Small firms who maintain an Internet presence may wonder: what does the recent Google update mean for their law firm’s website? Just let Google do the explaining. Apparently, their most recent algorithm update puts an emphasis on “the most up-to-date results.” Just 8 months ago, Google unveiled its “Panda” update which is said to have affected 12 percent of searches. This most recent update is said to impact 35% of searches....
Anchoring is a special skill for sailors. It requires knowing something about the bottom terrain, the tide, the type of anchor to use and more. But when an anchor is set well, the sailor can sleep peacefully knowing the vessel will not drift out to sea. Leaving work at the end of the day is like setting an anchor. If you do it well, you can sleep at night. “Anchor Quick Charge” Deborah Bright, an executive coach and author, says busy professionals often have trouble disengaging from work....
What goes up must come down. Looks like Newton’s law of gravity also applies to in house counsel salary as a recent survey indicates that the in house counsel salary increases are slowing. In a survey conducted by Hildebrant Baker Robbins, the average seniority level in house counsel salary is a cool $174,000. Although that figure may be less than what many associates at big law firms are earning there are two upswings to the in house counsel salary – not working under outrageous billable hour requirements and typically receiving much larger bonuses than law firm associates....
A federal judge in Puerto Rico overreacted when he had court officers forcibly seat an attorney who had objected to an objection, the First Circuit said yesterday. But that overreaction wasn’t enough to overturn the drug conviction of Marquez-Perez, the court found. Rather, it was the performance from that same, forcibly-seated lawyer that may save Marquez-Perez. Since the attorney had failed to review important evidence before trial, Marquez-Perez may have been denied effective counsel, the First Circuit ruled....
In Leal v. Sec’y., US Dept. of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 09-15727, an action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) seeking a court order requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to remove a report about plaintiff-physician’s alleged misconduct from the National Practitioner Data Bank, the court affirmed judgment for defendant where 1) the consistency between the Hospital’s letters and its report to the Data Bank established the report’s factual accuracy in the only sense that matters under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act; and 2) “imminent danger” was not required before a summary suspension is reportable under the Act....
When it comes to hacking, in-house legal departments are one of the easiest targets. A new report on data breaches, put together by Verizon, identified corporate legal departments as more likely than almost any other to fall victim to email phishing scams. That’s right, one of your company’s biggest cybersecurity threats is its legal department. Phishing emails can result in identity theft and the loss of confidential information, spread computer viruses and install ransomware, programs that encrypt your computer and return access for a fee....
We are smack in the middle of National Small Business Week. Inevitably, any conversation about small business involves drumming up more business, a/k/a marketing. So to get in the swing of National Small Business Week, we thought we’d chat about law firm marketing. The Fine Line Between Marketing and Soliciting As attorneys who effectively run your own businesses, you always need to walk the fine line of marketing, without stepping into unethical areas of soliciting....
No thanks to technology, this time the bad guy got away. Quinton Redell Sylvestre allegedly robbed a Boca Raton restaurant, where he and two companions shot and killed a victim. Investigators found him later using a Stingray – a device that intercepts cell phone signals to locate people. With the guns, mask, and ammunition, it looked like they had their man. But then there was a legal problem with the Stingray....
We’ve come a long way in technology since a court ruled against Helen Palsgraf, who sued a railroad company after a guard helped a man get on the train and his package of fireworks fell, causing an explosion that rattled a scale to fall on the woman at the other end of the platform. Today, a court ruled against a police officer who sued Twitter, Facebook, and Google after he responded to the shooting of five other officers by a former Army reservist who had killed the officers to protest police killings of black men in two other states because terrorists groups spread their philosophies on the social media networks....
Going through a bankruptcy is never easy for individuals. While the resulting freedom from debt can be life changing, failing to follow the rules can result in a bankruptcy petition being rejected, or certain assets not being protecting from creditors. Recently, in a Fifth Circuit appeal from a Texas bankruptcy matter, a petitioner almost lost the proceeds from the sale of their home to the bankruptcy trustee due to a misunderstood technicality of the timing for the Texas homestead exemption....
Safeguarding client information isn’t as easy as you might think. In the digital age, safeguarding information is something even the most tech-savvy corporations struggle with. To ensure that your clients’ information is safe, you actually have to be proactive about your security. Let’s start from the beginning. Rule 1.6 Back in what seems like ages ago, the FBI first ominously warned that law firms were prime targets for hackers. The industry collectively yawned....
Sally Jim, a member of the Miccosukee Tribe, had a good year at the casino. She made $272,000 without ever playing a game. That was her per capita distribution as a member of the 400-member, Florida tribe. There was one problem, however. In United States of America v. Jim, a federal appeals court said she should have paid her taxes. Indian Gaming Revenue Act The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals said tribes and their members have to pay taxes on gaming revenues....
In a petition for review of the BIA’s denial of Iranian native’s application for asylum and withholding of removal, the petition is granted in part where the Board failed to give reasoned consideration to petitioner’s evidence of a well-founded fear of persecution based on petitioner’s religion, or more specifically, his conversion from Islam to Christianity while in the United States. However, the petition is denied in part, where substantial evidence supported the BIA’s determination that petitioner failed to prove a well-founded fear of persecution based on his political opinion....
Remember back in the early days of the Internet, when websites came in three simple sizes and no one talked back to their elders? Once upon a time all you had to know was .com, .org, and .edu – maybe a co.uk if you were worldly. Those days have long gone. Today, there’s domain suffixes for every whim and fancy, from .ninja to .xxx. Soon, there will be .law. Here’s how you can become a dot law’er, along with a quick look at the shadowy Internet bureaucracy that controls dot everything....
Unless you really don’t like lawyers, it’s a good idea to hang out with them socially sometimes. It’s about camaraderie, networking, and professional associations. And for every business-minded attorney, it’s also about referrals. But if we’re talking about the business side of professional organizations, here are some cost considerations when deciding when to hang out and when to get out: Paying Your Dues Membership has its privileges because it has dues....
Social media is a mixed blessing. Sure, it allows instantaneous communications with friends and family (especially over cat photos), but it also allows clients to make terrible decisions at the push of a button. Part of your initial meeting with a client should be a brief overview of why the client should stay away from Facebook and Twitter (and others). Clients are big boys and girls; so why should you take on the Herculean task of telling them not to respond to that itch to comment?...
New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram has started taking on qualified attorneys as volunteers in her office. This is a quite a switch from past days when unpaid internships were given only to students. But with the assistance of those volunteers, the Attorney General gets a start on filling the holes blasted in her office staff by state budget cuts. The Division of Law is still under a hiring freeze after losing about 130 lawyers since January 2006....
When it comes to furnishing your law office, one often overlooked essential piece of furniture is the trusty ole law office couch. If you have the space, it’s right up there with a coffee maker in terms of importance. While it may not be as essential as a desk, chair and computer, the right couch can make a world of difference. After all, just because you’re a lawyer, that doesn’t mean you, or your associates/staff, always have to sit at a desk....
Judge Edith Jones is being accused of racial bias after a comment in her speech to the Federalist Society in February implied that Blacks and Hispanics are more involved in violent crime. A complaint for judicial misconduct, filed by a broad coalition of civil rights organizations and legal ethics experts, alleged that Judge Jones made statements in her speech at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law that “violated basic rules of judicial ethics,” particularly the duty to remain impartial, reports MySanAntonio....
Growth is good. But how do you go about it? You could take in more clients, bring on higher-paying clients, or make more efficient use of the resources you already have. To help you out, here are our top posts on growing your small or solo firm’s profits, from the FindLaw archives. Growth is good, right? After all, a growing firm brings more clients, more opportunities, and more money. But poorly managed growth can leave you overworked and overwhelmed....
