) even if the government was correct that the district court should have transferred the surplus proceeds to the trustee to distribute according to the Bankruptcy Code or that the district court itself should have applied the Bankruptcy Code’s priorities, a creditor would be entitled to the disputed proceeds actually awarded to it by the district court; and 3) even assuming that the trustee of the estate at issue had a hypothetical lien that took priority over the two secured creditors’ liens, the secured creditors’ liens could not be avoided by the trustee....

Until today, there was a 3-1 split regarding whether aliens could use the Alien Tort Statute to sue corporations in U.S. courts for human rights offenses committed overseas. The D.C. Circuit, (John Doe VIII et al v. Exxon Mobil Corp et al), the Ninth Circuit, (Sarei v. Rio Tinto), and the Seventh Circuit, (Flomo v. Firestone Natural Rubber Co.), had all ruled that federal courts have jurisdiction over alien claims under the ATS....

In In re Gates, No. 09-4125, the Fourth Circuit faced a challenge to district court’s contempt conviction of a criminal defense attorney for failing to appear in court on time for a plea hearing. As stated in the decision: “It has long been the rule in the Fourth Circuit that the mere failure to appear in court at a scheduled proceeding is not an act committed in the actual presence of the court and is therefore not punishable summarily under Rule 42(b)....

The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reviewed a deportation case that implicated the proper interpretation and application of the International Treaty of the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The case is an interesting highlight into the limitations of the CAT. The appeals court found that almost certain knowledge by a state actor who detains a deported felon (from the United States) that the detainee might suffer severe pain and suffering does not rise to the level of “specific intent” under CAT – thereby not affording such persons protection under the treaty....

Maybe it’s because of all the Abercrombie & Fitch hijab cases last year, or maybe it was just the right time, but earlier this month the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued two publications regarding religious garb and grooming in the workplace, reports Mondaq. On March 6, 2014, the EEOC issued “Fact Sheet on Religious Garb and Grooming in the Workplace: Rights and Responsibilities” and a corresponding question-and-answer guide. While this is a must read for an in-house attorney working with a company that has employees (that’s everyone), we thought we’d highlight some of the major takeaways for you....

There aren’t many lawyers who went into law because a career in theoretical mathematics would have been just too easy. In fact, many of us can probably get away with counting on our fingers much of the time – except when it comes complex patent litigation. Or to client funds. Lawyers’ ethical responsibility to maintain a client’s funds in trust is one of the most common reasons lawyers face disciplinary action....

In plaintiff’s action for breach of contract and quantum meruit, district court’s entry of judgment in favor of the defendant based on an earlier judgment entered by the Superior Court of Quebec is reversed and remanded where: 1) it is clear that genuine issues of fact remain to be resolved before the authority of Quebec to exercise personal jurisdiction over defendant can be established; and 2) district court’s analysis of jurisdiction is deficient as absent from the district court’s analysis is any discussion of the “Gestalt factors,” which a court must consider to determine the fairness of subjecting the defendant to a foreign jurisdiction....

In a recent ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, some much-needed clarity has been provided regarding the FBI’s use of malware to track individuals accused of possession and distribution of child pornography. Notably, the appellate court upheld the use under the good faith exception of the exclusionary rule. In short, the court found that the officers that sought the warrant allowing the use of the malware pursued the warrant in good faith after consultation with government attorneys and did not make misrepresentations to obtain the warrant....

In what may be the first casualty of net neutrality rules, the new Federal Communications Commission announced it will not investigate internet service providers who may offer “zero-rating” data plans to customers. The FCC notified AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Comcast that the investigations the Obama administration started are over. The zero ratings investigations looked into whether the companies were violating net neutrality rules by not charging customers to use data with certain apps....

In Thomas v. Allen, No. 09-12869, a capital habeas matter, the court of appeals affirmed the district court’s grant of the petition, holding that: 1) there was no Alabama precedent stating that when a capital offender has numerous IQ test scores during the developmental period, and one of those IQ scores is over 70, the court cannot find the offender mentally retarded; 2) petitioner showed, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he had significant subaverage intellectual functioning during the developmental period; and 3) the district court did not clearly err in its determination regarding petitioner’s adaptive behavior during the developmental period....

The IRS is looking for tax money wherever it can, but is finding that it’s not so easy in the world of virtual currency. Bitcoin, a digital currency targeted by taxing authorities, is still safe at Coinbase, the nation’s largest exchanger of the crypto-currency. The IRS recently served a summons for information about Coinbase users, but the company is expected to oppose the request. The IRS claims that two people used exchanger to avoid taxes, and it has asked for information to identify all Coinbase customers from 2013 to 2015....

District court’s award of $100 million to the plaintiffs in their action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for murder related convictions due to FBI’s suppression of contrary evidence, is affirmed where, although high, the amount is not so grossly disproportionate to the harm sustained as to either shock the Court’s collective conscience or raise the specter of a miscarriage of justice, and the court used a permissible methodology in computing damages and they are not so excessive as to warrant intervention....

After 20 years at Sony Pictures, Corii Berg is going to Lionsgate as its new general counsel. Berg had been a senior executive for Sony, but will become senior legal and business affairs executive at Lionsgate. The company said he will fill a position that has been vacant for a while. It’s also a new legal order of things at Lionsgate, which saw its last general counsel move to a subsidiary earlier this year....

Ultima creator Richard Garriott, better-known to the online gaming community as his alter ego Lord British, has 28 million reasons to be happy this week. On Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $32 million jury award - $28 million in damages, plus $4 million in attorneys fees and interest - in Garriott’s Korean employment law dispute with NCsoft Corporation, a Korean company that develops and publishes massively multiplayer online (MMO) games....

In plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against a police officer and the police department, arising from an incident where plaintiff’s lost and intoxicated thirteen-year-old son was bitten by a police patrol dog used by an officer to find him, district court’s denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment on basis of qualified immunity is reversed and remanded as, qualified immunity is appropriate because the officer did not violate clearly established law in his search for a missing boy who faced serious potential injury....

Though most of the nation wouldn’t care (and still doesn’t), the National Football League released a press release recently to let everyone know just what’s going on at its legal headquarters. Putting aside the fact that the press release was probably some sort of half-hearted scare tactic, it actually provided some interesting information for those of you following the NFL antitrust lawsuit. Now we know, that in a bid to beef up its legal team, the league has added antitrust superstar David Boies and former United States Solicitor General Paul Clement to its roster....