Imagine our thoughts when we heard that Paragon Legal could be the new model for corporate or in house counsel. Oh boy, a reinvention of the broken system! Except, it actually does seem pretty well executed. There are two problems with a traditional law firm or in house arrangement. Many lawyers don’t want to work 100 hour weeks, especially those with kids. Also, many companies don’t want to hire full time counsel....
The general counsel at Facebook, Colin Stretch, in a public post on the platform, recently announced that he will be leaving his position by the end of the year. Stretch has been with Facebook since 2010, and endured through several trips to D.C. for investigations, and even the recent Cambridge Analytical scandal. However, his family relocated out of Silicon Valley to the East Coast, and he realized that his not being close by was doing the company a disservice....
A financial adviser’s alleged LinkedIn fraud is calling attention to the growing use of social media for securities scams. General Counsel for who deal in securities matters may want to take note. The Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Anthony Fields of Lyons, Ill., of trying to hawk more than $500 billion in fraudulent securities via posts on LinkedIn and other social media sites, the Chicago Tribune reports. The SEC’s action against Fields coincided with two investor alerts released back in Jan....
What do we have for you this week, in our favorite posts from across the blawgosphere roundup? How about three cases of lawyers behaving stupidly, all of which you can learn a lesson from. A copyright defender turns troll, both for himself and his clients. A judge has a “shocking” response to a sovereign citizen’s nonsensical ramblings. And Solo Practice University presents the tale of a lawyer who bit off more than he could chew when he decided to dabble in a new practice area....
It’s an increasingly common complaint among lawyers: Do-it-yourself legal websites are stealing potential clients. But instead of complaining about being undercut by online competition, perhaps your practice could rise to the challenge and beat these DIY legal websites at their own game. Here’s a look at what these DIY legal websites offer, and some ideas for how your law firm can compete. Your competition LegalZoom: Among the pioneers of DIY legal websites, LegalZoom offers flat-fee legal documents....
A client was late to a DUI hearing, so I called him on the cell phone. “I got you a good deal. Get down here now,” I said. He showed up 20 minutes later, reeking of alcohol. What do you do with somebody like that? Is it possible to defend an impaired client and protect society at the same time? Legal Counseling It’s not unusual for attorneys to meet clients with substance abuse problems at the courthouse....
You’ve undoubtedly walked by a billboard featuring a smiling lawyer in a suit, with a caption claiming that he’ll fight for you, along with a checklist of things he’ll help you fight for. Then there’s a phone number at the bottom. Maybe it includes a silly nickname. Have you ever wondered about billboards – known in The Biz as “outdoor advertising”? Opinions vary about outdoor advertising; it’s either a great, cost-effective idea or it’s a vestige of an earlier time (and wouldn’t you rather launch a social media campaign?...
Starting your own law firm is like jumping off a rock into the ocean. It’s a little scary, especially if you are jumping from some height. But the longer you think about it, the higher it seems to get. In real time, fear is the only thing between you and the water. You just have to jump. Take the Plunge Take the plunge, and this will be the year you start your law business....
News Corporation announced that Janet Nova, the Company’s Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, will be elevated to Executive Vice President and Deputy Group General Counsel for 21st Century Fox, the media and entertainment entity to launch following the separation of the company into two independent, publicly traded companies, reports The Wall Street Journal. The pie paid off. New Role In her new legal role, Nova will oversee the company’s M&A activity, capital markets transactions, and SEC and stock exchange reporting, and advise the company’s Board committees....
Charles Harris worked on the sixth floor of the Black Bear Preparation Plant which, sadly, was a coal loading facility, not a bear manufacturing facility. One day, Norfolk Southern railroad, owners of the trains and track receiving coal, backed a train along a corroded section of track. The train derailed, with train cars crashing into the Black Bear loading facility’s support beams and sending it, and Harris, crashing to the ground....
Don’t like the message? Close the forum. Lexington, Virginia, which will forever hold a place near-and-dear to this blogger’s heart, is an idyllic small town with many, many ties to the Confederacy. After all, the great Washington and Lee University is named for, you guessed it, Robert E. Lee, who became president of the university after the Civil War. General Stonewall Jackson’s statue watches over the town’s cemetery, more than a century after he loomed over the Virginia Military Institute....
The National Labor Relations Board’s new rule requires nearly every private-sector employer display a poster explaining employees’ union rights goes into effect in less than two months. It is safe to say that the move is opposed by most business organizations and in-house counsel. By November 14, the 11-by-17-inch notice, which can be downloaded here, must be conspicuously posted and in multiple languages if at least 20% of an employer’s workforce lacks English proficiency....
All good things must come to an end and even some bad things, too. At least that’s the story of Personal Audio and its litigation against podcasters. The failed startup lived on suing companies based on its patent for “disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence.” The lawsuit business worked for a while, including victories against Apple and other companies, but an appeals court put an end to the patent-trolling against podcasters....
Truck driver Michael Daniel was exiting the Airgas Carbonics plant in Star, Mississippi in 2009 when he collided with a passing train operated by Illinois Central Railroad Company. He died two days later. Illinois Central, Airgas, and Michael’s widow, Clydine Daniel, filed claims and counterclaims against each other, trying to assign blame in the case. This week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Clydine’s negligence claims against Airgas, finding that the company owed no duty to Michael Daniel at the time of the collision....
Last week, we talked eDiscovery and the sanctions that make the process an absolute nightmare for companies and their in-house legal departments. The advisory committee is considering revising Rule 37(e) to make sanctions less prevalent, more predictable, and only available where there is willful or intentional misconduct and the requesting party suffered prejudice as a result or, the requesting party was deprived of an opportunity to present or defend its claims....
Six months ago, I voluntarily let someone shoot me in the eyeballs with lasers. Because laser vision correction is something that many lawyers may consider, I figured it was worth sharing my experiences in a three-part series: the decision, the surgery and recovery, and coping with limited vision when returning to work. Today’s topic is surgery and recovery. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the worst part: returning to work. What do you need to do before going under the laser?...
Do you have a legal specialization? Do you want to be the go-to attorney and legal authority in your market? Are you having trouble bridging the gap? If this sounds like the state of your practice, you could possibly benefit from a more nuanced approach to legal marketing that allows you to take advantage of your knowledge and the freedom of being a solo practitioner or part of a small firm....
“I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner’s execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims.” The above statement, issued by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff just before the execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner, seems rather innocuous. Most would call it a reasonable and respectful way for the Attorney General to announce impending execution convicted killer. But does the context change when the words are tweeted instead of spoken?...
It’s official. The iPhone is finally coming to Verizon. After being tied to the AT&T Network since 2007, many people have longed for an iPhone on the Verizon network. Now that we know it is finally happening, smartphone consumers are moving on to the next reasonable question: what will some of the differences be? There are actually quite a few, so here are some highlights: The Verizon iPhone will have a portable Wi-Fi hotspot option, but the company has not announced how much the data rates will be....
Email marketing is the dinosaur of online marketing strategies. Since dinosaurs are extinct by definition, it’s almost a little miraculous that email marketing still exists at all. In reality, there’s nothing miraculous about it. Email marketing might be ancient, but it is still entirely practical, despite all the flashy online communication services that are available today. If you’re not convinced, here’s a fun fact: According to the former CTO of The Huffington Post, no one sends more emails than Facebook or Twitter....
