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FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. In the wake of the airline pilots of infamous Northwest Flight 188 telling National Transportation Safety Board investigators that they were out of touch with air traffic controllers and airline dispatchers because they were working with new crew scheduling programs on their laptops, Congress now is considering a ban on the use of laptops and personal electronic devices in airline cockpits....

When an alien is considered for deportation proceedings, it becomes painfully important to identify whether his or her record contains any crimes of moral turpitude. This means that any criminal conviction which classifies an alien as removable is a battleground in any deportation proceeding, since moral turpitude is truly a legal term of art. But the Fifth Circuit doesn’t believe this requires much wondering, since Congress has spoken clearly on the issue....

The Fifth Circuit decided matters concerning an award of attorney’s fees as a sanction, a suit against off-duty police officers under 42 U.S.C. section 1983, and various criminal issues. In US v. Xu, No. 09-20074, the court of appeals vacated defendant’s conviction for trafficking in counterfeit drugs, on the ground that a rational juror could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the Zyprexa mark, allegedly misappropriated by defendant, was registered on the USPTO’s principal register....

Last week, American Apparel axed its founder, CEO, and 27 percent shareholder, Dov Charney, after an “investigation into alleged misconduct.” We couldn’t help but wonder: with all of his public idiocy (sexual harassment, labor law violations, slurs, and most damning of all: unprofitability), what caused the company to finally pull the trigger, five years too late? From the reports? Not a whole lot more than we already knew about, including sexual misconduct, as well as a few allegations of personal use of company resources....

The latest in news on the in-house counsel front is that Ramsey Homsany will be leaving the GC seat of file-sharing company DropBox. He will be replaced by the company’s head of regulatory and litigation affairs, Bart Volkmer. Homsany apparently leaves DropBox behind without having another job immediately in the pipeline. But seeing as he is one of the most recognizable names in Silicon Valley, we’re sure he’ll land on his feet wherever he ends up....

Remember that 70s show when somebody was holding a cell phone as big as a shoe to their head? No, not “Get Smart.” That was a shoe and it was the 60s. Anyway, it doesn’t matter what show because we’re talking about old cell phones. Dude, double-check but maybe your cell phone is obsolete. Windows Phone Is Dead Microsoft is pulling the plug on the Windows phone. It had been on life support for some time....

The seemingly never-ending litigation regarding the graphic cigarette warning labels appears headed to the Supreme Court of the United States. This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled for the tobacco industry and found that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could not force cigarette manufacturers to post the graphic images. The FDA had proposed images that covered the entire top half of cigarette packaging that showed images like a baby enveloped by smoke and people who have died from lung cancer, reports The Associated Press....

Gautier v. Wall, 09-2411, concerned a denial of a defendant’s application for a certificate of appealability an order vacating the judgment of the district court as the court lacked jurisdiction to consider defendant’s second or successive petition without authorization, and not one of defendant’s claims meets the gatekeeping requirements of section 2244(b). Astralis Condo. Ass’n v. Sec’y, U.S. Dep’t of Housing & Urban Dev., 09-2497, concerned a condominium association’s petition for review of an ALJ’s order granting relief to plaintiffs, in an action against the condominium association claiming that plaintiffs were entitled to preferred parking spaces at their residence by reason of their handicaps....

For Louisiana lawyers, and other LSU fans who practice in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the world seemed to stop last week in anticipation of the Biggest. Game. Ever. The courts, however, continued to crank out opinions while the rest of us contemplated tailgating and judicial confirmations. The Fifth Circuit ruled last week in Lewis v. Ascension Parish School Board that race was a motivating factor in assigning students to three Ascension Parish Schools: East Ascension High, Dutchtown High, and St....

We knew this day was coming. We knew it the minute the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. Now, the case is formally on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. A writ of certiorari was officially filed last week, reports Politico. The writ was filed by BLAG, or the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the House of Representatives. You can read the writ of certiorari here....

In Bradley v. Sebelius, No. 09-13765, plaintiffs’ appeal from the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ decision that it was entitled to a portion of a settlement of an underlying action against a Florida nursing home for neglect and abuse as a Medicare recoupment, the court reversed judgment for the Secretary where, under Florida law, all loss of consortium or companionship recoveries were the property of the person who incurred the loss, and a claim for medical expenses belongs only to the estate....

In an action claiming that defendant-employer made an improper medical inquiry in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), summary judgment for defendant is reversed where: 1) 42 U.S.C. section 12112(d)(2) did not limit coverage to applicants who were also “qualified individuals with disabilities”; and 2) while the district court correctly concluded that employers may conduct follow-up questioning in response to a positive drug test, it failed to acknowledge any limits on this type of questioning....

Why hang your own shingle when you can buy one? If you’re looking to be a solo practitioner or run your own small firm, buying an existing practice can be an efficient alternative to building your own book of business. Sound appealing? Here are some tips on how to get started. 1. Where to Find Firms for Sale Obviously, the first step to buying a law practice is finding one for sale....

Diamonds are made under pressure. It’s a naturally occurring process deep in the Earth. Companies do make fakes – “cultured diamonds” – but nature’s recipe is the most valuable. People are not much different when it comes to performing under pressure – the process makes them better. And as anybody who has seen a good trial lawyer in action knows, you can’t fake that. Rough Edges Like found diamonds, most people are not shiny, stellar performers the first time they take the stage....

Quintez Wren Hodges is not the kind of person Mississippians refer to as “a nice fella.” In 1999, Hodges broke into his ex-girlfriend’s house, fatally shot her brother, kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and her baby, and raped the ex-girlfriend in the back seat of her vehicle. His only redeeming moment in the ordeal was when he turned himself into the police.It should come as no surprise that a jury found Hodges guilty of capital murder during the commission of a burglary, and — Mississippi being a capital punishment state - sentenced him to die by lethal injection....

If there’s one thing that all high-profile criminal cases have in common, it’s that the facts are often played out in the media. No matter what the courts say or the juries do, the defendant’s life will be forever altered by popular opinion. George Zimmerman’s new website is therefore no surprise. That being said, from a legal standpoint is his new website a good idea? Probably not. The reaction to George Zimmerman’s website has been mostly one of confusion....

Jack-of-all-trades - that’s what you’ll be. As the in-house attorney for your company, you are going to need to know finance, contracts, employment law, accounting, law department management, liability, indemnity, and confidentiality. There’s probably more, but hey,that’s what the conference is for, right? The Association of Corporate Counsel will have its annual Corporate Counsel University intensive program from May 19-21 in New Orleans, LA at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. From the Google Map, it looks like you’ll be near both the French Quarter and the Coyote Ugly Saloon, which we can only assume is related to the landmark “women dancing on bars” film of the same name....

Joel Tenenbaum should resume penny-pinching. The First Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a $675,000 judgment against Tenenbaum in an illegal downloading case last week, after District Court Judge Nancy Gertner reduced the sentence to $67,500. Sony sued Tenenbaum in 2007 for willful infringement of copyright laws after Tenenbaum downloaded and distributed copyrighted music. Sony sought statutory, rather than actual damages. The jury found that Tenenbaum had willfully infringed each of Sony’s 30 copyrighted works at issue in the case, and returned a damage award, within the statutory range, of $22,500 per infringement, totaling $675,000....

What are the pros and cons of being a family lawyer? First, you will really get to know your relatives. That’s because they will talk to you about delicate family issues more than your immediate family – like who’s having an affair, who’s the crazy uncle, where the dead bodies are, etc. So yeah, that’s both a pro and a con. After that, they kind of line up like this:...

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Do you ever get up in the morning, feeling sluggish and just not up to the tasks that await you? For most of us, the answer is yes, at least once in a while. And does it ever seem that your Internet connection is having a bad hair day? Specifically, does it feel like it takes forever for Web pages to download, reminding you of the days of 32k and 56k dial-up modems?...