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When you picture a programmer at a Silicon Valley start-up, you’re likely imagining a 20-something-year-old in sneakers and a hoodie, and not a dressed-up adult in his 40s. And apparently many employers have this same impression, as older tech workers say they’re experiencing age discrimination and are being squeezed out, reports Reuters. Based on anecdotal accounts, there may be no other form of illegal discrimination quite like age discrimination, which experts say seems to be ingrained in certain industries....

Does this sound like a weird incentive to you? A company has an issue with people not turning in their timesheets on time. Its response? Build a custom “kegerator” that dispenses beer when an employee, whose timesheet has been submitted, swipes his or her keycard. Out here, in Silicon Valley, free keg beer at work isn’t that usual – startups offer all sorts of weird incentives to keep employees glued to their desks....

For companies looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at work, March 17th can be tricky ground. The holiday, a Catholic feast day for the patron saint of Ireland, has evolved into a celebration of Irish heritage and culture in the United States. Every year, Chicago dyes its river green; New York hosts a parade for 2 million spectators; and Hoboken, New Jersey, gets flooded with publicly urinating binge-drinkers. According to Time, St....

The plain language movement in legal writing started in the 1970s, about the time Plymouth rolled out the hemi-powered Barracuda. And you know what they say about old cars? Some say they don’t make them like they used to. Others say they are just old. In any case, there is something to be said about classic cars and basic writing. When practicing law, it’s crucial to continually refine the readability of your legal writing....

The Sierra Club filed two lawsuits to stop a gas pipeline, and they converged in arguments at the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In one case, the club says the 303-mile pipeline will violate the Clean Water Act. In the other, the plaintiff argues that construction will harm forest aminals. But the arguments flowed together over a basic consequence of river water – sedimentation. Moving Water Benjamin Luckett said Virginia’s Quality Control Board should reconsider the pipeline’s affect on waterways....

In US v. Mitchell, No. 09-1260, the First Circuit faced a challenge to a conviction for conspiring to distribute cocaine. Defendant, Marcus Mitchell, claimed (1) that the district court improperly admitted out-of-court co-conspirator statements despite insufficient evidence to corroborate Mitchell’s participation in the conspiracy, and (2) that the district court erred by failing to give a “buyer-seller” instruction sua sponte, which would have asked the jury to consider whether Mitchell’s relationship with the conspiracy was that of an active member or merely a purchaser of narcotics for personal use....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. One might think that as the Internet matures, domain name disputes might dissipate. Not so! Indeed, an all-time record 2,764 cybersquatting cases pertaining to 4,781 domain names were filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO) in 2011. These filings were made in accordance with procedures based on the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and represent an increase of 2....

A new trend is sweeping the world of legal writing. Like most developments in legal technology you can fight it, you can ignore it, you can criticize its flaws. But at the end of the day, you’re probably going to be waging a battle that is already over. The trend is e-filing online pleadings and briefs. Paper motions have already gone the way of the do-do in all federal courthouses. So it’s fair to assume judges are increasingly reading your pleadings on a computer screen....

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Georgia church-goers can’t simultaneously cling to God and guns on church property. Friday, the Atlanta-based court upheld a Georgia ban on guns in churches. GeorgiaCarry.org, the group that initially brought the lawsuit, claimed that the church gun ban stifles religious freedom. The group argued that churches should be allowed to decide whether they want to allow guns inside, citing examples of church shootings as support for why worshippers should be allowed to bring guns to church, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution....

In Uphoff-Figueroa v. Alejandro, No. 08-1921, the First Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s judgment against an environmental attorney in his action against his employer, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and PREPA officials claiming various causes of action, including employment discrimination and retaliation. Plaintiff’s suit arose from his main contention that the new Popular Democratic Party discriminated against him by denying him a permanent appointment as the administrator of PREPA’s environmental law office and created hostile workplace environment because of his membership with the New Progressive Party....

One man’s crisis is another man’s opportunity. It’s a harsh saying, but better than “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” when it comes to immigration practice. At a time when America no longer raises a lamp to the wretched refuse, immigration lawyers have a greater opportunity to change lives. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has launched an initiative to combat the Trump administration’s policies against immigrants. It is an opportunity for attorneys to engage and learn deportation defense....

If you’re looking for one of the best legal research tools on the Internet, look no further. You found one. Results are in for the New York Law Journal’s 2012 Reader Rankings and FindLaw comes in at No. 2 in the Best Small Firm Legal Research Tool category, right behind WestlawNext. WestlawNext is a well-loved legal research tool, and our sister company. But as so many small law firms around the country know, FindLaw has one distinct advantage: the price....

In a recent article, in house counsel lifestyles were described as seemingly much better than the lifestyle of law firm attorneys. The article was no big shocker as the general stereotype is that in house counsel positions are much cushier than law firm positions. The hours are better, there’s no need to bill, etc. But the article in Above the Law seems to suggest that the actual culture of a corporation was better than a law firm....

If your firm doesn’t have a blog, it’s well in the minority. More than 80 percent of AmLaw 200 firms publish blogs. Some of them publish multiple ones. Fox Rothschild, for example, takes the Danielle Steele approach to publishing, putting out blog after blog after blog. The total now? Thirty nine. For all the BigLaw blogs out there, though, more than a few have failed to adapt to mobile traffic. Not being mobile-friendly is costly, negatively affecting both views and search results....

Malone v. Lockheed Martin Corp., No. 09-2060, concerned a challenge to the district court’s grant of defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law, following jury’s verdict in favor of the plaintiff and an award of $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages, in plaintiff’s suit for employment discrimination based on race and retaliation. Based on substantially the same reasons as the district court’s, the court affirmed the grant of JMOL as the record reveals no significant evidentiary basis for the verdict....

Patent reform crusader and Federal Circuit Chief Judge Randall Rader will no longer be chief, after an ethics mini-scandal involving a complimentary letter to a friend who appeared before the court in recent cases. The court initially issued recusals and new opinions and orders in cases involving the attorney, before Rader issued a public letter of apology and announced that he would vacate the top seat in the circuit at the end of this month....

In a First Amendment challenge to the application of a junked-vehicle ordinance designed to eliminate eyesores and promote public order to a wrecked vehicle used as an art exhibit, judgment for defendant-city is affirmed in part where the junked-vehicle ordinance was not intended to regulate “speech” at all, but was a content-neutral health and safety ordinance, and was reasonably tailored to achieve the city’s legitimate interests with only incidental restriction on protected expression....

Attorney Erika Rottenberg took a chance on a small company called LinkedIn 3 years ago by becoming their General Counsel. Well, that “chance” has paid off in millions. Rottenberg graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law, formerly known as Boalt Hall. She started her career at Cooley Godward, and went on to serve as General Counsel for SumTotal Systems and at Creative Labs before joining LinkedIn. During LinkedIn’s recent IPO, Rottenberg sold 30,000 of her shares at the opening price of $45, earning herself around $1....

Guatemalan national’s petition for review of an order denying an application for withholding of removal is denied where substantial evidence supported a finding that petitioner failed to establish a sufficient nexus between the harm alleged (past and future) and his ethnicity or other statutorily protected ground. Read Lopez-Castro v. Holder, No. 08-1895 Appellate InformationPetition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration AppealsDecided August 18, 2009 JudgesBefore Lipez, Selya and Howard, Circuit JudgesOpinion by Selya, Circuit Judge....

The ABA suggests that attorneys provide 50 hours of pro bono legal services every year, but that can be a lot to ask of solo practitioners or those who work in small firms. Many consider pro bono work as something that distracts them from their real goals in legal practice, not to mention taking up time that could be spent on paying clients. That can be true if you don’t focus on pro bono opportunities that are related to your field....