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When it comes to stealing valuable information, lawyers are easy targets. We handle sensitive personal and financial information, we hang on to immense amounts of data, and we’re not always the most technologically sophisticated. So it’s no surprise that hackers are going after law firms more than ever before. Thankfully, there are ways to protect yourself from hackers. To help you avoid a potentially devastating cyberattack, here are FindLaw’s top eight posts to help you ensure your cybersecurity....

When Yahoo disclosed last year that 1.5 billion accounts were hacked, it may not have troubled law firms that had their own email accounts. The problem is that one hack leads to another, and now 1.16 million law firm email addresses have been compromised on the dark web. What’s worse, 80 percent of them included their passwords. It is a major cybersecurity issue for the 500 law firms affected in London, but what does that mean to American lawyers?...

Thomas v. Bryant, No. 09-11658, involved an action by ten inmates incarcerated at Florida State Prison against various officers and employees of the Florida Department of Corrections, alleging that the use of chemical agents on inmates with mental illness and other vulnerabilities violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The court affirmed judgment for plaintiffs, holding that 1) a deceased plaintiff may still be a “prevailing party” entitled to attorneys’ fees for the costs of the district court litigation notwithstanding his untimely death and the subsequent mootness of his lawsuit pending appeal; 2) defendants waived any challenge to the district court’s use of the deliberate-indifference standard; and 3) the district court did not clearly err in finding that defendant had decompensated at times that he was sprayed with chemical agents and that he suffered psychological injury from these sprayings....

Way back in August, we had an inkling that the newest Nexus phone was on the way. Google cut the price of last year’s flagship phone, the Nexus 4, and once it sold out, it never reappeared. Then the new Nexus 5 went through FCC certification, which led to leaked images. Then a man on Google’s campus “accidently” held the new phone in a picture. Then the manual leaked. In fact, this might have been the most leaked phone of all time....

The Bob and Maureen McDonnell indictment was fun reading, but so far, the trial is even more entertaining. Why? A novel defense theory. A passed-up plea bargain. And a major public spectacle that could last for weeks. So goes the trial of the former Virginia governor and his wife, accused of taking gifts from Johnnie Williams, a nutritional supplement manufacturer, in exchange for favors and “official acts.” Here are three of the highlights, so far:...

Deepwater Horizon. Lots of oil. Lots of damage to businesses, homes, and nature. Lots of litigation and payouts. In 2012, British Petroleum (BP) agreed to a settlement that, instead of requiring direct proof of damages, would set damages according to a formula that incorporated geographic distance from the spill, type of business, and other factors. The formula has led to some absurd results, like profitable businesses that were undamaged getting millions of dollars, or businesses that were already dead at the time of the oil spill getting payouts....

Did you hear the latest in corporate social media debacles? Cole Haan, purveyor of fine footwear, hosted a Pinterest contest that caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission – and not in a good way. Here’s the low-down on what happened, and how to avoid making the same mistake that Cole Haan made: The ‘Wandering Sole’ Contest If you’re not familiar with Pinterest, it’s another form of social media where people essentially create online mood boards consisting of everything from recipes, to shoes, to home decor....

Walter Block, an economics professor, will be remembered for his statements in the New York Times more than for his lectures. In 2014, the Times quoted him in an article about scholars at the Mises Institute who “championed the Confederacy.” Block, an adjunct instructor at the institute, described slave life as “not so bad” if it were not involuntary. “Not so bad – you could pick cotton and sing songs,” the newspaper said....

Do Sarbanes-Oxley and startups make for terrible bedfellows? Most corporate and in-house attorneys are familiar with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed in 2002. Sarbanes-Oxley regulations came down at a time when Americans were outraged at the massive Enron scandal that cost shareholders and innocent employees millions. The regulations were created partially to reduce the likelihood that similar financial catastrophes would ever surface again. And, one of the safeguards to prevent similar financial mishaps was Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act....

The facts of this case are pretty simple: Allen Thompson was a detective in Waco, Texas. Thompson and two other detectives were found to have falsified their time sheets. Thompson, but not the other two detectives, was subjected to written restrictions. Thompson is black; the other two detectives aren’t. Hopefully you can see the Title VII employment discrimination lawsuit coming. A federal district court dismissed Thompson’s suit on the ground that he had failed to allege an adverse employment action....

A recently denied sealed motion for contempt in a federal criminal case might be clueing criminals into the most secure communication channel available on the market today: Facebook Messenger voice calls. Forget those burner phones that Jimmy McGill sold you on. Apparently, the FBI recently filed a motion seeking to force Facebook to hack their own platform so that the FBI could wiretap voice calls made over Facebook Messenger because, apparently, the FBI can’t....

Former General Counsel Russell Mackert of A&O Resource Management, Ltd. was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months late last month for his role in a scheme that defrauded elderly investors of $100 million. Along with four other A&O executives, Mackert was accused of making material misrepresentations to investors, misusing investor funds, smuggling cash, and committing mail fraud. He pled naiveté. A&O made its money by purchasing life insurance policies from consumers at below-cost rates and then collecting benefits upon death....

The average pay for general counsel at Fortune 500 companies fell by almost every metric. The average general counsel’s salary fell by 1.8 percent this past year. More significantly, the average stock award and stock option award fell by 10.8 percent and 18.7 percent respectively. In total, a general counsel’s pay fell by 5.7 percent on average. But before feeling too sorry for them, it should be noted that the average general counsel at one of these big companies still took home about $1....

Speaking engagements help shape in-house counsel’s reputation in the legal and business community. It simultaneously helps with branding yourself (Note: In a good way) and getting your company some positive exposure. Here’s a quick checklist to keep in mind when trying to score a speaking engagement: If you’re adept at social media, there are a number of outlets online where you can build a strong portfolio to attract speaking engagement offers....

Stalking is a crime, even when collecting a debt. So how can you “legally” stalk a debtor? It can be done, but requires due diligence. In other words, you can be the bad guy if you follow the laws of your jurisdiction. After all, as Dirty Harry said, “man’s got to know his limitations.” Fair Debt Collection Practices Act The FDCPA is a federal law that was created solely to protect consumers from harassing debt collectors....

It seems like the Microsoft Kinect is being used for everything but video gaming these days. The latest innovation brings the Kinect’s facial recognition capabilities to a whole new level, one that could also change the way lawyers think about lie detection. The goal of the project is to help rehabilitate people with speech and swallowing disorders, but the application also spells potential in the field of legal discovery. The system works by using the relative positions of the user’s eyes and nose to pinpoint and track the movements of the tongue....

Civil Rights Action Based on Wrongful Death In Kovacic v. Villarreal, No. 10-40208, an action under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 against City of Laredo police officers to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s decedent, the court reversed the denial of qualified immunity where there was also no evidence in the record showing that the officers had any reason to think that plaintiff’s decedent likely would not call his wife to pick him up as he indicated, or that the officers were aware that he was lacking the resources to secure another way home....

I’m a sucker for articles that tell you how to make bold, hard-working moves and get rich quickly. Though it rarely happens this way, part of the “American Dream” is that a person’s reward should be proportional to the work expended. Bryan Johnson was a manager at Sears. Oddly enough, he was unhappy with his job. He took his past experience as a salesman in the credit card processing business and used that to line up a few start-up clients before leaving his job and setting up shop full-time....

With Massachusetts judges receiving a $30,000 a year salary increase slated to take effect in July 2014 – a move that will hike pensions – a number of judges may retire early. The salary increase may prompt many judges to step down with higher pensions, leaving Governor Deval Patrick a slew of open spots on the bench to fill near the end of his term. State judges, clerk-magistrates and assistant clerk-magistrates are set to receive their first pay raise since 2006....

In a reversal of fortune, Righthaven, perhaps the country’s biggest, if not most notorious, copyright troll, has suffered a sudden streak of losses at the hands of a variety of federal judges in Nevada, one of which has ordered the company to explain why it should not be sanctioned for making “multiple inaccurate and likely dishonest statements.” In a response filed on Wednesday, Righthaven’s outside trial counsel pointed the finger at former in-house counsel, blaming them for the alleged misconduct....