When I fiddled with Outlook Web Apps earlier this year, I was pleasantly surprised at how far the once-useless browser versions of the ubiquitous office suite had become. As for Google Docs, while we use it here, and while it has exploded in popularity due to its collaborative editing abilities, how much development has gone into it over the last few years? We heard that Office Web Apps had collaboration, so we gave it a shot....
Think your future is in weed law? Twenty-three states and D.C. have laws allowing for medical marijuana. Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska have legalized recreational weed, and California is expected to join them next year. All those growers, distributors, and vendors need lawyers and if the end of marijuana prohibition is approaching, enterprising lawyers will want to be on the ground floor. There’s one major complication. Marijuana remains illegal in the federal government’s eyes....
For most lawyers, the legal profession isn’t one that keeps you on your toes, at least not literally. Most of us will spend a good chunk of our days sitting behind a desk. If we’re lucky, we might get a nice detour to a conference room or, on rare occasions, a court house – but mostly, legal brainwork requires little physical stimulation. All that sitting is terrible for you. Sitting for more than three hours a day knocks an average of two years off your life while easily adding an inch or two to your waste....
To flat-fee or not to flat flee, that is the question. Or at least, that is the question addressed recently by out-going Qwest Communications GC, Richard Baer. Baer recently addressed the flat fee and alternative fee arrangements with outside counsel that are becoming so popular with the in-house crowd. Baer’s opinion? He turns the idea of alternative fee arrangements down flat. Baer’s logical, if unfashionable, argument is this: If you think a flat fee arrangement will prevent outside counsel from soaking you for billables, are they really the firm you should be hiring?...
A growing trend called “reverse mentoring” is bridging a technological, and generational, divide at many companies. Law firms could also learn a thing or two by adopting the practice, experts say. Reverse mentoring is a fancy name for something many older workers already do every day: Seek the help of younger, more tech-savvy coworkers to learn new technological tricks. The practice was widely implemented by General Electric in 1999, when 500 top executives were assigned to underlings to learn how to use the Internet, The Wall Street Journal reports....
The practice of law may not, in principle, have changed much over the last few decades (or ever). But, in action, mobile devices have changed the game, in a few big ways. Where you may have been able to leave your work at the office in bygone years, now, your smartphone is like a virtual desk that can keep you chained to your work even while sitting on the beach. For those lawyers that are constantly in the race for new clients, being accessible 24/7 means being able to land the client that’s calling attorney after attorney until they get one on the phone....
Total Attorneys is an odd bird. From the time you enter their site, until the time you find the tiny gray text link to the practice-management platform, you are bombarded with information on client leads, which we presume is TA’s primary business. (Here is the shortcut to the platform.) It’s a shame too, because many people will give up without clicking through multiple screens and tiny links. We almost skipped out too, but persevered - and it was worth it....
It’s official: Barring Supreme Court review, the St. Joseph Abbey monks can sell caskets in Louisiana. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Louisiana morticians had failed to offer a rational basis for a state rule limiting casket sales to licensed funeral directors, The Associated Press reports. That rule was rather ridiculous when you consider that Louisiana doesn’t otherwise regulate caskets. The Fifth Circuit noted: When the St....
Sentence for uttering forged securities, health care program theft and income tax evasion is affirmed where: 1) the district did not err in imposing a two-level sentencing enhancement for abuse of a position of trust as the record shows that defendant exercised considerable authority and discretion, was highly trusted, and used her position of trust to conceal her offenses; and 2) the court considered evidence of defendant’s mental health but did not find it persuasive, and thus she is not entitled to a downward variance....
In our profession, reputation can make or break a practice. That’s why it’s paramount to being a competent and successful legal practitioner to manage your reputation. Here are some basic principles of reputation management that every lawyer should know. Whether its consistently posting on your own site’s blog or carefully drafting and scheduling tweets, a well looked-after online presence will bolster your reputation on and offline. You want to appear (and be) current in your web site and social media strategy because these are your windows to the client world....
So what if you can’t get an iPhone video admitted as evidence? Looks like it would be just as good to post it to YouTube. A California man was ejected and arrested from a Santa Cruz City Council meeting after doing a silent Nazi salute. Robert Norse then sued city officials, alleging that they violated his First Amendment rights. The district court granted judgment against him, but the 9th Circuit reversed that decision 11-0....
KBR Inc., a Texas tech and engineering company, has settled the first SEC “pretaliation” enforcement action under Dodd-Frank, Inside Counsel reported yesterday. KBR’s standard confidentiality agreement, used in internal investigations, forbids employees from “discussing any particulars” about the investigation without prior authorization from the law department. That’s illegal pretaliation, according to the SEC. In-house counsel, get ready to spend your weekend reviewing your company’s confidentiality policies! As one of the many changes enacted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, covered companies are prohibited from taking actions which “impede an individual from communicating directly” with the SEC about securities violations....
Do you have the right people skills you need to succeed at your firm? Because sometimes, lawyers are not the most personable. Maybe you’re a superstar in the courtroom or when discussing matters that you know like the back of your hand with your client, but remember that how you behave at all times – especially among the other associates and your staff at your firm – can go a long way....
There are a lot of annoyances that come with running your own firm, but for most attorneys, if they were to list their top five pet peeves, unpaid bills would be at or near the top. At the same time, if you were to poll dissatisfied clients, one of their pet peeves would be legal billing. Enter time often, or better yet, as it accrues. Yes, entering time is a pain in the butt....
Armed Career Criminal Act sentence enhancements: three strikes (and a gun) and you’re in prison for a long, long time. Freddie Grant’s Guilty Past There was the cocaine thing. No issues there. But there was also the matter of that time he went off the rail in Korea, attacked a fellow soldier’s face with a razor blade, and when military policemen were taking him away, he wrestled away one of their guns and tried to escape....
Acme Law Corp. has released an app called StandIn that allows lawyers to solicit the services of other lawyers in a geographical area to handle court appearances on their behalf. In this writer’s opinion, this almost sounds like Uber for attorneys. StandIn appears to merge the best aspects of hailing a cab and Craigslist in a single mobile application. Don’t want to get to the city for that extension hearing? No problem....
Reversing a decision by the National Labor Relations Board, a federal appeals court has upheld a hospital group’s preference for hiring non-union workers at its non-union hospitals. The First Circuit Court of Appeal said the NLRB did not have substantial evidence for its finding that the hospital group unfairly preferred non-union workers. The court acknowledged that the hospital group also had a policy preferring union workers at its unionized hospital....
Many litigators have described the process of cross-examination as one of the more satisfying aspects of courtroom litigation. It’s easily one of the more combative components of being in court, and certainly a crucial one at that. If you impeach the right witness and thoroughly discredit the other side’s case, you can not only seal a case, but have fun doing it. Of course, cross-examination is only fun when you’re winning....
‘When did you first start fantasizing about becoming a wealthy BigLaw partner?’ the therapist asks. Alright, it’s a fantasy but is it a malady? According to reports, it is at least part of a serious problem at large law firms today. Some of those law firms are offering on-site psychologists and training staff to deal with mental-health issues, the Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper says it reflects a trend in the profession that it’s OK to see a therapist....
More in-house counsel are reviewing their outside counsel’s legal bills, and they’re not liking what they’re seeing. In the old days, you may have just taken a cursory glance and signed off on lengthy billing statements. But with the economy in an extended slump, corporate counsel are going through billing statements with a fine-toothed comb and disputing some charges – both extravagant and not-so-extravagant, reports ABA Journal. Here are five things you may want to pay special attention to when reviewing your outside counsel’s bill:...
