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FDCPA Action Concerning Debt Collection Calls In Oppenheim v. I.C. Sys., Inc., No. 10-12461, a Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) action concerning a series of telephone calls defendant made to plaintiff in an attempt to collect funds, the court affirmed the denial of summary judgment to defendant where 1) the mere fact that plaintiff consumed PayPal’s services in order to facilitate a separate sale did not thereby negate his consumer status with respect to PayPal; 2) the district court correctly distinguished Arnold because plaintiff’s payment obligation did arise from a transaction; and 3) since the district court did not err in denying defendant summary judgment on plaintiff’s FDCPA claim, the court also correctly denied defendant summary judgment on plaintiff’s Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act claim....

Planned Parenthood isn’t quite finished with its challenge to a Texas law that defunds the organization within the Lone Star State. On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for en banc rehearing of a three-judge panel’s decision in Planned Parenthood Association, et al v. Thomas Suehs. The panel ruled last month that Texas can block Women’s Health Program (WHP) funding to Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers that offer abortions....

R. Kelly took the wrong page from Roger Stone’s playbook. Kelly ranted on television about sex abuse charges against him, following a pattern that put Roger Stone in the news recently. A judge threatened to jail Stone for airing out his criminal case in the media. But in Kelly’s case, the potential consequences are more serious. In the court of public opinion, lawyers should know that convictions come a lot faster....

In response to an order from the First Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. has “reluctantly” lifted an injunction preventing foreclosures and evictions from proceeding in the 825 foreclosure cases pending in Rhode Island’s federal court. In June, the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that McConnell’s August 2011 order staying foreclosures and evictions in the pending cases was effectively an injunction, despite the parties being unable “to show a likelihood of success” of prevailing in their cases, which is an essential requirement of continuing injunctive relief, reports the Providence Journal....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Drones really have become the next big thing. Their uses seem to keep multiplying each day. With each new use there are new questions about drone regulations. Of course, we hear about military payloads being delivered by drones on very specific targets. Indeed, the recent motion picture, Eye in the Sky, is all about when it is appropriate to use drones for military attacks....

On Monday, Apple held its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), where it announced massive updates to its desktop and mobile operating systems. If it wasn’t clear, we were impressed by the long list of new features, especially Continuity – the seamless handoff between one’s mobile devices and desktop or laptop. But the entire time, a nagging thought kept popping up: we’ve seen this before. That’s not a criticism, by the way – only a stubborn fool would stick to “our way” when other companies outpace them on innovative features....

Thirty-percent of in house counsel fired their outside counsel last year, reports Above the Law. With the highly coveted nature of corporate clients, and the wining and dining that goes on in procuring such clients, the 30-percent seems high. That’s not even mentioning the costs, time, and hassle that come with changing outside counsel. Nevertheless, for a variety of reasons, in house counsel are firing firms at an alarmingly high rate....

In a class action lawsuit against multiple insurance companies alleging that defendants violated a contractual promise under insurance policies to pay policyholders the “actual charges” of cancer treatments, judgment in favor of the plaintiffs is affirmed where: 1) under the three-step retroactivity analysis, the presumption against retroactivity operates to bar the application of the South Carolina statute to the claims in this case; and 2) defendants’ remaining arguments are meritless. Ward v....

In what may be Hollywood’s worst movie, the Harvey Weinstein story is almost over. After the sex scandal broke out last year, the celebrity world cleaned out it’s dirty closet with seemingly endless tales of sexual misconduct. The list of “Weinsteins” grew from Hollywood to Las Vegas and beyond. Perhaps those stories will never end. But the Weinstein Company is done, having met its inevitable end in bankruptcy court. Then something unexpected happened....

When you think about how much your law partner’s new computer cost, you know instinctively that the bill is also your bill. It’s Partnership 101. But different rules apply with your “other partner.” We’re talking about when a spouse’s computer bills become yours – even if you are not in business together. That’s the problem that faced attorney Grant Brooks. It didn’t turn out so well in Direct Capital Corporation v....

Blogging is not easy – those of us here who do it for a living can attest to this, all day and every day. But, the truth is, it can be both a powerful marketing and personal tool for your firm, should you decide to have one and maintain it the right way. Making the decision to start up a blog for your firm shouldn’t be a light one. Before you do, it’s best to determine whether a blog actually suits both your and your firm’s needs....

Federal criminal sentencing can often be bewildering to criminal defense attorneys, making pleading strategies more uncertain than usual. For thefts involving government property, the Fifth Circuit simplified things a bit on Tuesday. In U.S. v. Lagrone, the court rejected the government’s application of 18 U.S.C. Section 641, favoring an interpretation that is more lenient to defendants charged with multiple small thefts. Why did the court decide to remand Lagrone’s case for sentencing with only one felony count?...

Anyone who has ever dealt with a client knows how difficult it can be to actually get paid. You do the work, log the billable hours, and send out the bills. After that … you wait. And wait. If you’re lucky, the funds in your trust account will cover the balance. Otherwise, you’re stuck waiting for the client’s next payday, or the next time they have a babysitter and can stop by the office, or [insert excuse here]....

Lapaix v. US Atty. Gen., No. 09-12488, involved a petition for review of the BIA’s decision affirming the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) order denying petitioner’s applications for asylum and withholding of removal. The court of appeals denied the petition, on the grounds that 1) petitioner was given the opportunity to testify or offer any evidence she or her counsel might have thought could have persuaded the IJ; 2) petitioner offered no explanation as to how her prior offense of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon was not a particularly serious crime; and 3) petitioner was not entitled to relief under the Convention Against Torture because she made no allegation of persecution at the hands of the government, nor any allegation of government acquiescence to outside forces....

In Chi v. Holder, No. 09-2583, the First Circuit dealt with a Chinese native’s petition for review of the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen to allow him to seek an adjustment of his immigration status. As stated in the decision: “Chi’s abuse of discretion claim turns on his belief that the expiration of the ten-year bar for status adjustment presented “new and material evidence” that the BIA totally ignored....

There is a line between advocacy and criminality, and some lawyers cross it. Joel Gilbert, a partner at Balch & Bingham, is one of those lawyers. According to a jury, Gilbert is guilty of helping bribe a government official for a client. The client, an Alabama coal company, said it did nothing wrong. The company didn’t quite throw the lawyer under the bus, but he definitely got caught on the wrong side of the deal....

Does your law firm have a dress code? If not, you might want to take a look at your client base and consider implementing one. Conservative clients might balk if they notice their attorney is wearing jeans and flip-flops. That said, less conservative clients may take the opposite stance, and might prefer a more relaxed law firm culture. Law firms might find other reasons to adopt casual wear in the office....

Make no mistake, In House counsels need to jealously protect their employer’s propriety data. Insider trading and other anti-corruption issues continue to drive this point home. This week, federal prosecutors announced that they arrested four people and broadened their insider trading investigation regarding Apple’s iPhone. Primary Global Research allegedly offered insights into industry trends, issues and regulations. The Mountain View, California-based company also allegedly revealed secrets about Apple and AMD technology to hedge funds in order to give them an unfair advantage in trading....

It has been a long drawn out fight for Microsoft and the U.S. government. Battles were won and lost on both sides. Now, thanks to Congress, the President, and SCOTUS, the war is over. Microsoft lost. The fight was over a search warrant that sought information that Microsoft had stored abroad in Ireland. At the district court level, Microsoft’s challenge of the warrant failed. The company was held in contempt, but after a successful appeal to the Second Circuit, the contempt order was vacated, and the warrant was quashed....

In a negligence action against the U.S. based on the Coast Guard’s failure to perform certain tests on a ship, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where the entire action was barred by the discretionary function exception to the Government’s waiver of sovereign immunity. Read Indemnity Ins. Co. of N. Am. v. US, No. 08-2148 Appellate Information Argued: May 13, 2009 Decided: June 25, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Hamilton...