While Josiah Sutton was sitting in prison on rape charges, his mother was thanking God. He had been convicted years earlier on DNA evidence, but she knew he was innocent. When she learned about problems at the crime lab, she also knew that her prayers had been answered. “Thank you, God!” she recalled in a report about false DNA testing. His case and many like it are changing the way labs analyze DNA....
There’s no better time to “Like” Facebook General Counsel Ted Ullyot. With Facebook’s IPO on the horizon, the financial status of the company’s top lawyer could be set for quite a lucrative update. Ullyot, 44, joined Facebook as general counsel in 2008, according to Forbes. In addition to his base salary and annual retention bonuses totaling about $675,000 a year, Ullyot also owns a boatload of Facebook stock, the legal newspaper The Recorder reports....
A woman can use China’s one-child policy as the basis for an asylum application, but her husband cannot. The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week in a matter of first impression that 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(B), a statute enacted to pave the way for asylum for victims of China’s coercive population control policies, does not automatically extend to a spouse of a person forced to undergo an abortion....
You’ve fired up the keyboard and are ready to begin blogging on your firm’s website. You’ve read all about the benefits of a blog, and weighed the vital considerations of audience, tone, topic, formatting, and frequency. You’re ready! Except wait. Wouldn’t it be nice to learn from others’ mistakes first? After more than 1,800 posts, these tired fingers have learned much from their own mistakes, as well those of others. Let me be your guide to five things you’ll want to avoid when becoming the Internet voice of your law firm:...
In a capital habeas matter, denial of the petition is affirmed where: 1) a witness’s testimony about her criminal history was literally accurate; 2) it was unclear what evidence petitioner claimed was suppressed by the state; 3) the district court’s finding that the prosecutor did not bully petitioner into testifying was not clear error; 4) there was no evidence that the prosecutor received exculpatory test results and hid them; and 5) certain suppressed evidence was not material, given the overwhelming evidence of petitioner’s guilt....
Call it a Harvard love fest, if you will. President Barack Obama, a Harvard Law graduate, has nominated David J. Barron – a Harvard College grad, Harvard Law grad and Harvard Law professor – to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. That’s a whole lot of crimson ivy. These are a few of Mr. Barron’s favorite things: Barron received both his B.A. and J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard. In law school, he served on the Harvard Law Review, according to a White House press release....
In a pair of, aptly called, provocative appeals, befitting of a blogger to write a limerick, Sandy Springs, Georgia, plaintiffs, Flannigan Enterprises, Fantastic Visuals, as well as some others in the local adult entertainment industry, are nursing their wounds. There once was a plaintiff from Sandy Springs, Whose case was about some interesting things, But as they got their sex toys, Sad still were the boys, That they couldn’t drink at the strip club....
For all those attorneys who worked through the holidays, this one’s for you. It’s time to plan a vacation. It’s more than OK, especially if you work for a firm like Orrick. The BigLaw leader rewarded their lawyers with $15,000 to take a vacation. They had to bill 2,400 hours in 2018 to get the bonus, but that’s par for the course at many law firms. The point is, lawyers need every break they can get....
Evidence of a man’s possession of cocaine following a traffic stop must be suppressed because of the officer’s unreasonable mistakes of law and fact, the Fifth Circuit ruled on Monday. In stopping a driver for failing to signal sufficiently before changing lanes, Texas Highway Patrol Officer was wrong not only about the law, but about the distance between the defendant’s activation of his signal and his turn, rendering the stop an unreasonable seizure....
“An old timer schooled me don’t burn bridges my friendImagine the G-Dub close and yo [expletive] gotta swim.” Don Prophete, 45, doesn’t need any bridges. After all, the former Ogletree partner is now a partner at Littler Mendleson - an even bigger BigLaw firm than his former employer. Still, most lawyers would be well-advised to take a different approach to resolving a dispute with a former firm, even if that dispute did involve a team member’s honor....
A federal appeals court ruled that a Virginia man waived the psychotherapist-patient privilege in a sex offender treatment program when he agreed to probation. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals also said the defendant voluntarily made statements in the program that waived his privilege against self-incrimination in the case, United States of America v. Lara. The appeals court affirmed rulings by a trial judge, who concluded Juan Elias Lara waived his privileges when he chose to participate in the program as part of his probation....
All lawyers are saddled with the facts of each case that comes across their desk. But how about when the facts are just strange enough to give an attorney a pretty decent case? A $51,000 naked photo once hung on the wall of Rogue Ales’ Newport Ale House for nearly 25 years. But now Oregon Brewing Company, parent company of Rogue Ales, is suing Frame Central for losing its racy photo....
Technology can be rather confusing. For some small firm and solo practitioners, bringing on a tech savvy recent grad could be immensely helpful in figuring out what to do when it comes to cybersecurity and updating your firm’s tech. While older attorneys can pass on their legal wisdom, younger tech natives can add value to the firm with their tech knowhow. However, you better be careful. If you’re hoping and dreaming that the recent grad you just hired is going to fix your law firm’s tech, you may be surprised to learn that many Millennials may be more digitally naïve than digital native....
Wait until the appeal. And the appeal to the appeal. That is all the legal profession can say even after the landmark decision handed down by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco on August 4. Despite the Prop 8 decision finding that the state law banning gay marriage violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, and despite the media frenzy, not much will change until the 9th Circuit and the Supreme Court both have their say....
As spring is now upon us, it’s time for General Counsels to make some moves for 2012. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission kicked it up a notch in the fourth quarter and there are no signs of a slowdown. Complaints are up and regulators have responded with aggression. You should respond with equal vigor – take the following employment actions before the EEOC comes down on you. Conduct a labor audit....
Conviction for conspiracy to distribute narcotics is vacated and remanded where the district court’s handling of an errant juror’s misconduct constituted an abuse of discretion, as it failed to question all jury members regarding their ability to remain impartial in light of the misconduct and thus compromised the defendants’ right to have a trial by an unbiased jury. Defendant Santiago’s conviction is affirmed where there is sufficient evidence for a jury to infer his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and defendants Santiago and Bristol’s rights under the Speedy Trial Act were not violated where the court provided compelling reasons for why it had to interrupt and delay the trial....
From all appearances, Julie Ezell was an exceptional general counsel. At the relatively young age of 39, she was guiding legislation for the Oklahoma State Department of Health. She had unusual support from the community, especially on new laws affecting medical marijuana users. So it was a shock when she reported receiving death threats. It was even more shocking when she confessed to making it up. Threatening Email According to reports, Ezell received threatening email from someone named “MaryJame....
In honor of Halloween, we’re looking back at a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals cautionary tale involving college students and bad costume choices. Packs of college kids can make bad decisions; especially when costume parties are involved. One of the fraternities at our school was banned from campus for a year after one of its pledges dressed as a slave, complete with blackface, for its Halloween party. The party is still remembered as the event that left a one-year hangover....
When the new year rolls around, everyone sets resolutions. Sometimes, we set resolutions for certain parts of our lives. And this being a blog dedicated to all things legal tech, we figured, why not compile a list of some of the best tech focused New Year’s resolutions for tech-savvy lawyers? Here are five of our favorite: When it comes to getting things done, there’s no single better improvement than getting bigger and more monitors....
Yesterday, we looked at five things that you might want to buy on a cheap microjob website, like Fiverr. Examples included a logo, business cards, voiceover talent for your website content, and maybe, just maybe, an animated video that explains basic legal concepts, such as the consequences of a first DUI. The reason why we recommended those is simple: The investment cost is so small, that even if you don’t like what is produced, and if the seller can’t or won’t fix it, you can always drop another $5 and get a second take from someone else....
