Within days of each other, two federal district courts in North Carolina have ruled on issues related to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. On October 10, Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. said that, per the Fourth Circuit’s opinion in Bostic v. Schaefer, the matter was settled as far as he was concerned. The state law was plainly unconstitutional: Cogburn’s order was short and to the point. On October 14, Judge William L....
It just gets worse and worse. If the original proposed USA FREEDOM Act was supposed to be the cure to our NSA snooping ills, the news from earlier this month was bad enough: the House Judiciary Committee passed a neutered version of the bill unanimously. But as a wise man once said, “Don’t worry, things will get worse.” They did. Earlier this week, the House easily passed an even more neutered version of the “reform” bill, one that is so compromised that critics are saying that it might be worse than the status quo....
If you’re a lawyer, hopefully you’re having a professional design your law firm website and not a friend of a friend who “knows computers” or something like that. A professional-looking website can be the difference between a call from someone looking for representation and someone who skips you altogether because a shoddy website indicates you’re not that professional. Once the website is designed, though, your job isn’t over. Here are a few things you’ll want to double-check to make sure people get the right impression from your website:...
When a current or potential client needs legal advice, but not in your area of expertise, who you gonna call? Chances are, you’ll probably want to direct the client to a more experienced attorney. After all, ethics rules require an attorney to be competent, with the “legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.” But in some cases, you may feel up to a challenge. How can you make sure you’re sufficiently knowledgeable about an unfamiliar subject, and not in over your head?...
There are plenty of legal apps out there. Some are great, but many are a bit meh. I don’t know too many attorneys who need an app to tell them how many days remain between now and their next court appearance. (Most of us know how to use a calendar.) But lawyers do need apps. Indeed, a few good apps can make an attorney’s life much easier. They just aren’t often legal apps....
Perhaps more important than ever in harsh economic times is the pro bono work legal professionals are committed to performing. Beginning October 21, the ABA will help law firms, bar associations and legal groups everywhere recognize Celebrate Pro Bono Week. From October 24 to October 30, the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service will sponsor recognition of the work done to benefit the poor and underserved in our communities....
The short-term rental service, Airbnb, is no stranger to litigation. However, it stands to reason that most of Airbnb’s hosts aren’t as familiar with the inside of a courtroom. Nevertheless, Airbnb has decided to financially stand behind one of its hosts who is challenging a $32K fine issued by New York City, which has some of the most restrictive rules in the nation on short-term rentals. The Airbnb host, Stanley Karol, alleges that he was targeted for the fine in retaliation for speaking out against the latest local legislation requiring Airbnb to give the city a list of names and addresses for every host offering a rental in the city....
It’s not-so-secretly the highlight of our day when a judge takes a bumbling lawyer to task in an opinion. That’s probably because we’re cozily nestled behind our computers writing about the law, unafraid of incurring a judge’s ire in the courtroom. But when a judge has words with, or rather for, another judge, it’s even better. To wit: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith Jones, does not enjoy reviewing snarky opinions on appeal....
Washington avoided a seasonal budget showdown on Friday, when Congress passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through next fall. Tucked within the 2200 pages of the omnibus spending bill was an unusual appropriations rider: the entire text of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. CISA is one of a handful of cybersecurity laws Congress has been considering for the past year. It seeks to bolster cybersecurity by increasing corporate information sharing with the government, but has been condemned as a cyber surveillance measure by privacy advocates....
Many lawyers are afraid of blockchain technology because they don’t know what it is. “Is it really necessary for my law practice?” “Do I have to be a coder to use it?” “Will it take my job?!” Yes, technology is transforming the legal industry. But relax, the professor will answer all your questions shortly. Risk-Adverse to Technology “Lawyers are wonderful as a profession, but we’re a bit risk-adverse when it comes to new technology,” explains Aaron Wright, a professor at Cardozo School of Law and a leader in blockchain technology for lawyers....
Father’s Day is a good time to revisit your company’s paternity leave policy. A new father’s bundle of joy could spell a bundle of questions for the legal department. Regardless of whether or not your company is held to the FMLA, it’s important to have a clear company policy on paternity leave. Here are seven questions you should address in your company paternity leave policy: Happy redlining on Papa’s Day!...
After a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit ruled that there was a Fourth Amendment right to privacy in historical cell site data, the government requested and was granted an en banc rehearing. Yesterday, the en banc court reversed the panel and found that there is no constitutional right to privacy in historical location information because cell phone location information is voluntarily conveyed to a third party – the phone company....
Obamacare (or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) mandates don’t apply to me. My business is tiny! Besides, didn’t that whole Obamacare thing get bumped back a year? Perhaps, but whether or not the insurance mandate applies to the business you counsel, and regardless of the one-year delay in penalties for not providing insurance, know that nearly all small businesses are required to comply with the “Obamacare letters” provision of the law, and the deadline, October 1, is just weeks away....
Bankruptcy Court Erred in Denying “Superpriority” Claim In In re: SCOPAC, No. 09-40307, creditors’ appeal from the district court’s dismissal of their appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, where that appeal alleged that the bankruptcy court erred in denying their “superpriority” administrative claim on the bankruptcy estate, the court vacated where the bankruptcy court undervalued the noteholders’ priority administrative section 507(b) claim by $29.7 million, and the court erred in not crediting their interest with timber sales proceeds that were received during the bankruptcy, on which they had a lien and priority interest arising from the court’s many cash collateral orders....
True solo practitioners work entirely alone – no lawyers, no staff, no kidding. The true solo is a one-person operation. It requires at a minimum: a lawyer, a laptop, a smartphone, and usually a car and court clothes. Solos can have an office and all the accoutrements, too, but they stop being true solos when they take on others. Is that a bad thing? True Solo Pluses You don’t have to worry about employee-related expenses when you go sans workers....
A new LegalZoom lawsuit has been filed, but this time it’s being spearheaded by the company itself. LegalZoom is seeking a declaratory judgment stating that it is entitled to sell standard legal forms in the state of North Carolina. It also wants to register with the North Carolina State Bar as a provider of prepaid legal services. Attorney regulators believe that LegalZoom is engaging in the unauthorized practice of law....
District court’s denial of defendant’s request for habeas relief is affirmed as, even with plenary review, defendant’s subordination of perjury claim fails as the victim had identified him multiple time before he was ever even arguably pressed to testify by one of the police officers. Read Perkins v. Russo, No. 08-1150 Appellate Information Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts Decided November 18, 2009 Judges...
FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. The vast majority of scientists who have studied the issue have concluded that global warming is happening and that such warming has been caused to a large extent by humans. For that reason, not long ago, many countries signed onto the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in an effort to deal with this threat to life on the planet....
Pretka v. Kolter City Plaza II, Inc., No. 10-11471, concerned a class action alleging violations of the Florida Condominium Act as well as breach of contract. The court of appeals reversed order remanding the action to state court, holding that 1) defendant established by more than a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeded $5 million; and 2) the jurisdictional evidence that defendant attached to its opposition to remand should not have been excluded merely because it was submitted in response to the plaintiffs’ motion to remand....
In habeas proceedings, district court’s ruling in favor of defendant on the merits of his ineffective assistance of counsel claims is reversed and remanded as, in reaching its conclusions, the district court ignored the several state post-conviction proceedings which had determined that the evidence defendant presented was not credible and that his constitutional claim was without merit, and such a de novo do-over was impermissible under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996....
