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Gender Identity Disorder (“GID”) is characterized by a feeling of being trapped in the body of the wrong gender. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health prescribes a “triadic treatment sequence” comprised of hormone therapy, real-life experience of living as a member of the opposite sex, and if the dysphoria persists after one year of treatment, sex reassignment surgery. Unfortunately, more than eight years of treatment has not solved De’lonta’s distress....

This weekend, it was revealed that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and tech titan, had one of the worst passwords ever. It was “dadada.” And he used it across multiple sites. If the Zuck can’t be bothered to make even a half decent password, can lawyers? Yes! In fact, basic password security isn’t even that hard. And you can have unique, hard-to-crack passwords without drowning in password glut. To help you out, here’s some of our top password security advice, from the FindLaw archives....

In a case about the clashing of state laws and company policy with regards to firearms, the Fifth Circuit has sided with the state. A man who, contrary to his employer’s policy, kept a locked gun in his car in the company parking lot can sue for wrongful termination under Mississippi law, the Fifth Circuit ruled on Monday. The unanimous three-judge panel reversed a lower court finding that state public policy opinions couldn’t trump employer’s policy on guns, reviving Robert Swindol’s lawsuit against his former employer, Aurora Flight Sciences Corp....

A new year is just around the corner, so it’s time to start putting together your resolutions. Hit the gym, spend more time with family, read some good books, and learn a new language. Oh, and start adopting corporate hiring policies that will help you attract talent and avoid litigation. Here are our suggestions for 2016. Tips for Bringing in Top Talent Know if you’re being competitive. Don’t just look at what you’ve paid employees in the past, keep abreast of what other companies in your field are offering in compensation, both in salary and perks....

Crawford v. Silette, No. 09-40641, involved defendant’s appeal from the district court’s order granting a receiver’s petition imposing an equitable lien on defendant’s condominium and ordering defendant to transfer it to the receiver. The Fifth Circuit affirmed, holding that 1) federal law created subject matter jurisdiction for federal receivers, under 28 U.S.C. section 754; 2) in Florida, an equitable lien can be imposed on a homestead where an innocent party used fraudulently obtained funds to invest in the homestead; and 3) defendant was no worse off from the imposition of the equitable lien than she was as a mortgagor....

JPMorgan Chase is instituting new software that will identify “rogue employees” before they actually do wrong, the banking and financial services company announced. We’ll skip the comparison to “Minority Report,” the early aughts film in which Tom Cruise hunts down “precriminals” before they can act. Chase has been rattled by compliance problems over the past years, having recently settled a Department of Justice investigation into its mortgage practices for $13 billion....

The Eleventh Circuit handed down rulings in one criminal and one civil rights case. In US v. Whitson, 09-10521, the court of appeals vacated defendant’s drug importation sentence, holding that defendant’s prior conviction for non-overt act criminal conspiracy was not a “crime of violence,” in light of Begay v. United States, 128 S. Ct. 1581 (2008), and thus, she did not qualify as a “career offender.” Coffin v. Brandau, No. 08-14538, involved an action based on defendant-officers’ alleged warrantless entry into plaintiffs’ garage, and one plaintiff’s arrest, claiming a violation of plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights....

In US v. Munn, No. 09-7525, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit addressed a criminal defendant’s challenge to the district court’s denial of his motion for a reduced sentence under 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c)(2). In reversing the denial, the Court held that the district court misinterpreted the limits of its authority when it denied defendant’s motion for a reduced sentence under section 3582(c)(2) as defendant’s career offender designation does not bar a sentence reduction based on Amendment 706 if (i) the sentencing court granted an Overrepresentation Departure from the career offender guidelines range, and (ii) the court relied on the Crack guidelines in calculating the extent of the departure....

One of the many provisions of the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 removed federal courts’ jurisdiction to hear lawsuits brought “by or on behalf of any alien arising from the decision or action by the Attorney General to commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders against any alien.” In 1994, his parents signed a “Conciliation Agreement” which in practice was a written custody arrangement that provided for shared custody, though his primary residence would be with his father....

Cautionary tale: If your client files a copyright lawsuit against a major corporation and loses, he could be stuck paying a small fortune in attorney’s fees. Rafael Vergara Hermosilla sued Coca-Cola Company for copyright infringement, claiming that Coca-Cola used his Spanish adaptation of a song in its advertising without his permission. The district court ruled that Vergara had assigned his copyright interest in the adaptation to Universal Music Latin America, which in turn had assigned its rights to the adaptation to Coca-Cola....

Citing a rise in anti-business sentiment, a group of over 300 general counsel have predicted that, in 2012, we will see an uptick in the number of class action lawsuits. However, these same attorneys also plan to spend 17% less defending these suits in the coming year. You read that right. A recent survey by Carlton Fields suggests that corporate counsel expects, on average 5.4 suits per company in 2012. Compare this to only 4....

Is Android a byproduct of copyright infringement? It’s a heck of a question, one that has no easy answer. Google used bits of Oracle’s Java APIs when it built Android. APIs (application programming interfaces) are the tools used to carry out functions on a computer. No one disputes this. But Oracle claims that it had a copyright on its APIs, while Google argues that APIs aren’t copyrightable at all. So far, the lower courts have split....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Google has posted a “Transparency Report” that provides a range of how many National Security Letters (NSLs) it has received and a range of how many users/accounts were specified in these NSLs each year since 2009. Of course, your first question may be: What is an NSL? An NSL is a special search vehicle by which the FBI has the authority to demand the disclosure of customer records maintained by banks, Internet Service Providers, telephone companies and other entities....

“Marrying for money” may sound bad, but it is becoming the norm in America. According to research, most Americans want a partner who provides financial security more than “head over heels” love. That’s what you’d expect academics to say, right? Seriously, isn’t it a warning sign that more than half of Americans prefer money over love? And isn’t a strange coincidence that half of the marriages end in divorce? Marriage Myths Just to clear the stat sheet, it used to be true that your chances of marital success were about 50/50....

The Defense of Marriage Act challenge is making its way to the United States Supreme Court. We already talked about the petition filed by BLAG, or the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group. BLAG’s petition called for the Supreme Court to invalidate the First Circuit’s ruling that struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional this spring. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has now filed a 37-page brief, reports Reuters....

Eric Sinrod is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris LLP (http://www.duanemorris.com) where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology and intellectual property disputes. His Web site is http://www.sinrodlaw.com and he can be reached at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com. To receive a weekly email link to Mr. Sinrod’s columns, please send an email to him with Subscribe in the Subject line. This column is prepared and published for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice....

In the opinion of Sam Glover, founder of Lawyerist, there’s a 70 percent chance that you’re incompetent and unfit to represent your clients. That’s a pretty bold statement. According to a recent 2015 ABA survey of legal technology, only 35% of lawyers actually employ email encryption – a number that has remained constant for fours years. This is true even taking into account increased awareness of the need for heightened diligence in security amongst business professionals....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. As the Internet grows and develops, the law is fast on its heels – attempting to resolve difficult cases and seeking to regulate new and different online scenarios. The Year 2015 was replete with important and fascinating Internet stories. Just to name some top stories in brief (with the number one story at the end):...

For years, minimum wage and overtime rules stayed the same amidst a rapidly changing economy. But no more. Two weeks ago, the Obama administration moved to expand overtime coverage to millions of employees, the first major change to overtime rules in over a decade. At the same time, states such as New York and California have started to raise their minimum wages to more than double the federal minimum. All this change means that your old way of doing things might need some adjusting....

Bribery Conviction Affirmed In US v. Townsend, No. 09-12797, the court affirmed defendant’s conviction for accepting bribes where 1) intangibles, such as freedom from jail and greater freedom while on pretrial release, were things of value under 18 U.S.C. section 666(a)(1)(B); 2) the market approach was a valid method for determining the value of an intangible obtained through bribery; and 3) there was enough evidence to support the jury’s finding that defendant did help a suspect avoid apprehension....