Paul T. Reid was not the pregnant lawyer in the courtroom, but he definitely left a hearing in an uncomfortable pregnant moment. He had objected to a continuance requested by opposing counsel, who said she needed time off for her pregnancy. She asked for eight weeks, and the judge gave it to her. But it sounded to some like the BigLaw partner accused the small-firm attorney of using her pregnancy to delay trial....
The good news is the Department of Homeland Security is hiring. The bad news is the agency wants someone to spy on your social media. According to reports, the DHS is compiling a database to monitor social media and traditional news sources. The agency plans to monitor 290,000 sources around the world to track “media influences.” That includes everybody – from journalists to bloggers to commenters – who may have a media presence....
You don’t just become a pot lawyer any more than you would just become an equine lawyer. Such niche areas require experience – the kind of experience that freshly minted law grads don’t have. In fact, “pot law” only recently even became an existing area of law. Before, it was simply part of criminal law. And since the number of pot lawyers out there can be counted on one hand, you’ll need some basis before venturing out on your own....
When it comes to making business travel more fun, who better to ask than a pilot? After all, pilots have their privileges. They may not disclose all of them, but First Class and the VIP lounge are givens. Absent the super-secret list of fun things to do when traveling alone, however, here are some suggestions for lawyers: Check Your Schedule As long as you are going somewhere, schedule something fun into your itinerary....
Seasoned fashion general counsel Donna Edbril says that “[a] lot of people come with different preconceived notions about lawyers – and many of those notions aren’t positive.” ForeFront magazine got a hold of Edbril and asked her to share her thoughts on what tips would be useful for lawyers thinking of changing over to in-house legal work. She is keenly aware of many of the negative and unflattering stereotypes that lawyers enjoy, and says that in order to be an effective in-houser, a lawyer should dispel all of those preconceptions....
The big news of the week in the Mid-Atlantic region is that the Fourth Circuit has declined to issue a stay pending appeal in Bostic, the same-sex marriage case out of Virginia. For those who were comatose over the past few weeks, a three-judge panel ruled against the state’s ban on gay marriages. The county clerks who are defending the law have filed an appeal with the Supreme Court and want the panel’s decision put on hold pending that appeal....
Lawyers, did you know that Shark Week just started? And this year is the 30th anniversary of the celebration. Sure, the whole lawyers are sharks thing is old and busted, but getting a laugh on social media might just be worth rehashing the old adage. It’s a simple fact, people love Shark Week, even if it has “descended into sensationalist pseudoscience.” And during the celebration, folks are searching their social media for and engaging in the Shark Week social conversation....
A company’s employment handbook sets out the requirements and expectations for employees but to avoid any confusion about employment status some contain an ‘at-will disclaimer.’ The disclaimer generally specifies that the handbook doesn’t change an employee’s status from ‘at-will.’ But the NLRB isn’t a big fan of certain kinds of those disclaimers and it’s struck down a few that it feels violate employees’ rights. So far two disclaimers have been struck as a violation of the NLRA but both have had a similar problem....
Back in October, a federal judge in Puerto Rico bucked the same-sex marriage trend by declaring that the island wouldn’t be going the way of almost every other court in holding same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional. Last Friday, though, Judge Perez-Gimenez’s decision became a lot less relevant. Puerto Rico announced that it would no longer enforce its same-sex marriage ban. Even though the same-sex marriage case is on appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, Puerto Rico’s justice secretary, Cesar Miranda, said the government would no longer defend the law, calling its defense “neither fair nor correct....
Times are tough when you have to borrow money to pay your bills. Well, it’s about that time for more than a few law firms. And it’s not just the solo practitioners working on shoe-strings. According to reports, even some BigLaw firms are reaching for money at the end-of-the-year rope. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, New York City’s oldest law firm with more than 450 lawyers around the world, sold off some of its receivables to make ends meet last year....
Former Comcast regional television personality Barry Nolan lost his speech-motivated retaliation appeal against Comcast this week in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Nolan claimed that he was fired for publicly criticizing Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. The Court found that Nolan’s Comcast contract permitted his dismissal with or without cause and affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the case. Is Barry Nolan a patriot or pinhead? Let’s turn to the talking points to examine whether Nolan’s firing was tainted with an O’Reilly factor....
Testimonials are the next best thing to referrals – real people saying good things about your practice. There are pluses and minuses, however. And when it comes to lawyer advertising, of course ethics rules apply. But if there is one watch-word when looking for testimonials, the word is “real.” Here are some other tips: Carolyn Elefant, a go-to blogger for solo practitioners, says testimonials and endorsements are not the same thing....
In a challenge by a small number of plaintiff class members to the 2008 amended settlement, arising from a 1998 class action suit brought by developmentally disabled nursing home residents on behalf of over 1000 class members alleging that Massachusetts did not provide appropriate treatments in appropriate settings to them as federal law required, district court’s denial of motion to decertify is affirmed as, the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding the settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate as the Commonwealth has made many commitments about ensuring the fairness of the placement process going forward....
It might be time to tap the breaks on the push for self-driving cars. Last Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into what could be the first fatality caused by a self-driving car: the death of Joshua Brown last May, who was killed after his self-driving Tesla collided with a tractor-trailer. Here’s how the fatality could impact this emerging industry, and the laws and regulations that govern it....
It’s been almost 10 years since the first national election that relied on direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting, but we aren’t much closer to the idea of voting online in U.S. elections. If anything, we’ve taken a few steps away from it. Since the 2000 election, DRE voting has become less popular, Ars Technica reports. Several states, including Florida, have gone back to paper ballots entirely and are phasing out computerized machines....
Plea agreements are supposed to be negotiations between prosecutors and the defendant, in which the parties (who have equal bargaining power, of course) come to an understanding enforceable by the court as a contract. Normally, the court isn’t supposed to get involved in plea negotiations; it’s just supposed to make sure a plea is knowing and voluntary. Yesterday, though, a panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a plea agreement after finding that the district court stuck its nose a little too far into the matter....
WordPress is, by far, the leading Content Management System (CMS) on the planet. In plain English, it is the platform that 60 percent of the market uses, including such household names as The Washington Post and Time magazine. But it’s not just for the big boys – it powers everything from major media outlets to smaller topical sites, such as law blogs. The reasons for WordPress’ popularity are numerous (it takes only a few minutes to set up, plug-ins make it capable of powering any type of site you can imagine, and it’s very user friendly), and with this new update, it just got even better....
Being a lawyer really isn’t a job for an introvert, but we find our niches. We don’t like getting up and talking in front of an audience, but we like writing in quiet cubby-holes, doing our jobs without anyone around. Yeah, that’s not going to cut it for long. Lawyers are stereotypically loud, and brash, and they like to talk (except maybe most of them are introverts?). One of these days, you’re going to need to hang out with (gasp) other people....
Um, Halloween in New Orleans? Do you need any other reason to attend this year’s Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, October 28 to 31 in The Big Easy? In fact, go book your flight, hotel room, and tickets to the meeting right now. We’ll wait. Just leave this article open and do it in a new tab. That’s better. Now that you’re all booked, what do you have to look forward to?...
FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. We keep hearing about what is going to be “the next big thing.” That concept seems ever-illusive, perhaps because there has been a constant state of “bigness,” if I may call it that, since long before humankind developed the notion of time. I was fortunate enough last week to participate in the immersive, five-day Big History Institute at Dominican University of California....
