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Parallel challenges to Virginia’s ban on gay marriage have, for all practical purposes, been consolidated, with Bostic v. Schaefer being the caption to watch over the next few months. The last time we checked in on Virginia’s same-sex marriage battle, the parties from a pending distirct court case, Harris v. Rainey, were seeking to intervene in the Bostic case, over the objections of the plaintiffs in that case. The request was granted, and the Harris plaintiffs will have their day at the Fourth Circuit a bit earlier than expected....

Like Bruce Wayne, I have an alter ego. In my alternate life, I’m Batman a solo practitioner who works from home. Lots of solos have a separate office, but being that I’m part-time, all that office space wouldn’t make sense. Other solos work from home because it’s cheap and there’s not much reason to rent office space. Writing briefs in your pajamas is great, but logistical headaches flare up from time to time....

Shame has long been a part of criminal justice, from sentences in the pillory and stocks to the modern mug shot. But our modern system has mostly lost its creativity, with jail, prison, probation, and occasionally drug treatment as the default choices. Some judges dare to be different, however. Some judges take things back to the good old days and use public shaming as a corrective tool and alternative to incarceration....

Libertarian party candidates’ suit against Massachusetts Secretary of State for refusal to include them on the statewide ballot for president and vice-president in the 2008 general election Barr v. Galvin, 09-2426, concerned a challenge to the district court’s judgment in favor of the plaintiff-candidates, in a suit brought by the candidates of the Libertarian Party against the Secretary of State of Massachusetts, challenging the Secretary’s refusal to include them on the statewide ballot for president and vice-president in the 2008 general election....

In-house counsel seems like the ideal legal gig. Power. Prestige. Stock options. Who doesn’t dream of such things? But in-house jobs aren’t reserved solely for those lawyers who have paid their legal dues. There’s often room in the GC’s office for fledgling lawyers. Sometimes, there’s even room at the top. Recently, we introduced you to Maria Musolino, an attorney who negotiated an extra $10,000 into her starting salary at her first job out of law school....

Vernon Madison, one of the longest-tenured tenants on Alabama’s death row, has cheated death again. Seven hours before his scheduled date with death last year, an appellate court stayed his execution. A new U.S. Supreme Court case gave him a chance to challenge the constitutionality of the ultimate sentence. Then last week, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals said he was incompetent to be executed because strokes have left him unable to understand why he was sentenced to die....

US v. Sebastian, 08-2533, concerned a challenge to the district court’s imposition of a 193-month sentence and ten years of supervised release in a prosecution of defendant for leading a cocaine drug conspiracy. In affirming the sentence and the terms of the condition on supervised release, the court held that there is no plain error in requiring defendant to comply with a pornography ban as a condition of his supervised release if and only as required by any treatment program he may attend....

Despite what the tech crowd would have you believe, the court, judges, and juries, do not need to know how to code to rule on cases involving software programs. In fact, having experienced jurors and jurists could actually lead to deeper confusion, or potentially improper influences. The U.S. justice system is setup to present conflicts before neutral fact finders who rule based on the evidence and law presented, not their own personal knowledge....

Ernest Hemingway lived at 907 Whitehead Street in Key West, Florida, from 1931 to 1938. During that time, a friend gave him a polydactyl cat named Snowball. Since then, Snowball’s polydactyl progeny have thrived and populated the property. Hemingway’s estate sold the property in 1961. Though the Hemingway cats were not explicitly mentioned in the purchase and sale agreement, it seems that they came with the place. For almost 50 years, visitors have toured the property — now known as Hemingway House and Museum — and marveled at the cats....

Two Florida companies obtained a judgment of $50 million against the Dominican Republic. This was entered as a default judgment because the country failed to respond to the lawsuit. In its appeal before the Eleventh Circuit, the Dominican Republic claimed excusable neglect for failing to respond to the lawsuit. Apparently, a low-level employee had acted on the country’s behalf in deciding not to participate in the legal action. That clerical error almost cost the government $50 million....

Forget email, instant messages, and shared Google calendars. When it comes to managing your office, Facebook thinks its social network is the place to do it. The company launched its office-friendly version of the social network on Monday. Known as Workplace, this version of Facebook replaces status updates and cat pictures with status updates and productivity tools, to help employees collaborate more easily. If you’ve used Facebook before, and you have, Facebook’s Workplace won’t be unfamiliar....

Louisiana has survived another hurricane season without a Katrina-grade catastrophe; no doubt, a source of relief for the Bayou State. While the Northeast contemplated what exactly one does to endure the eye of the storm during August’s Hurricane Irene, the hurricane pros down south were still rebuilding from a disaster that the rest of the country has largely forgotten. For the federal government, however, Hurricane Katrina remains much more than a plot point on “Treme;” it’s a billion-dollar time bomb....

Law firm “tech support” does a lot more than make sure your Internet is running and software is up to date. In today’s firms, technology professionals are an essential part of eDiscovery practice, litigation support, cybersecurity, and – in the rare firm – legal innovation. And these highly-skilled tech workers are in store for a significant raise as more firms realize their worth and demand begins to outstrip supply. It might just be time to give your tech team a raise – or watch them move elsewhere....

You may have heard the terms “branding” and “storytelling” thrown about in business circles, but have you ever thought about whether branding and storytelling fit in to lawyer marketing? The short answer is, yes, branding and storytelling will not only help you develop your client base, but keep your clients loyal, according to the ABA Journal. Here’s a (re)fresher on how branding and storytelling can help your practice in two steps....

Let’s face it: you’d rather have your employees report securities violations to you first before they tell the SEC. Internal reporting has its advantages. You’ll be better prepared. You also won’t get suddenly drawn into a SEC investigation without prior warning. But how do you get your employees to report violations to you first? Below are a few tips to help: Set up policies to address whistleblowers. If you don’t have a protocol or procedure through which employees can report violations, set one up now....

It’s a whole new world for the sharing economy, as the Philippines issued new regulations for ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, last week. Though other countries have taken action on ridesharing services – Uber has been banned everywhere from Eugene, Oregon, to all of Thailand – the Philippines is the first nation to develop ridesharing specific regulations, according to Reuters. In an industry that has often operated by bumping up against the margins of the law, the new regulations could help further institutionalize the sharing economy....

The U.S. wants Artem Vaulin of KickassTorrents extradited from the Ukraine to American soil to face various charges related to his site’s illegal distribution of more than $1 billion in media. According to CNN, the Ukrainian man, age 30, was arrested in Poland just days ago. The case is simply the latest in a series of high profile copyright infringement suits that have involved household names like Napster, Megaupload and Limewire....

“Dear Piece of S—,” began a response from Life360 CEO Chris Hulls to a demand letter from a company that wanted him to license their technology. (You can guess what three letters the dashes are subbing for.) That letter was introduced by AGIS in a jury trial against Life360 for infringing on patents related to calling people who appeared on a map. It turned out, reported Ars Technica, that Hulls’ testy language may have helped him secure a verdict of noninfringement....

Peter Hiam’s vacation hell started before he left. He booked a tropical villa for a week in Belize, only to learn later that the property didn’t exist. He was out more than $46,000, so he went after the online service that set it up. The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals shared Hiam’s bewilderment over the company’s actions, but that wasn’t enough to get his money back. In Hiam v. HomeAway....

Okay, this is getting nuts. Last Monday, we handed the award for “worst lawyer commercial ever” to McCutcheon and Hammer, P.C., of Alabama. The award was well deserved, as the commercial starred a white guy pretending to be a Chinese guy by exploiting every possible stereotype imaginable – think blackface, but Asian. We then issued an update, after the firm denied involvement. And then the story got weirder. As we previously reported, the firm has issued statements on Facebook and Twitter claiming that their YouTube account was hacked – an excuse that doesn’t make much sense....