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We never thought we’d see the day when a First Circuit Court of Appeals opinion would yield discussions of Bozo and an age discrimination suit, but, surprisingly, that day has come. International Shipping Corporation (Intership) fired Genaro Bonefont-Igaravidez in 2007, (after 57 years on the job), for attacking his boss, also known as a “Bozo.” Bonefont said the alleged attack was just a pretext, and filed an age discrimination suit against Intership....

The law is one of the whitest professions around, but if you want to be ‘friended’ by Facebook (legally speaking), you may have to improve your diversity game. The social media giant is only hiring outside law firms where women and ethnic minorities make up at least a third of the team. The move is just one way big corporate clients are trying to reshape the firms they work with, whether through demanding a less homogenous workforce or urging firms to adopt new technologies....

Marketing is one of those things that people think they can do on their own. A couple slogans, a sign, and boom – you’re done. But marketing turns out to be harder than it looks. That’s why some law firms have dedicated marketing managers – experienced people who make it their full-time job to advertise the law firm. It’s a good idea to have a marketing manager (and here are some good reasons), but the question for today is, what do you look for in a marketing manager?...

One of the biggest shockers of working in a real law firm during and after law school was the amount of money wasted on overhead. Examples include leased copy machines (for small firms, that’s a waste), complicated IT setups (virtual machines as a means of backing up and sharing data? One word: cloud storage), and dead trees (printing, copying everything). Let’s cut the fat, shall we? I’ve got 52 ideas, some good, some redundant, some “penny wise and pound foolish,” for doing exactly that....

Bailey v. Shell Western E&P Inc., No. 08-20313, involved an action by Shell Western E&P Inc. seeking a declaration regarding the proper calculation method for royalties on carbon dioxide in the McElmo Dome. The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendant, on the grounds that 1) Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a) dismissal only applies to the dismissal of an entire action, not particular claims; 2) because the parties only disputed Shell’s obligations under a contract related to real property, the local action rule did not control; and 3) plaintiff did not carry his burden to prove that the allegations in his False Claims Act claims were not based upon prior, public disclosures–or, if they were, that he was an original source of the information....

Google is trying really hard to enter the social media world. The search engine giant recently introduced Google+ as an alternative to Facebook, to mixed results. Now the company has come up with Google Hangouts, which may actually have some utility for attorneys. Google Hangouts is essentially a videoconferencing tool similar to Skype. However, Google Hangouts has some added benefits that may attract attorneys. For example, Google Hangouts allows users to talk to 10 people at once without an additional fee, which can be great for lawyer teleconferences....

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that equitable relief remedies are available to a life insurance beneficiary to redress violations of Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) or ERISA plans. The Fourth Circuit panel vacated its earlier stance this week after rehearing the case. Debbie McCravy participated in the Bank of America’s life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) plan issued and administered by MetLife. Under the plan, an insured could purchase coverage for “eligible dependent children....

Before there was DropBox or MEGA, there was Box.net, now known simply as Box. It is, much like its aforementioned competitors, an online cloud storage solution. It also has a few other features, like Google Docs integration, an auto-syncing tool that works with Microsoft Office, and BoxSync, which syncs a folder on your computer with your Box Drive. Do the plethora of features make it worth switching if you are a DropBox lover?...

In the days of yore, every person in a law firm would have the same company-issued devices: a Windows laptop and the corporate staple of smartphones - the BlackBerry. Companies had to worry about supporting one computer and one smartphone. For the IT department, this was absolute nirvana. Laptop broke? Here, take an exact replica. BlackBerry lost? Here, take an exact replica while we remotely wipe your device. Having an issue with a driver?...

Last year, the ACLU filed a records request with the Los Angeles Police Department for a week’s worth of data gleaned from 242 cameras that are designed to scan license plates. Was everyone in L.A. County suspected of a crime? How long was this information stored? Was it cross referenced with over information? Could it be used to track people around the county? All legitimate questions – but questions that will have to wait for another day, apparently, as a California appellate court ruled that the ACLU doesn’t have a right to that information....

California is the newest state to allow self-driving cars to drive on public streets for the purpose of testing. State residents will now have to watch out both for reckless drivers and reckless cars without drivers. But the cars won’t be completely rider-less. The law only allows for self-driving cars when a human passenger is along for the ride. California isn’t the first state to allow self-driving cars but the measure is far from common....

If you watched the Super Bowl this past weekend, you may remember a certain commercial letting you and every other The Big Lebowski fan down. Some were even more let down, and many in odd Lebowskian ways, when Jeff Bridges appeared as Jeff Lebowski in a Stella Artois commercial. The commercial has been heralded as a sign of the “whole world going crazy” by Vice, and likely also Walter Sobchak. And as lawyers and law firm owners, there are some important lessons to learn about advertising and controlling the rumor mill that can be learned....

In a Title VII action by the EEOC claiming that defendant subjected an employee to a hostile work environment based on her gender and race, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the EEOC, would allow a reasonable jury to conclude that the harassment was: 1) unwelcome; 2) based on plaintiff’s gender or race; 3) sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of her employment and create an abusive atmosphere; and 4) imputable to defendant....

Monetizing the internet is big business. Even sites that no one expected to become central to millions of peoples’ lives have done just that, without users having to pay any money. And while, for years, people wondered how these sites stayed in business, the scales dropped from the public’s eyes pretty recently. The internet-age saying that goes, if you’re not paying, you’re the product, has become a near universal truth. And for Facebook users, this is becoming painfully clear as the company seems to be facing scandal after scandal....

Fall is here, and it’s time to start preparing for winter. (Or, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, fall is here, it’s always been here, and it’s time to start preparing for more fall.) As you look around the office, what do you see? Client files. Boxes of them, piled up in a closet somewhere, some from clients that you haven’t seen for years. What do you do with these (hopefully not moldy) old boxes?...

Changes are coming to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Fifth Circuit is adopting a new rehearing en banc amendment and a new fee schedule. The changes to the en banc rehearing rule were approved following a public comment period. The amended rule, Fifth Circuit Rule 41.3, states: As we’ve previously mentioned, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will also be raising miscellaneous fees. The Judicial Conference of the United States recently approved increases to miscellaneous fees in the federal courts....

According to data taken from Census Bureau data of 2015, the Pew Research Center found that Millennials now make up the largest workforce in the nation, according to the Pew Research Center, they’re expected to soon become the largest living generation. Millennials are more liberal than their aging colleagues. They prefer open office doors, casual dress, and being able to talk to their boss without feeling like their talking to their boss....

Google has updated voice calling in Gmail. Now, users can make multiple calls simultaneously as part of the new feature. Which begs to question, what can Google Voice do for lawyers? Can it replace your clunky old landline? Your cell phone? Well, not entirely, but if you are already using VoIP solutions for some of your calling needs, the new feature makes it easier to juggle the multitude of calls that might be streaming into your office....

Ever think, “it would be great if more people understood Constitutional Law?” After all, what good are Constitutional rights if you don’t know they exist? Or have you ever been curious whether an Ivy League legal education differs from your JD? Maybe you just want to brush up on ConLaw basics. This morning, Yale announced that it would offer Constitutional Law online for free through Coursera. They aren’t the first law school to offer free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), but it’s interesting to see more heavyweights joining the trend....

Most of us don’t like to be judged. Pageant participants and models may willingly endure endless scrutiny, but the rest of population tries to avoid situations in which someone else tells us if we’re smart, attractive, talented, or correct. District court judges, like pageant princesses, endure a lot of criticism. Their opinions can be reviewed by a federal appellate panel, then the full circuit court, and then the Supreme Court – each with an opportunity write extensively about how the judge erred in his/her initial analysis....