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In an attempt to provide greater transparency, Google has released data on malware and phishing scams as part of its Safe Browsing program. As security reporter Brian Krebs added, the data included in this report seems to suggest that malware “tends to show up in legitimate sites” more than the traditional “warez” or piracy sites, reports Mashable. How does Google’s Safe Browsing information affect your browsing? Google Transparency Report The recent findings on malware and phishing attempts in “safe” websites was part of Google’s annual “Transparency Report” released Tuesday, the very same report in which Google had wanted to add PRISM data....

When a John Doe plaintiff signed up for the dating website PositiveSingles.com, he thought his information was being kept private. And why not? The website, if you can deduce from the URL, is a dating site for people who are HIV-positive, as well as those who are interested in dating HIV-positive people (who are not, themselves, always HIV positive). The website is part of a larger network of websites, all owned by the same company – SuccessfulMatch Network – that caters to different types of people, like Christians or HIV-positive African Americans....

Last week, a Louisiana appellate court struck down a state law making it illegal for non-citizens to drive without documents proving they’re legally in the United States. Louisiana’s Third Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the statute improperly governs an area of law exclusively controlled by the federal government. Alexis Sarrabea, a 30-year-old Honduran, was pulled over in Lafayette Parish. While Sarrabea’s immigration status isn’t stated in the opinion, he was arrested for unlawful presence under La....

This morning, Apple finally released the long-rumored cheaper iMac: a 21.5-inch model for $1,099, or $200 less than the previous low-end model. Your office might already run Macs. Or, perhaps you’re desperate to avoid the abomination that is Windows 8.1 and have decided that Mac is the better route. If so, you might be wondering: should your office be eyeballing the low-end iMac? Or the Mac Mini? Or do you splurge and pay the extra $200 for the now mid-range iMac model?...

What would you do if you had one murder trial scheduled and then a second one suddenly came up? What if this first trial date was flexible, but the second one was practically set in stone? Attorney Tim Pori of California was in this very situation last week when he went before Judge Carrie Panetta. But when he explained the conflict – and why he wasn’t prepared – she found him in contempt....

Have you embraced WestlawNext, in all its modern, orange-laced glory yet? First introduced on February 8, 2010, the far less complicated, far more modern version of Westlaw will become the one and only version for users on August 31, 2015. That’s T-minus one year for all of you holdouts. But don’t worry: Thomson Reuters will walk you through the migration process with online, in-person, or telephone support. WestlawNext? More Like WestlawOnly We kid – a name change doesn’t seem to be in the works....

U.S. v. Hernandez, No. 08-5057, concerned a challenge to the district court’s imposition of a 262-month imprisonment, at the low end of the advisory guidelines range, and as requested for by the defendant during sentencing, for his drug conviction. In holding that the sentence was not procedurally unreasonable because the explanation given in the context of this case was adequate, district court’s sentence is affirmed. US v. Bethea, No. 09-4333, concerned a challenge to the district court’s imposition of an enhanced 180-month sentence upon a defendant after determining that he had three prior ACCA-predicate convictions, including his prior conviction for violating South Carolina’s escape statute....

Last week’s decision, holding Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage to be undeclarationable unconstitutional, got a lot of attention, and rightfully so – it was the first of its kind in the South, and followed similar decisions in two conservative Tenth Circuit states. But Virginia’s battle isn’t the only pending gay marriage litigation pending in the Fourth Circuit. We’ve already talked abut West Virginia’s lawsuit, which is in the early stages and is still gathering plaintiffs, but there are also parties challenging North and South Carolinas’ bans....

When it comes to luxury shopping, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. But when it comes to technology shopping for your law firm, you can’t afford not to ask. Technology is changing everything in the practice of law. The key to buying technology is knowing what to ask. Like, do you need it or do you just want it? Technology Purchases According to a survey by the American Bar Association, most law firms are budgeting for more technology....

Summonses must be respected despite seeming changes in the relevant law, the First Circuit said in Frank Gangi v. United States. Gangi, the exec of a telecom company trying to go belly-up, had been trying to squeeze out of complying with IRS summonses that had been sent to his lawyers, his accountants, and his banks. When the IRS smells rotten fish, they usually are on to something. When it comes to paying taxes, you can run, but you really can’t hide – at least not for long....

Ever play the telephone game? You say something to one person, she repeats it to the next person, who repeats it to the next person … ad nauseum. By the time the message reaches the end of the chain, a statement such as, “Man, I could really use some Chipotle right now, but I’m blogging instead,” becomes, “I’ve got a chicken in my head.” Reliability. It’s one of the reasons why hearsay is naughty – except, apparently, when crackheads phone in their testimony to a third party who then prepares a sentencing report....

Children might not be a demographic that people expect tech companies to target, but when kids make something go viral, that big bump for business could come with a couple caveats. As TikTok, the makers of the popular app (formerly known as Music.ly), learned the hard way, when you don’t put certain safeguards in place for minor users, the penalties can be costly. In short, the company was hit with a $5....

How to write a legal letter of advice? It’s an excellent question with a much hated answer: it depends. The fact of the matter is that the individual demands of the situation dictate the length and style of legal correspondence just as much as convention. But we’ve cobble together a few tips to help solos and small firm attorneys get pointed in the right direction. Once you write a few, you’ll find that many of these letters practically write themselves....

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a group of West Virginia Retirees’ (Retirees) request seeking the continuation of certain health benefits last week. Since that’s the harshest sentence we’ve written all week, let’s review whether the court’s decision is heartless or justified. Century Aluminum of West Virginia ran into financial trouble in 2007; it attributed the strain, in part, to rising healthcare costs. In 2009, Century curtailed operations at its Ravenwood, W....

Alleged murder and mob boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger may be on alert to exclude photographs from evidence after prosecutors shocked jurors in June by giving them a slideshow of Bulger’s 19 alleged victims. The prosecutors argued that Bulger was a “hands-on killer” while showing photographs of the 17 men and two women that Bulger is accused of killing, reports ABC News. In response to other photographs of victims being admitted into evidence, Bulger filed a motion to exclude on Tuesday, one that was denied by Judge Casper on Wednesday....

The smart robot taketh away, and the smart robot giveth. That’s not scripture, but it will do when work is hard to find. Google, which has launched a new feature on its search page, will help lawyers find jobs. At a time when artificial intelligence is taking law jobs, it’s certainly a blessing that AI also finds work for attorneys. Here’s how it works: Jobs Bar Open Google and type in the job you want, like “tech lawyer jobs” in the search field....

The corner office is dead, The Washington Post declared this Father’s Day. What did it in? The redesign of Nixon Peabody’s D.C. office, which has gone from marble and wood paneling to open and airy – and corner office free. If even conservative Big Law firms are dropping corner offices, shouldn’t everyone? No. Open office design comes in and out of trend every few years, always claiming to offer greater democracy, communication, and transparency, only to be designed away in a few years, when people realize they actually like being able to work in private now and then....

The legal market, struggling with slow growth, is more competitive than ever. Yet many firms have been slow to respond to the changing market, forging ahead with outdated practices. If you want to stay competitive, now’s the time for innovation. Here are three ways to go about it. Want to really get a leg up on the competition? Go back to the fundamentals – and question how necessary they are. Do you need a strict hourly billing policy or are alternative fee arrangements a way to set your firm apart?...

Flying below the radar could be a risky thing. Literally, it means that your aircraft could be be flying low enough to hit buildings. The trade-off is to fly lower than radar can detect and avoid anti-aircraft fire. Figuratively, that’s the goal for many businesses that want to avoid regulatory entanglement. Here are some ways to avoid the risks. Don’t Smoke Pot Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk are good examples....

Lawyers reuse letters, pleadings, and legal docs all the time. A quick copy and paste, coupled with a find and replace … It’s part of practicing. Sometimes, we even borrow language we like from other lawyers and cases. But more often than any practitioner would like to admit, copy and paste errors, usually in the form of omissions, occur. You know exactly the error being described here. When you forget to paste over the last client’s name that was used on a form, or forget to change a pronoun....