Posts

During the tough economic times when companies are downsizing and cutting costs, Barnes & Noble decided to buck the trend and go big. The chain that made hanging out at bookstores cool, is offering free wireless connectivity at all of its 777 U.S. stores and launching an eBookstore to enable its customers to buy and read ebooks on handheld platforms such as the iPhone, iPod touch, Blackberry smartphones, and laptops. The wireless service is powered by AT&T–which also works with Starbucks to offer that franchise’s patrons internet access....

In US v. Lee, No. 08-17077, the court of appeals affirmed defendant’s convictions for attempted enticement of a minor, attempted production of child pornography, and knowing receipt of child pornography, on the grounds that 1) it was possible for defendant to violate either 18 U.S.C. section 2422(b) or sections 2251(a) and (e) where he communicated with an adult intermediary and attempted to exploit two fictitious minor girls; and 2) a reasonable jury could have found that defendant committed the offenses charged in the indictment....

David E. Gorski had a good business plan: get government contracts for a construction company owned and operated by disabled veterans. It worked like a charm, quickly bringing in more than $110 million under a government program. There’s was only one problem: disabled veterans didn’t actually own and control the company. For defrauding the government, Gorski received 30 months in prison and a $6.7 million forfeiture order. In United States of America v....

One man’s immersion program is another man’s Bivens claim. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that Miami prison officials did not violate a Florida prisoner’s free speech rights when they eliminated Spanish from a residential drug abuse program. Velazquez, who is Puerto Rican and only speaks Spanish, argued that he had a First Amendment right to speak the official language of Puerto Rico, according to the First Amendment Center....

Pacing around concrete pits at the Cherokee Bear Zoo, four bears begged for food from visitors. Patrons obliged, throwing apples and dry bread supplied by the zoo. Two visitors, however, walked away disgusted. Peggy Hill and Amy Walker, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, sued for inhumane treatment of the endangered animals. A court decision in the case should cause zoo keepers to re-evaluate their practices. “Behavioral Patterns” The U....

Is the time ripe for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to finally pass? Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrated the Supreme Court rulings as landmark decisions that moved the nation closer to full equality. But many people are already turning their focus to the fact that it’s still perfectly legal in a majority of states to discriminate against the LGBT community, and to do so in employment. Is ENDA the next step?...

There’s nothing quite like slaving for a client only to get stiffed on your bill. Fee-shifting statutes can help with that. While they often tie-in to speciality practice areas, it’s good to know when you can tap a statute for those fees your client can’t afford. The gateway to those fees is to prevail in court. It won’t work for everybody, but some lawyers make a good living at it – especially when fighting in the public’s interest....

If you are a tech geek and a lawyer, we’re willing to bet that you are the do-it-yourself type. Aren’t we all? Why pay someone else to handle client communication or manage your web presence when you can set up your own website and return your own calls? You get the point. Your time is valuable – not in the clichéd sense, but in the actual billable hour sense. Change your own oil?...

Marlow Humbert was homeless, but not anymore. After Baltimore police wrongly arrested and jailed him for more than a year, a jury awarded him $2.3 million in damages against the city police for constitutional violations. A federal appeals court reinstated the judgment in Humbert v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. “[T]he Officers caused legal process to be instituted and maintained against him without probable cause to believe that he committed a crime,” the U....

“OK Google, you can stop recording our conversation now.” It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Google’s voice services create a record of what you’ve said. The company, after all, already records and stores your search and browsing activity. The company knows more about you than your mother. Luckily, though, it’s not too hard to find and get rid of Google’s audio trail. If you’re concerned that Google may have picked up potentially confidential information, or if you just like your privacy, you might want to look into Google’s voice and audio policy....

Note to self: turn off your phone’s location data if you are in a high-crime area. That’s not a warning to would-be criminals; it applies to everybody. It’s especially true if you don’t want the FBI looking for you. The FBI has asked Google for location data on anyone close to robberies in two states. Your information, too, may soon be on their radar. Google Witness The FBI’s “reverse location” orders could catch anybody who uses Google services....

While we’ve seen quite a bit of talk about self-driving cars and “taxis” this year, one of the self-driving vehicle industry’s greatest challenges has been waiting on the side of the road: Self-driving semi trucks. For most drivers, driving next to, or in front of, an 80,000 pound semi truck is one of the more frightening parts of being on any roadway. However, that fright likely pales in comparison to driving near an 80,000 pound semi truck that doesn’t even have a driver in the cab....

One password requires that you use special characters, the other forbids them. One password expires every three months, while another account has kept you logged in so long you couldn’t even begin to guess what your password might be. You use a few variations of the same password to get you through as much as you can – if you’re forced to use something too far off from the original, you just reset your password every other time you need to log in....

There’s some grumbling out there about what a jerk Napster’s John Fanning was to create jerk.com, a now-defunct website that asked users to rate whether a stranger was a jerk or not. But those same persons may be cheering a little inside knowing that Fanning lost a bid to undo an FTC suit against him in the First Circuit, on the grounds that he was personally liable for materially misrepresentations made on the site....

There are a lot of apps out there specifically for lawyers, but there are also a lot of useful apps that are good for lawyers without being specific to the practice of law. Networking is an important part of being a lawyer that has nothing to do with law. It applies to anyone looking for clients, looking for a better job, or just looking to make connections. That’s pretty much every lawyer out there....

Sorry, that’s a lot of adjectives, but it’ll all make sense in a second. Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board announced that it would issue proposed changes to Representation-Case Procedures, those used for petitioning and voting on unionization. The new rules are intended to simplify the procedures, postpone litigation until after the election, and generally speed up the process. The new rules are also old rules. You see, the NLRB tried this once before, but the rules were tossed out in court due to a procedural gaffe....

‘Tis the Season for Corporate Oversight. In house can likely feel the mounting tension in the air … Probably now is a good time for IH to advise their clients to adopt a positive attitude about this change in federal law even though the most obvious CEO’s response would be to foam at the mouth. Great Recession & Dodd-Frank Dodd-Frank was signed into law in mid 2010 by President Obama in response to the subprime mortgage crises of 2008 and signaled what is considered by many the largest set of reforms on the financial industry since the Great Depression....

No jaw-jacking in the courthouse! Wait, let’s rewind. What is jaw-jacking? If you ask Indiana defense attorney Jerry Peteet, it’s when a group of deputy prosecutors and court employees gather near a judge’s chambers to drink coffee and gossip. It creates such an appearance of impropriety that it should be banned from the courthouse. At least that was the reason given by Peteet when he recently asked Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr....

A lawsuit that reads like some sort of edge-of-your-seat political thriller has just been dismissed by the federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Plaintiff, Sharyl Attkisson, a former CBS News investigative reporter, claimed that she was subject to unlawful wiretapping for over a year. Raising massive credibility questions, the plaintiff’s claim asserted that the wiretapping was initiated by the Obama administration after she published stories critical of the federal government....

Wardrobe tips are a funny thing: Often times, when you tell someone how to dress, you tick them off. But there’s no denying that the wardrobe, at least around law offices and the courts, has gotten a bit less formal over the last decade or two. With that in mind, Robert Half Legal, a staffing agency, asked 350 lawyers who work with “the largest law firms and companies in the United States and Canada” whether we should all step our game up....