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It looks like there will be increased litigation due to tightened U.S. government relations. The 2010 Fulbright Jaworski L.L.P. Litigation Trends Survey found that among companies of all sizes, many expect an increase in legal disputes. According to the study, 93% of U.S. and 97% of U.K. respondents expect the number of legal disputes to increase or remain the same in 2011. According to the study, the data going back the past five years supports the respondents expectations: litigation filings declined in 2006 and 2007 according to respondents, but steadily rose in 2008 and 2009....

The con has been on this earth longer than civilization. It seems that somewhere, somehow, someone is trying to pull a fast one on someone else. Cons, scams and schemes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes: “snake oil,”, Ponzi schemes, political promises. Those still exist, but the latest digital scams are getting fancier, more sophisticated and more prolific. Here are a few tips that will help you dodge them....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Social media sites host many thousands of photos posted by people on a daily basis. An obvious issue arises as to whether and when these sites might be liable for copyright infringement with respect to any of the posted photos. A recent case is worthy of consideration. The photograph at issue is of Herman Li, a guitarist for Dragonforce, a British power metal band based in London, England....

Earlier this week, as part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the EEOC held a “live Twitter chat” where members of the public could ask questions about disabilities and employment that would be answered on Twitter by EEOC Chair Jenny Yang and Commissioner Chai Feldblum. So what did we learn from this event? Here are a few takeaways: 1. You Really Need to Summarize the Event on Your Website Afterward. Not to be snarky, but I had to wade through a sea of #EEOC4NDEAM hashtags on Twitter to find the questions and answers....

It’s a good time to be a driver – or a pedestrian. Our streets have become increasingly safe over the past decade, with traffic fatalities down 23 percent between 2006 and 2014 and injuries dropping 17 percent over the same period. These safety gains are expected to continue, even as Americans drive more total miles every year and despite an uptick in traffic fatalities last year. This is good news for everyone on the road....

Remember the days of classic WordPerfect? In DOS? Does anyone remember DOS? Bueller? Bueller? Both modern-day Microsoft Word and WordPerfect have a lot of fancy geegaws that you can distract yourself with when you have to write. Ooh, look! I can play with the fonts! Ooh, look! I can adjust the styles! With a deadline quickly approaching, it can be better to hearken back to the days where it was just you and the white-on-blue glow of the text....

The dreaded spinning circle on your browser tab. That sudden notification that you’ve been disconnected from your chat program. It can only mean one thing: The Internet is out. Few phrases spawn more fear into a member of the 21st century bourgeoisie than that (other candidates include “Your credit card’s been declined” and “Target is closed”). As a solo or small firm, your law office runs on the Internet. Is there anything you can do during an Internet outage?...

Do you use your iPhone a lot? Do you have AT&T? Do you get a lot of dropped calls? If you answered yes to these questions, AT&T is running an offer that you will definitely want to look out for. For select customers, they are offering the AT&T 3G MicroCell signal booster, which is designed to act like a mini cell tower. According to the manufacturer the device provides: Up to 5-bar coverage Enhanced coverage indoors, including improved voice and data coverage with 40 feet of the device....

If you’re one of the die-hard BlackBerry devotees, you no doubt already have a BlackBerry Priv within arm’s reach right now. After all, the phone’s been on the market since early November. With just a few weeks’ time since its launch, the Priv has done well. But does that mean that professionals will make the switch back from iOS back to their BB devices? How the Mighty Have Fallen There was a time, in not too distant memory, that the BlackBerry was it....

A dancing baby may have just made IP enforcement a bit more difficult. The baby in question, 18 month-old Holden Lenz, was caught bopping to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” in a 29-second YouTube video. When Universal Music Group told his mother to take the video down for copyright infringement, she sued, alleging that the video was clearly protected by fair use and that Universal had illegally misrepresented the law in its notice....

Another chapter in John Steinbeck’s legacy is over – at least until the next one. Steinbeck died almost 50 years ago, but his heirs have been fueding over his estate ever since. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently wrote another chapter in that sad story. In Steinbeck v. Kaffaga, the appeals court closed the book on claims by the author’s sons and daughter-in-law to movie adaptations of his literary work “Of Mice and Men....

“The People’s Governor” is now fighting “for the people” at Morgan & Morgan, a personal injury firm in Florida. Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist recently joined the firms’ ranks in a dual role: attorney and pitchman. While not every law firm will be able to land a former governor, law firm marketing is essential to drive business, and sometimes finding a suitable pitchman for the firm will do wonders. Crist seems happy with his new job....

Want to become a general counsel, or curious to know how much your peers make? A new GC salary survey by Equilar may be the thing to read as it provides some interesting data and insight into the world of general counsel. While the most frequently asked question may be how much general counsel get paid, there’s other interesting data to be gleaned from the survey, such as which law schools GCs attended, the gender gap in GC salaries, and the best industries for GCs to work in, reports TheCorporateCounsel....

A survey of international General Counsels by TerraLex, a legal referral company, shines some light into what GCs look for when they hire outside counsel – and how much law firms will have to improve to keep them satisfied. The survey gathered input from 127 chief legal officers companies based in the United States and abroad. Its results highlight the importance of outside counsel in aiding with regulatory compliance and the frustrations many GCs face from law firms lack of industry expertise and expensive billing practices....

The marijuana industry, despite the federal taboo and legal challenges, is booming. The law firms and other ancillary industries that cater to the marijuana industry are seeing massive growth alongside the pot boom as well. However, one of the big challenges faced by both businesses and the states is the regulation of the industry. From monitoring sources to recording transactions, due to the highly regulated nature of the industry, marijuana businesses will likely need to rely on technology to ensure they keep on the legal side of the marijuana regulations....

Every lawyer knows that marketing is important. But few spend the time to evaluate the success of their marketing campaigns. Most will try a few things and if they fit in the budget, and there are enough clients coming in the door, they will look no further. Your integrated marketing strategy most likely contains multiple avenues of attack: billboards, newspaper ads, phone book ads, a website, TV and radio ads, in-person networking, sponsorship of community activities, and more....

An inmate involved in a federal capital crime can stand trial in federal court, says the First Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 3-2 decision on Monday, the appellate court reversed its panel decision, and ruled in favor of the government in the case against Jason Pleau. The Governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, sided with Pleau in an attempt to shield Pleau from facing the death penalty. Rhode Island currently doesn’t have the death penalty, but, if tried under the federal judicial system, Pleau could find himself on death row....

Judge Reed Charles O’Connor, a federal judge in Texas, is not afraid of Indians. Staring down centuries of Native American sovereignty, the judge stuck down the Indian Child Welfare Act. He said the 40-year-old legislation that favors tribal rights in adoption proceedings is unconstitutional. Native American advocates were stunned by the decision. There will be an appeal. Adoption Rights The case started a year ago when a non-Native American couple sued for the right to adopt a Navajo-Cherokee toddler they had fostered for more than a year....

Deen v. Egleston, No. 09-11458, was a medical malpractice action involving allegations of dental malpractice. The court of appeals described some of the claims as follows: “Linda Deen claimed that Dr. Egleston had been medically negligent by, among other things, performing a full mouth debridement which, according to Deen, “caused huge amounts of bacteria to have been dumped into the blood stream.” She sought compensatory damages and damages for pain and suffering and loss of consortium....

You’ve probably heard of lawyers using iPads in practice and in court. But you’re not one of them, either because you didn’t want to plunk down $500 for something so sinfully luxurious or perhaps you are simply an Android user and didn’t want the fragmented ecosystem that comes with mixing mobile operating systems. Until recently, Android tablets have received some less-than-favorable reviews. They were (allegedly) iPad ripoffs with cell phone software stretched to fit an overpriced $500 screen....