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When was the last time you picked up a pen and a pad of paper? Attorneys these days are armed with any number of high-tech tools. Laptops, iPads, and smartphones are all useful gadgets for any lawyer’s tool belt. Why write things down, when you can just type notes onto your smartphone? Well, maybe because there are some benefits to handwriting documents, as Fast Company has pointed out. Some benefits are even applicable to hardworking attorneys....

Two things in life are certain: death and taxes. Except when they are not. Overstock is more of the same story. Now, both companies, facing different sales tax rules in each state, and facing different rules than their competitors, have petitioned for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court. The odd advertising/solicitation/affiliate law differs from that of every other state, and is different than the U.S. Supreme Court’s physical presence test that has been the law since 1992....

By Lauren A. Allen and Bryan Dawson* As in-house counsel know all to well, wrestling with e-discovery demands is an ongoing challenge. It used to be that discovery consisted of paper files in boxes–now, discoverable materials can include emails, faxes, instant messages, text messages and voicemails. No one sends hard-copy memos anymore; instead, information flows between employees, contractors, vendors, suppliers and customers, and any of that may be potentially discoverable in a lawsuit....

The old adage “time is money” is perhaps most true for attorneys. Living life in 15-minute billable blocks can do that to you. So having time-saving gadgets and devices is a must for any lawyer. But where do you start and how do you figure out which areas of your life are due for a trim? Well counselors, you’re in luck. 1) Livescribe Echo Smartpen Short of having a court reporter follow you around, keeping track of every detail that transpires during a case can be near impossible....

Anthem Blue Cross, one of the nation’s largest health insurance providers, revealed yesterday that its computers had been hacked, resulting in access to the records of millions of customers. This information included birthdays, Social Security numbers, addresses, and lots of other data that would be great if you wanted to steal someone’s identity. The Wall Street Journal reported that Anthem didn’t encrypt the data that it kept in its own systems, which is really a rookie mistake....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Stay tuned. Related Resources: Eric Sinrod is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris LLP (http://www.duanemorris.com) where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology and intellectual property disputes. His Web site is http://www.sinrodlaw.com and he can be reached at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com. To receive a weekly email link to Mr....

Jennifer Lawrence. Kirsten Dunst. Kate Upton. Hope Solo. Victoria Justice. The biggest celebrity nude photo hack in history went down over the weekend, with hackers on online forums claiming that they had over 60 photos of Lawrence alone, along with nude photos of over 100 actresses. How? The hack appears connected to Apple’s iCloud. While there was some speculation that it was the result of “brute force” password cracking via a now-patched hole in Apple’s “Find My iPhone” feature, Apple instead pointed to lucky guesses by determined hackers....

If you work in the legal department of a company that sells food or beverages, then you have surely noticed the growing litigation surrounding the word ’natural’ lately. And if you haven’t, (or even if you have – but especially if you haven’t), then you need to read on. ‘Natural’ Claims Litigation We’ve seen Naked Juice settle false advertising claims for $9 million recently, for using the words “all natural,” “100% juice,” and “100% fruit” on the Naked Juice labels....

Petition for review of an order denying asylum is denied where plaintiff failed to establish that she had a well-founded fear future persecution, as the country conditions in Indonesia without more do not qualify a Christian Indonesian for asylum, and the individual difficulties plaintiff has faced are a series of isolated incidents no greater than those faced by other Indonesian Christians have been found insufficient to warrant asylum. Read Cendrawasih v....

In US v. Hernandez-Ferrer, No. 09-1100, the First Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s revocation of defendant’s supervised release and an imposition of a twenty-one month sentence based on a Grade A violation. As stated in the decision: “By its plain language, section 3583(i) extends the district court’s jurisdiction beyond the stated expiration of a term of supervised release…But that extension operates only in a particular set of circumstances: for the adjudication of matters arising before its expiration if, before its expiration, a warrant or summons has been issued....

US v. Donath, 09-2287, concerned a defendant’s appeal of his conviction for his participation in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and other drugs and a below-guidelines sentence of 90-months’ imprisonment. In dismissing the appeal, the court held that defendant’s waiver of his right to appeal his plea or sentence if it did not exceed 120 months as part of his plea agreement is enforceable and his argument that district court’s error in calculating his sentence by mischaracterizing his prior crimes constituted a miscarriage of justice is meritless....

A federal appeals court opened the door for Latino residents to sue their mobile home park for requiring them to prove they are legal residents. In Reyes v. Waples Mobile Home Park, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged the park discriminated against Latinos. The appeals panel vacated a trial court decision to dismiss the case. However, the battle is far from over. It’s not quite an episode of “Trailer Park Wars,” but there was a strong dissent....

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court held in United States v. Jones that GPS tracking of a suspect’s car amounted to a search under the Fourth Amendment. Before that decision, however, the law was unclear at best (and may have even supported the notion that GPS tracking wasn’t a search). That’s the point of today’s Fourth Circuit, Fourth Amendment opinion: The exclusionary rule won’t bar evidence obtained through a search that was performed by an officer who was relying on binding precedent....

Why did Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin renounce his U.S. citizenship? The answer to this question was the subject of much speculation on Friday, when news broke that the Brazilian-born tech investor renounced his U.S. citizenship back in September. It was only on April 30, when the IRS published a list of citizens who have chosen to expatriate, that the information became public. Many believe Saverin is trying to avoid an astronomical tax bill in the wake of Facebook’s IPO....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. As you enter the new year of 2018, you probably are planning to eat at restaurants, stay in hotels, visit doctors and other professionals, and shop online and in stores. Before spending your hard-earned dollars, you may be one of millions of people who go to review sites, like Yelp, to make sure that you will be spending your money at establishments that have earned favorable reviews....

There once were four men: Joseph Lally, businessman, Richard W. McDonough, lobbyist, Richard Vitale, financial advisor and (now former) Speaker of the House of Representatives Salvatore F. DiMasi. Allegedly, Lally paid DiMasi to look out for his business interests in his political capacity – let’s call it a bribe. The money was funneled through McDonough, Vitale and Steven Topazio (not charged). Vitale was acquitted, Lally plead guilty and cooperated. And then there were two …...

If you’re a solo practitioner, you might envy your colleagues who work with, well, colleagues. After all, working in a firm can mean more resources, more support staff, a larger reputation. But not everyone finds firm life fulfilling. Take Fabian Lima. Lima left his solo practice for a small law firm in 2013, after seven years on his own. He missed his life as a solo practitioner though, so in 2015 he went back, creating his own one-man firm....

Black Friday will soon be upon us; or, more properly, the month-long holiday binge once called “Black Friday” is already here. That means you can get discounts on lawyer gifts for your lawyer friends as early as today. If the lawyer in your life doesn’t already have a leather (or pleather) messenger bag, then now’s the time to get one. Nothing says style like walking into a courtroom with a leather bag full of important legal papers....

You have a will. And a living will. A plan for your property, your kids, your pets, and a power of attorney. But what will become of your email when you’re gone? Thanks to a new Google feature called Inactive Account Manager, you can start planning for your digital afterlife. Inactive Account Manager is available on your Google Account settings page. It allows you to tell Google what to do with your Gmail messages and data from several other Google services if your account becomes inactive for any reason....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Homo Sapiens are the most successful human species, so far. Homo Sapiens have thrived in the wake of the disappearance of prior human species like Neanderthals (although we do have some trace Neanderthal DNA from prior inter-breeding). And Homo Sapiens, of course, have greatly surpassed the abilities of other ape species. Need an example?...