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Finally, we have Wikileaks news that has nothing to do with Julian Assange’s extradition woes. Today, District Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria, Virginia ruled that prosecutors could demand Wikileaks Twitter account information for Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gonggrijp, and Birgitta Jonsdittir in conjunction with a criminal probe into Wikileaks’ disclosure of classified documents. O’Grady also refused to unseal orders and other court documents relating to the three Wikileakers in the case....

Illegal Reentry Sentence Affirmed In US v. Cruz-Rodriguez, No. 09-40500, the court affirmed defendant’s sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S. where 1) the offense of willful infliction of corporal injury under California law was a crime of violence for the purpose of sentence adjustments under U.S.S.G. section 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii); and 2) the California offense of making a criminal threat was not a crime of violence for the purpose of sentencing adjustments under U....

District court’s conviction of defendant for possession and distribution of crack cocaine is affirmed where: 1) the appeal-waiver provision of defendant’s plea agreement does not bar an appeal challenging the validity of his guilty plea; but 2) a denial of defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea is affirmed on the merits. Read US v. Isom, No. 08-1263 Appellate Information Appeal from the United State District Court for the District of Rhode IslandDecided September 2, 2009...

What is the Video Privacy Protection Act and why is it standing in the way of Netflix from releasing its new Facebook Application? The Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) dates back to the eighties, in the days of videotape. During the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Robert Bork, a reporter from the Washington City Paper convinced a video store clerk to providing him with Bork’s rental history. The VPPA prohibits a “video tape service provider” from disclosing the “personally identifiable information” of its customers, absent written consent....

While we all might not be able to be like Mike (Avenatti, that is) and lean into the political times with his hashtag #basta, if you’re trying to develop your firm’s brand identity, having your own hashtag could really help. But a word of caution before you start brainstorming your brand’s new digital calling card: Search your hashtag before you use it, and review it weekly for a change in the weather....

It’s a hard thing, defending so many people in court that you don’t even recognize your clients’ faces. But that is a given for many public defenders, like those in Santa Clara County, California, who handle scores of cases each day in the turnstiles of criminal court. For some 124 attorneys, there are about 37,000 clients a year. That’s why “participatory defense” is the new black for public defenders. It’s a new name for an old school practice in criminal law....

Some of the largest judgments and verdicts you will see against employers involve wage and hour class action claims. Wage and hour lawsuits encompass many violations. One of the trickiest areas can involve figuring just when employees are working, also known as compensable time. So just when is someone working? Unfortunately, not every case is straightforward. Here are five compensable time scenarios that frequently give rise to problems, as reported by Inside Counsel:...

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. The House has approved the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA, H.R. 624). CISPA allows private companies and the federal government to exchange information relating to cybersecurity threats. The bill was passed in the face of some concerns that it might provide private consumer information to the government. According to Reuters, President Obama has threatened to veto the bill on the basis that it supposedly does not mandate that companies take the greatest efforts to remove personal information before providing it to the government....

One of the more creative ideas I’ve had for advertising a law firm was to put a DUI law firm’s phone number on bottle openers and either leave them on the counter at a liquor store or toss ’em into cases of beer at nearby stores. I never tried this – it probably violates some ethical rule that I was too lazy to look up, but it seemed like a good idea in theory....

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Wednesday in the Texas Sonogram Bill case, Texas Medical Providers, et al v. David Lakey. The New Orleans-based court will decide whether to lift U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks’ order blocking enforcement of Texas H.B. 15, which requires a doctor to perform a sonogram on a woman requesting an abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure. The law also mandates that the doctor describe the unborn child to the woman, and list agencies that offer alternatives to abortion....

A woman disgruntled with the way a Camden burglary investigation was conducted lost her challenge in the First Circuit Court of Appeals last Tuesday. Finding in favor of the Camden Police Department, the First Circuit held that Linda Ann Irving’s appeal offered “little in the way of substantive challenges to the district court’s decision.” Irving had initially argued that the police failed to properly investigate a March 2008 burglary of her Camden home....

In 2003, Gary Lee Sampson was convicted of killing three people in Massachusetts and sentenced to death under a federal carjacking law. Before the execution could take place, however, a Massachusetts federal district court ordered a new sentencing trial based on evidence that a juror had lied during the selection process. Federal prosecutors appealed. Over the course of a week, Sampson allegedly carjacked and murdered three people: 69-year-old Philip McCloskey, 19-year-old Jonathan Rizzo, and 58-year-old Robert Whitney....

You’ve been working as a solo-attorney for a while, but it may be time to actually take the leap and become an employer. Since you need to concentrate on your clients, and billing those hours, you should find someone to help you with administrative tasks like copying and filing and answering phones. Maybe you want to take it a step further and have someone assist you with drafting letters and research....

We conducted an informal survey here at FindLaw’s Secret Volcano Headquarters, and for the life of us, we can’t figure out what LinkedIn is supposed to be. Ten years after it launched, we know we’re members of LinkedIn, but why are we there? All of us get requests to add co-workers and friends of co-workers, and to even endorse people for skills that we may or may not know they have (you know you’ve done it)....

For the wordsmith in all of us, here’s the difference between a “niche” and a “specialty” law practice: Specialty: concentrate on and become an expert in a particular subject or skill. Niche: a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment. With those definitions in mind, we’re going to focus on taking your niche practice to the next level. Niche in Life Once you have figured out your speciality, it’s about being comfortable with what you can do with it....

Why is an Italian restaurant suing a bagel company in federal court? Sure, you can chalk it up to it being Florida, but it turns out the dispute is unrelated to the vortex of sanity that seems to exist down there. The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. advertises that its bagels are so awesome because it utilizes a “patented 14-stage water treatment process” designed to mimic the water in Brooklyn. As everyone knows, New York bagels are considered the best bagels because of the water in New York City....

You know, you’d think that lawyers would have learned by now: Don’t ask a question unless you’re sure of the answer. Then again, a silly answer might be just what you were hoping for. Robin Thicke, the vanguard of our proud nation’s rich cultural traditions, preemptively sued the estate of Marvin Gaye to ward off claims that Thicke plagiarized elements of Gaye’s 1977 “Got to Give It Up” in Thicke’s hit song “Blurred Lines....

The First Circuit made headlines at the end of last week with news regarding two notorious Massachusetts convicted criminals, Gary Lee Sampson and Tarek Mehanna. New Death Penalty Hearing Gary Lee Sampson pleaded guilty to carjacking and killing three people, and a jury sentenced him to death in 2003, reports The Boston Globe. District court Judge Wolf vacated his sentence after he learned that “one of the jurors lied about her family’s history with drugs and law enforcement,” noting that “he would have excluded her if he had known,” according to The Boston Globe....

The Silk Road is no more. For those unfamiliar with the infamous online drug and illegal services marketplace, it was part of the hidden Internet, accessible only through Tor, which we tinkered with last month. Now, the site has been taken down, and its alleged founder, Ross Ulbrict, has been indicted on drug conspiracy, hacking, and murder for hire charges. With the reveal of Dread Pirate Roberts (Ulbrict’s online moniker), this begs the ever-present question: is there ever actual anonymity on the Internet, even with the use of Tor and Bitcoins?...

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Many college students likely would covet an internship at Facebook. One Harvard University student landed such an internship. However, he says that the internship offer to him was rescinded by Facebook because he reportedly exposed privacy flaws in Facebook’s mobile messenger. Is that correct or not, and what lesson has been learned? Harvard student, Aran Khanna, launched a browser application from his dorm room....