Posts

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Microsoft is serious when it comes to software pirates. Indeed, it has just reported that it has reached settlements in more than 3,000 copyright infringement matters that it initiated globally in the past year alone. The vast majority of the cases were international, spanning 42 countries. In fact, only 35 of the 3,265 cases were in the United States....

Fourth grade teacher Jaretta Hamilton was fired after she told her boss at Southland Christian School that she planned to take maternity leave. While being pregnant was not cause for termination at the school, evidently, fornication was. It doesn’t take a math teacher to calculate that Hamilton, who was due in October, must have conceived in January. That was a problem because Hamilton married in February. When asked when she conceived, Hamilton conceded that she became pregnant three weeks prior to her wedding, reports ABC News....

Lawyers get to advertise too. The court also ruled against the Louisiana State Bar’s complete ban on portraying the justice system with settings like a judge or jury in attorney advertising. The court uphold rules that prohibit attorneys in Louisiana from using nicknames, trade names, mottos and slogans “that imply an ability to obtain results.” The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board has said the new rules, which took effect in October 2009, were designed to protect the public from deceptive ads....

US v. Salas-Fernandez, 08-2015, concerned a challenge to the district court’s judgment ordering defendant to pay $157,370.83 in restitution to Loomis-Fargo, in a conviction of the defendant for his participation in an armed robbery of a Loomis-Fargo bank truck, using a firearm and threats of violence. In affirmin, the court held that there is no abuse of discretion, let alone any plain error, in the district court’s order to pay restitution forthwith....

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a Florida district court’s dismissal of a False Claims Act lawsuit this week, finding that the relators bringing the case had sufficiently stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. Lucas Matheny and Deborah Loveland brought a qui tam action against their employer’s parent company, Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (Medco) and its subsidiaries, alleging violations of the reverse false claim provision of the False Claims Act....

Businesses and retailers have been using seasonal sales tactics for years. One of the most recent and cult-like is Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte first introduced in 2003. Before the craze became a pop culture phenomenon, pumpkin spice was primarily a thing reserved for pies. But demand kept on dictating supply. Today, you can purchase pumpkin spice condoms. Pumpkin spice has become such a phenomenon, it carries with it SEO goodwill. By this time, Pumpkin spice has joined eggnog and turkey....

The Fifth Circuit begins hearing cases again on January 6, 2014, and the court is ready to start the new year with a bang. Here are three cases still active in 2014 that should not be overlooked: The battle over Texas’ newest abortion law continues on Monday as a panel of three Fifth Circuit judges will hear oral arguments in Planned Parenthood v. Abbott. The panel is notably comprised of three female Judges: Edith H....

Terry stops allow a police officer to briefly detain someone if the officer has reasonable suspicion that the suspect is, or was recently, involved in criminality. An officer can conduct a Terry frisk if he has reason to believe the suspect is armed and dangerous. The purpose of a Terry stop is to confirm or deny the officer’s reasonable suspicion. Against that backdrop comes United States v. Arthur. Two black men wearing dark clothing robbed a Metro PCS store in Maine....

Texas’s voter ID law has a “discriminatory effect” in violation of the Voting Rights Act, the Fifth Circuit ruled today. The law required voters to produce specific types of photo identification in order to vote. Concealed gun licenses were allowed; student IDs were not. Opponents of the law argued that it would have little effect on preventing voter fraud while resulting in the disenfranchisement of Hispanic and African American voters. The Fifth Circuit agreed, in part, but refused to invalidate the law outright....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Last week, by virtue of a 63-30 procedural vote, the Senate moved forward with a bill called the Marketplace Fairness Act, with a final Senate vote set for May 6, according to The Wall Street Journal. The bill, if it were to become law, would enable states to force online sellers nationally to collect sales tax with respect to their residents’ purchases....

Man, it must be unspeakably awful to suffer from Celiac disease. To never taste the majesty of a buttered croissant, or to have to worry about whether one’s beer is going to cause distressing intestinal pain, is a terribly depressing thought. Imagine then, picking up a product labeled “gluten free” and then discovering, the hard way, that the label was “inaccurate” or “exaggerated.” That shouldn’t happen anymore, or at least after this year, per a new FDA labeling regulation....

Consider ransomware a form of digital kidnapping. Ransomware takes over your computers, encrypts your most essential files, then demands payment or else your data gets it. And such attacks have become increasingly common, especially in industries that hold sensitive information, such as healthcare organizations. Dealing with these electronic hostage takers can leave computer systems disturbed for days, even weeks, and cost tens of thousands of dollars to rectify. But even if you have cyber insurance, your policy may not cover a ransomware attack....

Things should be looking up for Zynga, the tech company responsible for FarmVille-laden Facebook walls everywhere. After about two years of planning, the company has official plans to go public just after Thanksgiving. But instead of focusing on the IPO itself, the media is focusing on Zynga’s pre-IPO preparations. It turns out that CEO Mark Pincus demanded that a number of employees return their unvested Zynga stock. Those who refused would face termination....

When an ex-employee sues her former employer, everybody often loses in terms of precious time, money, and effort. But there are some strategies that can help deter even the most disgruntled employees from filing suit in the first place. As in-house counsel, you’ll likely have to join forces with your company’s HR director and other managers to make these strategies work. Here are five tips to avoid legal quarrels with workers after they leave your company:...

When the holidays roll around, retailers tend to offer some really good sales on really useful tech. For many lawyers running their own shops, this is one of the best times of year to upgrade your law office tech. Not only can you score some sweet holiday season deals, you may also be able to score some sweet end of year tax deductions. Useful office tech may not be what your staff truly wants....

What would you do if you found out your employee put a racist slur on a receipt? That is exactly what happened in an Orange County steak restaurant. African American businessman Mark McHenry frequented Landmark Steakhouse. He thought he was developing a friendly, joking rapport with the wait staff. But it seems the restaurant’s employees may have crossed a line. McHenry discovered that several of his receipts called him by different variations of the N-word....

A recent decision of the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld a law firm’s billing practice of using 15 minute increments. The court held that barring evidence of abusive practices, so long as the billing increment is reasonable and not excessive, it’s all good. However, before those attorneys that bill to the tenth of the hour consider a change, it may be worth noting that doing so may actually require more work when it comes to time-keeping....

What’s the most common mistake an attorney makes when starting a law practice – besides choosing to become a lawyer? Just kidding. Starting a law business may be the best thing about entering the practice of law. It’s the great American dream – now that home ownership is just a dream – to own your business. There are common mistakes that almost every new lawtrepreneur makes. Here are the common mistakes you should avoid when starting your law practice:...

When you see youngsters racing by on motorcycles, you might wonder if they make it to adulthood. Chances are they do, but it helps if they have a helmet, boots and other protective clothing. Now think about those kids skimming across the ocean on those water motorcycles. They may not need helmets, but they definitely need protective wear. Deborah Meek Hickerson didn’t think so in Hickerson v. Yamaha Motor Corporation, U....

In a securities fraud class action alleging options backdating, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs failed to plead any facts that indicated that any individual defendant knew about the alleged accounting irregularities during the class period; 2) there was no way to determine from the complaint that the sales of large numbers of shares was suspicious enough to add to an inference of scienter; and 3) plaintiffs’ allegation that defendants knew certain forward-looking statements were false did not convert those statements, mitigated by adequate warnings of risks, into actionable frauds....