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Everybody knows that bad reviews can hurt business, but it’s what you don’t know that really hurts. That’s what happened to the plaintiffs in a case against Yelp, the online review site. After news broke about complaints against the company, the plaintiffs alleged their stock depreciated because of the complaints. But in Curry v. Yelp, Inc., the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals basically said the plaintiffs couldn’t prove what they didn’t know....

‘Go ahead and move for sanctions against opposing counsel,’ they said. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ they said. Well, an attorney at the Minnesota law firm Messerli & Kramer, “the worst” was having their sanction motion turned against them – not by the opposing party, but by the judge. The kerfuffle began after the firm itself was sued. Messerli & Kramer had sought to collect a debt owed by Jennifer Bendickson, who then sued them for allegedly violating the Electronic Fund Transfers Act....

In a habeas petition claiming that a parole ineligibility determination violated petitioner’s due process and equal protection rights, denial of the petition is affirmed where petitioner did not identify any clearly established federal law that prohibited the parole board from considering conduct unnecessary to a conviction as part of its three-strikes determination. Read Townes v. Jarvis, No. 05-7382 Appellate Information Argued: December 3, 2008 Decided: August 19, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Motz...

Just about every lawyer has had the experience of having a client with a good case come to them in need of help but unable to pay the full retainer. Unfortunately, too often, lawyers turn away clients who can’t afford the upfront retainer (even on a credit card), but if given the option of a payment plan, might have otherwise been able to pay. This is due to the fear that lawyers have that clients will just stop paying....

Don’t know about China’s new cybersecurity law set to take effect in June? Well, they say that what you don’t know won’t hurt you, but that is not true when it comes to China’s cybersecurity law. According to a recent survey, about 75 percent of legal technology professionals didn’t know about it. What’s troubling is that only 14 percent of the respondents said they were “very concerned” about it. Legal tech professionals should be concerned because the law requires foreign companies doing business in China to store their data on Chinese servers and to help government officials police the internet....

“You see that? His eyes bear into your soul, searching for your innermost secrets. Imagine being cross-examined by that guy. Swag. Pure, unadultera …” [Audible grind. Black screen.] “Hard drive not found. Press F5 to run diagnostics.” It’s every computer-user’s worst nightmare. Midway through your mocking of a lawyer’s awful commercial, or midway through your appellate brief to the Supreme Court, your hard drive fails. To be honest, we’ve only experienced spontaneous system failure once or twice on our lives, but you still need to be prepared....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. As recently reported by Time, a new Apple patent application, unearthed by Apple Insider, describes a potential feature that would have smart-watches call for help if the devices pick up monitoring information that suggests that users are having medical emergencies. For example, an Apple Watch might detect that a wearer’s heartbeat is tremendously high or low, and in such event, it could push a signal that would call for medical assistance....

People still talk about the legacy of Ellen Pao’s high-profile sex discrimination case in the Silicon Valley – even though she lost several years ago. Lynne Hermle, who led a team of mostly women defense lawyers, won the case. But the value of the “Pao Effect” – which exposed a male-dominated culture in tech companies – gives Hermle and other women lawyers reasons to talk about it still. “Not many women lead high-profile jury trials and all-female teams are very rare,” she says....

In-house counsel is not your typical job. You’re a lawyer, but you’re not working at a law firm: you’re at a company that’s focused on something else. In a way, you’ll be both an insider and an outsider. If that is exactly the job you want, how will you bridge that gap and show the interviewer you’re the right person for the position? In Johnny Cochran’s words, “preparation, preparation, preparation.” And you might get some insights about yourself too....

We all know that a messy desk or work environment often disrupts your productivity and your email inbox is no different. There’s nothing more headache-y than trying to get to an important email, only to have to sift through hundreds (or, sometimes, even thousands) of junky, stale emails. It happens. As an attorney, we sometimes get over hundreds of emails a day. Also, as an attorney, we have a tendency to want to keep most of them, “just in case....

Don’t fight the technology: master it. Or get someone who is a master to the job for you. Small firms are depending on technology more and more to help them keep their business running smoothly. We’ve previously written about considering a social media dashboard to help you manage the social media accounts associated with your firm, so we’re squarely in the camp that technology is your friend. Lawyer Specific: There are consultants and then there are consultants....

It’s not even Halloween, and we’re already looking forward to Thanksgiving. You probably are, too. After all, the First Circuit Court of Appeals is better-known in the legal world as the circuit where Thanksgiving started. Even more exciting? Before you fast-forward through November to turkey and football, you have a chance to rub elbows with outstanding appellate lawyers, scholars, and judges at the Appellate Judges Education Institute (AJEI) Summit. Think of it as a lawyer’s holiday couched between the two calendar holidays that warrant the consumption of mellowcreme pumpkins....

Apple is allegedly doing its darnedest to obstruct its newest court-ordered monitor, a lawyer who is supposed to be probing for antitrust violations. Beginning in October, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Bromwich was assigned to monitor the Silicon Valley company’s business practices, but he is now complaining that his efforts are “largely being ignored,” reports CNET. This frustration is crystallized in the “Bromwich Declaration” which outlines Bromwich’s grievances to the federal court....

Last month, a long-rumored bipartisan deal to fill a number of district court and Court of Appeals vacancies finally went through, much to the chagrin of Georgia civil rights leaders. Out of the six nominees, only one was a racial minority, and two had previously taken controversial stances on divisive issues (Confederate flags and voter ID laws). Now, Advocacy for Action, a coalition of African-American attorneys, has asked Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt....

The prophets called 2017 the year of the Retail Apocalypse, the end of brick-and-mortar stores as we know them. And it happened, just like they said. More than 6,700 stores closed across the United States, surpassing the worst meltdown for storefronts since the Great Recession a decade earlier. There should be plenty of real estate available since online stores have thinned out the competition for storefronts. Have you tried to find a Sears or Kmart lately?...

Lauren Stevens’ acquittal earlier this year didn’t come a minute too soon and it raised questions about whether corporate counsel are becoming scapegoats. The Association of Corporate Counsel is worried about just that so it launched an inquiry to track instances where in-house counsel have been targeted in litigation. They’re not just worried about targeting from government agencies or government and state prosecutors. The study will also look at whether opposing counsel are unfairly targeting the actions of in-house lawyers....

In a Bivens action involving claims that then-pregnant plaintiff was detained and searched at an airport based on a suspicion that she was smuggling drugs internally, judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) pursuant to the long-standing right of the sovereign to protect its territorial integrity, preliminary searches and seizures are per se reasonable simply by virtue of the fact that they occur at the border; 2) defendants acted reasonably in detaining plaintiff and taking her to a hospital for further, more intrusive, examinations; and 3) state law tort claims were barred under the Supremacy Clause....

When an employee makes a complaint alleging sexual harassment, whether the perpetrator was a co-worker, manager, or supervisor, every company should do one thing: Don’t ignore the complaint. Taking prompt remedial action can actually preclude liability. Restaurant Partners Inc., the folks who own and operate several “Coney” restaurants/diners, best known for their dogs and smothering everything with chili-cheese and ranch, were recently served with a lawsuit stemming from the company allegedly ignoring three waitresses’ complaints of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct....

When it comes to marketing your law firm, your website is your online presence. Sure, there’s social media and other emerging e-trends that need to be recognized, but it all starts (and sometimes, ends) with your website. But my firm already has a website, you say. But hold on: Is it up-to-date? Is it interactive? Does it feel like it’s representing a firm with people who were born after bathing became a social norm?...

In 2012, American Bar Association President Laurel Bellows formed the ABA Gender Equity Task Force “to address the continuing gender equity issues that exist in the legal profession and in society at large.” In a recent publication, Power of the Purse: How General Counsel Can Impact Pay Equity for Women Lawyers, the ABA recommends six ways that General Counsel can influence gender equity at the firms they hire. Here’s a brief rundown on the matter, in case you don’t have time to read the whole thing....