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FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. We live in the always-on age. Around the clock we can log in and communicate electronically in many ways. While this often is advantageous and convenient in the working world, this dynamic can create challenges and even risks when it comes to vacations. ‘Vacation’ Means Taking a Break We are rewarded with vacation for a reason....

For many lawyers, ‘summer hours’ are nothing more than wishful thinking, or simply a frustrating way for the firm to cut costs. The very thought of closing the office an hour or two early, or scaling back support staff hours, even a couple days a week, over the summer, is fraught with complications (particularly when support staff babysit summer interns). However, for those firms that pride themselves on having a good work-life balance for employees, having summer hours can often be as much of a perennial crowd pleaser for some as it is frustrating for others....

Without fail, in every litigation matter, this question is bound to come up (particularly around the time discovery responses are due): Will you accept service of pleadings and other documents via email? But, note, as one of our readers pointed out, in some states, such as Illinois, accepting pleadings via email is a requirement. Under FRCP Rule 5, if the person being served consents to receiving service by electronic means, such as email or fax (or ECF), then service will be considered complete upon transmission....

Giving out swag and using traditional advertising methods may not be a big driver of clients for most lawyers (or any industry really), but some of the cooler marketing ideas can actually help drive business. That is, if you do it right. Below are five cool marketing ideas to help your firm get some positive exposure. People love free t-shirts, but the problem with free t-shirts is that they might get worn once or twice, and then tossed, donated, or used as a rag....

Your business is growing and you’re lucky enough to need another pair of hands to handle all the work. So you’ve hired an associate, hoping that by bringing on another attorney, you can take on bigger cases, generate bigger pay-outs, and help another lawyer start off their career. But not all work relationships work out. Sometimes, you have to say goodbye to your associate hires – or rather, “you’re fired.” Here’s when you should let an associate go....

As an attorney, your job isn’t just to successfully handle a client’s legal issue. It’s also to let them know that their legal problems are being solved. Keeping on top of client communications is key to keeping clients informed and satisfied. But does that mean that you have to check in on a daily basis, or answer calls that come at two in the morning? Not exactly. Here are our five best tips for dealing with and improving your client communications, from the FindLaw archives....

As lawyers, we can receive up to 100 emails per day – and that’s on a slow day. Keeping track of so much email, and maintaining a clutter-free inbox can be a big job in itself – before you actually even get to the content of the email messages. How many of you have received an email that you weren’t quite sure how to interpret? You’re not alone. Without the benefit of the messenger’s tone of voice, or expression, we end up projecting a tone on to the email message based on what we see on the computer screen....

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a rather noteworthy decision for coal miners, operators, and the attorneys that represent them. The case involved the retroactive reach of the Black Lung Benefits Act’s revised definition of a mine operator. Interestingly, due to the framework of the BLBA, the mining company bringing the appeal only sought to challenge their liability, rather than the damages award. Notably, under the BLBA, the injured worker would still be able to receive the awarded damages, even without a finding of liability against the specific company....

In Mathis v. Thaler, No. 08-70021, a capital habeas matter, the court affirmed the denial of petitioner’s habeas petition where 1) petitioner’s habeas litigation strategy choice to withhold an Atkins claim from the initial federal petition, while simultaneously acting so late as to preclude exploration of other relief, did not make the Atkins rule “previously unavailable” to him within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. section 2244(b)(2)(A); 2) petitioner offered no cogent argument to excuse his failure to include his Atkins claim in his first federal petition when that claim was available to him for nine months after Atkins was decided; and 3) petitioner was not entitled to equitable tolling....

Mercado-Berrios v. Cancel-Alegria, No. 08-1098, concerned a challenge to the jury’s verdict in favor of the plaintiff and an award of $213,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages, in plaintiff’s political discrimination and speech retaliation suit, claiming that she was wrongly denied a permanent position with the Puerto Rican Tourism Company. In reversing the judgment as to the plaintiff’s political discrimination claim, the court held that it was not reasonable for the jury to conclude that plaintiff’s political beliefs were a substantial or motivating factor in defendant’s decision not to hire her....

Hawaii will file the first legal challenge to President Trump’s revised travel ban today, according to the state. Hawaii alleges that the new executive order violates due process and establishes an unconstitutional religious preference, claims similar to those that halted Trump’s first ban. The filing comes the same day that Trump’s administration withdrew its appeal of a federal court order halting enforcement of the original ban. The Trump administration issued a new travel ban on Monday, this one designed to better withstand legal challenges such as Hawaii’s....

Ever wonder what happens when law enforcement subpoenas Facebook? Well, it’s not pretty. The Boston Police Department provided journalists at the Boston Phoenix a copy of its Craigslist Killer case file. In that file was a nearly 70-page paper printout of Philip Markoff’s Facebook information. We’re talking a massive, highly-detailed printout of his social network data. Wall posts, friends lists, login and IP data, posted photos and photos he was tagged in....

It appears Facebook is on the cusp of a privacy settlement after months of negotiation over a class-action lawsuit. There have been a number of lawsuits against Facebook, but this is the one about user privacy and Facebook’s “Sponsored Stories” – an ad campaign in which Facebook took the names and pictures of users who “liked” a company’s product and then used it to advertise to the users’ friends. When users found out their names and likeness was being used without permission, things got ugly....

For years we’ve known that there’s a pay gap between men and women, and recent studies by the National Association of Women Lawyers confirm this. Not only that, the number of women partners at the largest U.S. law firms remains at about 15% – and there’s been no increase since the last survey in 2006. The American Bar Association Task Force on Gender Equity recently published What You Need to Know About Negotiating Compensation, a guide for women lawyers to help them overcome pay disparity between men and women....

LegalTech 2012 has officially ended. The three-day conference, held at the New York Hilton, offered up opportunities for tech-savvy lawyers to network and learn. Thomson Reuters, FindLaw’s parent company, had a booth at Legal Tech. FindLaw’s corporate sales consultant Aaron Black was also on site at the conference this year. Our intrepid “correspondent” rubbed shoulders with a lot of vendors and attorneys this week. Some interesting discussions were had at the conference....

On the 12th day of Christmas (well, more like Christmas Eve), the National Security Agency gave to us: 12 years of internal oversight documents outlining a number of instances of misconduct by NSA staff members. What kind of misconduct? Government officials spying on ex-significant others, for one. Lazy queries that inadvertently scooped up Americans’ data, for another. And for anyone who has been following the NSA revelations over the past couple of years, plenty of verification of the agency’s alleged abuses....

Nexstar Media Group has offered to buy Tribune Media Co. for $4.1 billion, a cash deal that will make Nexstar the biggest owner of local television stations in the United States. Of course, the proposed acquisition must be approved by regulators who chased off Tribune’s last suitor. The company withdrew from merging with Sinclair Broadcast Group in August after the Federal Communications Commission put too much regulatory pressure on the businesses....

A three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit upheld an order blocking President Trump’s first travel ban last month. The administration subsequently reissued a new executive order replacing the first and voluntarily dismissed its appeal to the earlier injunction. That should be the end of that debate, right? Not exactly. One Ninth Circuit judge wanted the court to rehear the case en banc and vacate the panel opinion, despite the dismissal. Last week, the Ninth declined....

Relax folks: unless you are really successful, this proposed tax “reform” won’t affect you. Section 3301 of the Tax Reform Act of 2014 [PDF], as it is currently drafted, applies to personal services businesses with ten million dollars or more in annual gross receipts – a figure most solos and small firms can only dream of. But if you’re an attorney to the stars, or a small firm that does big business, or if inflation gets really bad, a mandated switch to accrual accounting, instead of cash accounting, will be a major pain in your behind....

Law has a reputation as an old boys’ club, and by that, people generally mean white men. But minorities are increasing their presence in corporate counsel jobs, according to the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. The MCCA’s annual survey came out recently, and it looked specifically at how many minorities are in general counsel positions at Fortune 500 firms. The numbers are up after a year of no growth, reflecting a general pattern of growth in the number of minority general counsel since 2008, reports MCCA....