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Last week the ABA Journal announced its selections for the Blawg 100 – a list of (some of the) best legal blogs on the web today. And, guess what? This very blog that you are reading right now – Technologist – was nominated. Can I get a “Yeahhhhhhh Boyeeeeee!” If you already read this blog, then you know that we work hard to bring you the best in product reviews that will make your lawyer life easier, as well as highlighting the grey areas where the law is not moving as quickly as technology....

A recent Florida Supreme Court case went a bit beyond the regular euphemisms about the birds and the bees into a straight up, in your face, hardcore examination of sexual intercourse. The definition of sexual intercourse, that is. Examining a Florida law criminalizing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, the court was forced to determine just what counted as “sexual intercourse.” Was it limited to old-fashioned, Church-approved, when-a-man-loves-a-woman-very-much stuff, or could it be read to include some man-on-man action?...

Wait, what? Your client just said you are not his attorney, but actually you are. You are not dreaming; this is as real as it gets. Clients, like life, will throw you a curve ball. So how are you going to take a swing at it? “You’re Fired!” Maybe it’s not right to look at President Trump for lessons in the law because he’s not a lawyer. However, he has fired more attorneys as a reality TV star whose catch phrase is: “You’re fired!...

If the shark is at the top of the ocean food chain, what are sharks afraid of? Starvation, that’s what. It doesn’t matter how many teeth you have if there is nothing left to bite. Lawyers can relate. As technology takes away legal work, lawyers feel the threat of starvation. But the real danger is for lawyers who don’t adapt to the changing times. Clients expect lawyers to keep up with technology....

Whitey Bulger’s girlfriend is appealing her conviction before the First Circuit Court of Appeals, reports The Associated Press. Yesterday, Catherine Greig was sentenced to eight years behind bars for her role in helping her notorious boyfriend evade capture by authorities. She pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, conspiracy to commit identity fraud, and identity fraud. One day after her sentencing, the 61-year old Greig filed a Notice of Appeal, asking the First Circuit Court of Appeals to review her entire case....

It’s more clear than ever that electronic discovery is now playing a major role in the discovery process. At least in civil discovery, it looks as though the endless quest towards the paperless office continues. How big is eDiscovery now? Well, according to the International Data Corporation, just over $10 billion worldwide. The online legal technology site, LegalTech News got ahold of Sean Pike, a program director at eDiscovery and Information Governance and Next-Generation Data Security....

Timely service of process is just what the doctor court ordered. Plaintiff Sobeida Feliz argued to the First Circuit that a district court abused its discretion in dismissing her malpractice and wrongful death claims against a doctor for failure to make timely service of process. The First Circuit disagreed, concluding (in an opinion by Justice Souter, sitting by designation), that “dismissal well over a year after filing the complaint and after serial, unexplained delays without apparent effort to get service was within the district court’s discretion....

Ethics note: When one prepares a legal document for a client, even pursuant to an unbundled services agreement, your state likely requires a “prepared by counsel” note and signature. Failure to do so can lead to allegations of fraud on the court and ghostwriting, along with disciplinary proceedings. Unless that document you prepped only required you to be a scrivener. John Hood Jr. was the not-client. He filed a pro se Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, possibly in bad faith to stall a foreclosure....

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a Tax Court opinion that set a two-year statute of limitations on innocent spouse relief claims, reports the Journal of Accountancy. For all you non-tax lawyers out there, let’s put it in plain English. The Tax Court was overruled by the Fourth Circuit on a statute of limitations issue. Easy enough? Treasury Regulations are how tax lawyers understand the provisions of the Tax Code....

Jury selection begins today in the most talked-about trial of the year, the murder trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who stands accused of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three and injured more than 260. Rarely has just the jury selection of a case brought with it such media attention – but then again, this is the Boston bombing case. To fuel your desire for news about what’s going on, here are five fast and interesting facts as jury selection gets underway:...

Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office named Sarah Harris as General Counsel, even though the USPTO’s top leadership position is still vacant, reports Reuters. Like many patent attorneys, Sarah Harris obtained a degree in electrical engineering before receiving her J.D. She went on to establish her career as an intellectual property attorney at Hewlett Packard and Compaq, was of counsel at Hayes and Boone, and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at Cooper Industries, according to the Practising Law Institute....

Apple Inc. has filed an iPhone settlement agreement in the a class action over its liquid damage policy for the iPhone and iTouch. This $53 million preliminary class settlement agreement could mean $200 in refunds to certain iPhone and iTouch customers who were denied warranty replacements. Many of us may have heard about this damage policy Apple used. Probably some of us have been denied replacements under their standard warranty. iPhone and iTouch devices had an indicator tape within the headphone jack or dock connector that would turn red or pink to indicate that the product had water contact....

The holidays are a fun time of the year around the office. People are often in good spirits and are looking forward to a little break, and maybe even that end of year bonus and merit raise (if they’re so lucky). If you have a secretary, paralegal, and/or an admin, that work for you, getting them small gifts can often be an easy way to boost morale and buy their undying loyalty....

Kids these days – try as you might, there’s no escaping them. In the U.S., there’s more than 70 million Millenials, people born from the early eighties through to the new millennium. They’re the largest generation outside of baby boomers and becoming a major part of the workforce, including your workforce. The generation gap can lead to difficulties, particularly in interviews, where you have to get to know a candidate in a short amount of time....

Groupon attorneys tried to portray IBM as a big fish gobbling up little fish in the sea. But jurors liked the tech giant’s story better: little fish bottom-feeding on leftovers from the big fish. They awarded IBM $83 million against the coupon company for infringing on its patents. Groupon says it didn’t do anything wrong. But that’s what happens in litigation, and everybody has a fish story. Willful Infringement For IBM, it was a pretty big one that didn’t get away....

Now that the Super Bowl commercials are over, it’s time to sit back and enjoy something almost as funny at one-tenth the production quality – bad lawyer commercials! Lawyer advertising is serious enough that the Professional Rules of Conduct address it in several places, including Rules 7.2 and 7.3. They basically tell lawyers what they can and cannot do to solicit business. But there is no substantive, MCLE-like value to this piece on bad lawyer advertising....

Like it or not, the law is a customer service profession. Getting clients and keeping clients depends on your ability to please clients. As the old cliche goes, the best way to do that is to remember that “the customer is always right.” Right? No way, at least not when it comes to issues involving the law. Where the attorney-client relationship is concerned, the client is not always right. Here’s why....

Let’s talk dress codes. Obviously, your company can’t have a dress code requiring women to wear super-revealing clothes; this isn’t Sterling Cooper Draper Price. But dress code discrimination in 2014 takes a different form, by presuming what men and women will wear and dividing them up accordingly or failing to take into account transgender employees or employees of a different religion. Religious Apparel Generally, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prevents employers from discriminating against employees because of, among other things, their religion....

Last week, President Obama mentioned during a fundraiser that California Attorney General Kamala Harris is “by far, the best-looking attorney general in the country.” Well, duh. Anyone who has eyes can see that Harris is stunning. But Obama caught flack for stating the obvious, and later called Harris to apologize for his comment, Politico reports. Why is this a topic that people are actually discussing? And what can lawyers learn from this situation?...

Contract drafting is an exacting process that requires precise legal language and careful analysis to ensure that provisions will survive a court challenge. You can tell if your document is similar enough to previous ones to meet current legal standards, but it’s harder to tell if you’re missing important pieces. What if a piece of software could do it for you? That’s what ex-tax lawyer Kingsley Martin was thinking when he developed Kiiac....