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FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. There is little doubt that Steve Jobs was at the forefront of the tech revolution. He was an innovator in the realms of computers, music, film and handheld devices. His passing in late 2011 led many to consider the incredible impact he had on modern society. A number of articles and books have covered the life and times of Mr....

Images and text messages store in a cell phone are not protected by the Stored Communications Act (SCA), according to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Fanny Garcia, a former police dispatcher for the City of Laredo, Texas, was fired for violating department policy. The department based its decision on information obtained from Garcia’s cell phone, which the department accessed without her permission. Garcia sued the city, arguing that the SCA protects all text and data stored on a personal cell phone....

Plaintiff’s attorney Brent Wisner had a winning closing argument, but then the judge had something to say. Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos didn’t like the part about popping champagne corks. Wisner told jurors that the defendants were waiting for the verdict, and “if the damages number isn’t significant enough, champagne corks will pop.” It could cost him his $289 million verdict. “Counting chickens before they hatch” may apply to farmers, but lawyers will talk about “popping the corks too early....

When it comes to assembling legal documents, does font matter? Yes! Quite simply, fonts influence how your writing appears and is perceived. There’s the elegant (and ink-efficient) Garamond, the matter-of-fact Lucida Sans Typewriter, the “I might as well have just written this in crayon” Comic Sans. Beyond that, some courts have a short list of acceptable fonts, from which practitioners can’t deviate. So, if you’re looking for the best fonts for your legal docs, here are some suggestions....

Remember the good old days, back in the 1980s, when you needed a 500 microfarad capacitor, and Radio Shack was your friend? They had drawers full of electronics parts of all shapes, sizes, and amperage. Radio Shack, however, has fallen on hard times. Few people need electronic components, and even if they do, they can get them online. All the other electrical gadgets Radio Shack sells can be purchased elsewhere. Is this the end of the once-venerable tinkerer’s institution?...

Good legal writing is concise, approachable, objective. In a profession where the written word is central to much of our work, lawyers with well-crafted writing are some of the most effective practitioners. But sometimes we get carried away in the moment. We want our client to know that this motion for summary judgment is as important as the Gettysburg address, or at least a good Oscar speech; that a denial of our petition would really be an unchecked, Orwellian dictatorship....

As a former resident of the Commonwealth, I must point out one thing: Virginia is pretty uptight about liquor. You can buy beer at a gas station, but if you want hard liquor, you have to drive to your nearest state-owned Alcohol Beverage Control store. This was a foreign concept for someone moving from California. That same “ABC” administration also apparently regulates alcohol advertising, and has prohibited the advertisement of alcohol in student-run newspapers, unless the booze is flowing from a local restaurant....

It’s hard to say what came first: the chicken, or the egg, or the dual-camera iPhone technology. In a new lawsuit, two inventors claim their dual-camera tech came first. Apple, they say, infringed on their patent. Chickens and eggs actually have nothing to do with the lawsuit, but it’s fair to say that the first one will win the patent battle. Or they could settle – six of one, half a dozen of the other....

If your law firm is doing business in India, you will want to pay attention to the dispute currently taking place between Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, and the Indian government. The two have been “locked in a dispute about access to the encryption used on BlackBerry devices. On Monday, India agreed to withdraw its BlackBerry services ban for two more months. In exchange, RIM agreed to provide Indian government security with more access to corporate e-mail and instant messaging, The Associated Press reports....

In 2008, the City of San Antonio demolished RBIII’s building. That building was arguably dilapidated, but the City didn’t actually notify RBIII before razing the structure. In the legal world, you’ll recall that we characterize such behavior as “not cool.” RBIII sued San Antonio, asserting a variety of state and federal claims, but the district court granted summary judgment for the city on all but two claims. (If you guessed that the surviving claims were a Fourteenth Amendment due process claim and a Fourth Amendment unreasonable search and seizure claim, give yourself a gold star....

The Fourth Amendment forbids warrantless searches with few exceptions — one of them being consent. But, what happens when consent is given based on false claims made by law enforcement? Is the resulting warrantless search legal? In 2007, an FBI informant gave a tip that Kathy Vasquez and her boyfriend Bernardo Soto were selling crack cocaine. Kathy Vasquez sold crack cocaine to the informant on two separate occasions, in controlled buys....

Many attorneys don’t think about moral character when making legal staffing decisions. If a secretary or paralegal has the right experience, and is willing to accept what you want to pay, you may just hire them on the spot. However, it may make sense to perform some investigatory research into moral character before making your legal staffing decisions. A little time and a little money spent on the hiring phase may save you a world of trouble later on....

In-house counsel hate California. It’s not our towering redwoods, sunny beaches, or booming economy that turns corporate attorneys off, of course. It’s the difficulty of doing business. Sixty-five percent of in-house respondents complained about the “burdensome” nature of working in California in a recent Archer Norris poll. More than half expressed concern over state regulations. Of course, there are a few things in-house counsel do that make working in the Bear Republic even more unbearable, particularly when it comes to corporate filings....

Does Twitter really help a lawyer snag new clients? Some people claim that Twitter is a great way to connect with prospective clients. Others suggest that using Twitter as a lawyer marketing tool is a bunch of hooey. The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. Whether you’re using social media or traditional marketing (think billboards and bus stop ads), you have to be smart about how you market yourself. If you’re using Twitter as a marketing tool, that means a little due diligence before you follow another Twitter feed....

The Department of Justice filed its first charges against Volkswagen on Monday. In a civil complaint filed in the Eastern District of Michigan, the Justice Department alleges that Volkswagen repeatedly and illegally violated the Clean Air Act by installing “defeat devices” on its so-called clean diesel vehicles. Those devices allowed the cars to cheat emissions tests and release air pollution at much higher rates than allowed under the Clean Air Act....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Long ago in internet time, email was hip and was the next big thing. No longer did we have to shove paper into fax machines to send relatively quick communications, nor did we have to wait for the paper to spit out from such noisy machines when receiving fast-breaking information. Instead, in paperless fashion, we could send and receive emails right from our own computers, and then laptops, tablets, and phones....

Same-sex marriage remains a thorny issue in Alabama, where on January 23, U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade found Alabama’s same-sex marriage prohibition unconstitutional. In response, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore went on a memoranda rampage, first opining that Granade had no authority to override Alabama state law. In a second memo issued earlier this week, Moore flat-out ordered state probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples....

Just south of New Orleans’ central business district, a short walk from the Superdome, stands the Robert E. Lee Monument, a pillar-mounted statue of the Confederate general. Stands for now, that is. Lee’s statue is one of four monuments celebrating the state’s confederate past scheduled to come toppling down, after the City Council voted to remove the statues in 2015. And that toppling can begin post haste, now that the Fifth Circuit has rejected a challenge to the statues’ removal brought by local preservation societies and the Sons of Confederate Veterans....

It seems like it’s been months since we had a FindLaw Top Dog, so we’re making up for it with a post about a Top Dog Professional. Today’s Top Dog Professional, Kim Houghton, is a recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals litigant. Houghton has what we imagine to be the best job ever: She runs Wag More Dogs, a doggy daycare business located near the Shirlington Dog Park in Arlington, Va....

Just last week we went over the benefits of starting your own LinkedIn Group, and you’ve just coined a clever name for your group and now, we have the audacity to tell you that you should do more. We hear you. Don’t you already have enough on your plate with your blog, Twitter, Facebook page, LinkedIn group, and, oh yeah, your clients? Do you really need to add one more form of social media to this already, ever-expanding list?...