On July 31, Georgia Supreme Court judge Britt Grant was confirmed as the newest justice for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals by a vote of 52 to 46. Although she was just appointed to her seat on Georgia’s highest court in 2017 by the state’s governor, and has barely just gotten that bench warm, she’ll soon be taking the place of Judge Julie Carnes, who only recently stepped down to senior status....
And the Pleau saga continues. We’re talking about the Jason Wayne Pleau saga: The ongoing tug-of-war between a state and the feds over the fate of an accused killer. Now, a federal judge has issued an order that might shed some more light on the fate of Jason Pleau and whether or not he will face the death penalty, if tried by the federal judiciary. For several months now, Pleau has been caught in between a legal system that does not allow for capital punishment and one that does....
For solo and boutique firm attorneys looking for an edge in their discovery practice, anything that can save time and energy is worth considering. For law practices seeking to increase productivity and profitability, software solutions are often worth considering. Liquid Litigation Management, Inc. offers a unique set of software that contains discovery and case management tools in one product. This allows legal teams to prepare and participate in litigation in the most efficient way possible....
Sick of the myriad of half-baked office substitutes for Android and iOS devices? Take heart, tech geek lawyer: Microsoft is finally coming to the rescue. October 2013: Windows Blue updates April 2014: Office for Mac; Office RT refresh, Windows Phone refresh October 2014: Outlook for Windows RT, Office for iOS and Android Yep. You’ll finally have the option of running Microsoft Office on your iPad, which could finally quell the final reservations of many professions of tablets’ inability to be as useful as laptops....
Look around at your fellow GCs. There may be more former law firm partners in your midst this year. Experienced law firm partners are increasingly interviewing at big corporations, a New York legal consulting firm’s survey reports. Firm partners with significant experience were in particularly high demand last year. Respondents cited a growing need for sophisticated expertise and administrative savvy in managing outside counsel relationships, according to the Eolis Eolis International Group press release....
How do you define the role of the modern in-house lawyer? It’s probably some amalgamation of legal counsel, reputation manager, data security watchdog, and consigliore to the board. This person should also, of course, be good at watching the bottom line and reigning in outside counsel costs. At this year’s “The Lawyer” Awards (sponsored by Thomson Reuters, our parent company), the UK publication sought to recognize someone who excelled at the jack-of-all-trades role....
More than 3/4 (81%) of consumers with a legal need use the Internet to access legal information and products, according to FindLaw’s Consumer Needs Survey. A growing number of those consumers are also using the web to find and research potential legal representation. Attorney websites have thus become an essential part of the legal business, giving potential clients access to a wealth of critical information. And for the lucky ones, a website can even provide a bit of unexpected publicity....
When is a search warrant valid for documents stored in the cloud? That’s not a simple question to answer, particularly given to recent, divergent rulings. In July, the Second Circuit ruled that the federal government could not force Microsoft to turn over emails stored on the cloud – or rather, Microsoft’s server in Ireland. Just a week after an equally divided Second Circuit declined to rehear the case en banc, a U....
Where Intelligize’s legal research product, Precedent Check, focuses on searching for relevant precedent and law when filing an initial Securities and Exchange Commission submission, Comment Check assists filers in the next phase–after the SEC has responded to the filing with its comments and questions. Instead of re-creating the wheel with each filing, subscribers to the service can use the proprietary search tools to find similar comments and responses in other SEC filings, view entire strings of exchanges between companies and the SEC, and even filter responses by SEC examiners and firms....
You may have heard by now that this week is Small Business Week. It’s a week to celebrate small businesses, and an excuse for companies to send themed spam email to your inbox. It’s also a good excuse for those of us who aren’t self-employed to ponder the pros and cons of going into business for ourselves – freedom versus risk, ownership versus limited resources, etc. If you’re thinking about going solo, we’ve got more than a few tips for you....
Luddites take note: technology ought not be shunned, but embraced. Becoming comfortable and current with tech is increasingly a determinant in how likely your firm is to survive over the long term. And it’s not even just about how competent your firm actually is, either. Even client perceptions can be crucial. Actual Speed The pen was replaced by the typewriter. The typewriter was replaced with the keyboard and printer. Again and again, technology has sped up the pace of commerce....
FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. When it comes to teenagers behind the wheel of automobiles, perhaps it is time to be afraid, very afraid. Indeed, recent research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project presents some fairly sobering statistics about texting and driving. Pair that with some statistics about car crashes and car crash fatality numbers with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and it gets downright scary....
FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. The world is becoming a much smaller place given international transportation, multinational corporations, and Internet communications that know no geographic boundaries. With more frequent and heightened dealings with people across the globe, there necessarily are increased international disputes that require resolution. So, one might think that there is a global court in place to deal with such disputes, right?...
We previously wrote a three-part series on the qualities of “GCs of the Future,” inspired by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s study entitled, “Skills for the 21st Century General Counsel.” In our research, we came across a white paper released by The Huron Legal Institute, providing tips for new general counsel. In reviewing the ten tips, we noticed that they all played well into the three leading characteristics for GCs of the future....
Conviction for drug crimes is affirmed where: 1) the court did not err in its jury instructions on joining the conspiracy and criminal intent; and 2) the court did not err in its jury instructions on constructive possession, the instruction on Pinkerton liability for the criminal conduct of co-conspirators, and aiding and abetting liability. Read US v. Gonzales, No. 07-1541 Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the District of Rhode IslandFiled: June 24, 2009...
Challenge to a district court’s judgment limiting an attorney’s legal fees in representation of whistleblower clients in government’s investigation of a shipping company for discharging oil US v. Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc., 09-2684, concerned a challenge to a district court’s decision limiting an attorney’s legal fees under two contingent fee agreements while representing two whistleblowers, in proceedings arising out of a government investigation in six judicial districts into allegations that a shipping company had for years engaged in the practice of discharging oil from its vessels in American waters and falsifying mandatory ship records to conceal the discharges, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships....
The nuts and bolts of setting up a blog, including choosing your team and your editorial focusHow to grow compelling content from within your firmSyndicating your blog for maximum visibilityAllowing topical content to appear associated with your brand on the Web where clients and prospects may read itImproving your position in search results Stay in touch with clientsUnderstand how the corporate community views your firm in relation to competing firmsRaise your firm’s “thought-leadership profile”...
Remember the myth of a “permanent record” from elementary school? What if that myth was a reality, it tracked your legal career, it was easily accessible to the public, and it cataloged every single case you ever handled? Scary thought, huh? It’s more than a thought, though. It’s already here. It was only a matter of time before publicly-available court records met modern computing power. MyShingle lists a few of these startups that are collecting information off of court dockets and presenting the information to the public....
Part of being an effective attorney is zealously advocating for your client. And although you may be the most motivated, competent advocate in the market, no one will know that unless you actually have clients. So for those still unconvinced of the need for solos to push for marketing, consider this: A solo practice may seem in abstract like a principled statement of being – one made by an attorney who wishes to make his or her mark on the world....
You’ve heard about the cloud, but what is it exactly? Simply put, someone else’s computer. Or rather, computer farm. The cloud allows you to store and access a virtually unlimited amount of information remotely, without having to build up any of the infrastructure on your own. The cloud isn’t just going to transform the way people work, it already has. But the cloud also poses major legal questions. For example, how should attorneys apportion risk when negotiating cloud contracts?...
