Unless you’re sending flowers or candy, it might be too late to have a gift delivered by Christmas. At this point, you might have to hunt down the perfect gift the old fashioned way: driving to a store. Or maybe not! To make your gift search less tedious, we put together a quick list of tech gifts, most of which can be ordered online and sent instantaneously to the recipient. 1....
We’re living in a golden age of beer. Gone are the days when the question was “Budweiser or Coors?” There are literally thousands of “craft” breweries all over the country these days, responding to what’s been more or less a duopoly of the Big Two beer makers. (Coors bought Miller in 2007; together Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors own 65 percent of the U.S. beer market.) Craft beers are made in smaller batches and don’t garner nationwide attention, so some people think they’re higher quality products....
Law firms, from solos to big law, can usually benefit from using the latest, most advanced technologies available. At least, that’s the promise of new tech. However, when it comes to new tech for practicing lawyers, not everything will add value or create a worthwhile benefit. In fact, if a firm has a solid system in place, there could be virtually no reason to make any changes at all. Growth can be overrated, especially when you’re happy with the status quo and making good money....
For many in the tech industry, and specifically the crypto and blockchain sectors, it’s clear why Wyoming is now leading the charge in blockchain legislation. Since the state’s epic mistake of basically banning the sale of crypto in 2015, it has turned around and passed a whole bunch of laws trying to backtrack on that unfriendly first impression. Now the state has poised itself to be to blockchain and crypto as Delaware is to corporations....
How is your law practice doing? Are you getting enough clients? Are you growing? Are you optimistic about the future? If you are feeling like you need a new direction, perhaps now is a good time to consider shifting your focus – as there are plenty of alternative legal careers. For example, O. Max Gardner III, 65, runs an attorney boot camp at his farm in North Carolina where attorneys can learn, network and become part of an informal fraternity of attorneys practicing foreclosure law....
Most attorneys can attest to the fact that their job is stressful. However, a frequent side effect of having a high pressure job also means that lawyers are more likely than the general population to abuse alcohol and suffer from depression, the Associated Press reports. How do some lawyers turn into addicted lawyers? “Attorneys have high-stress jobs. They have unreasonable expectations on how much they can hoist on their shoulders. Some of the qualities that … make them good attorneys make them really bad at self care,” says Chuck Rice, a supervisor at the Hazelden treatment facility....
Many class action lawsuits revolve around legitimate concerns, like “Gee, my car’s ignition switch stopped working in the middle of a freeway” or “Wow, this medication poisoned me.” A small number of class action suits, however, really are much ado about nothing. Think Apple “antennagate.” Or the recent hand-wringing over state bar exam software. One law firm is going on the offensive by going on the defensive, refusing to settle silly claims, says Forbes....
Attorneys often stand in as guardians ad litem. But in Colorado, all guardians ad litem must hold a license to practice law. Despite this requirement, a recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling states the attorney-client privilege does not apply to guardians ad litem. Confidentiality between a guardian and an abused or neglected child does not exist. Guardians are not advocates, explained the court. Their job is to represent the child’s best interests, not the child’s interests....
It’s common practice to sue doctors for medical malpractice – why do you think healthcare (medical malpractice insurance) costs so much? But what if a patient’s medical malpractice claims fail? Can they sue the doctors who wrote an article in a medical journal, which was admitted into evidence in the medical malpractice trial, on the theory that the article “caused” the juries to find against them? The First Circuit said “no....
Conflicts of interest can be a major roadblock in your legal practice. Sure, they limit the amount of clients you can represent (a generally good idea), but they also can create major ethics headaches. Which is, of course, why you have screening procedures – and screening software. But not all conflicts screening programs are a fit for every firm. Whether you use legal management software or a simple spreadsheet depends on a host of factors, from the size of your practice to the types of clients you handle....
Perhaps sensing blood in the water because of Tesla’s driverless car legal troubles, Google Alphabet’s self-driving car arm has named its first general counsel – just in time for increased scrutiny by U.S. regulators over autonomous driving vehicle technology. Google has said publicly that there is no current timetable for releasing self-driving cars to the public. And after the recent unwelcome attention to the sector, we can understand the cautionary language....
An unhappy client won’t be a client for long. And if a client is unhappy enough, you could soon find yourself before a disciplinary committee, trying to rebut a client’s complaint. Luckily, avoiding client complaints is not that difficult to do. Here are some simple strategies for keeping your clients happy and complaint-free. Be Nice, Especially Over Email Sometimes, client satisfaction comes down to simple courtesy. We understand that you’re busy – and expensive....
It’s not often that Hollywood influences national policy. We have still not prepared for the dino-disaster foretold by Jurassic Park, for example, and The Martian has yet to inspire dramatically increased NASA funding. (Not to mention Roman Polanksi and those stubborn extradition laws.) Which is why this recent bit of trivia from Fred Kaplan, author of a soon-to-be-released history of “cyber war,” is so surprising: apparently, Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, and 1983’s hit film “WarGames” had a major impact on early U....
If your company is on Facebook, and has a loyal following, it’s quite possible that there are fan sites or Facebook fan pages on social media. According to Facebook’s rules, fan sites are permitted so long as the brand’s copyright is not infringed, doesn’t “mislead others into thinking it is an official Page,” and doesn’t “speak in the voice of” the brand. A Tale of Two Brands In 2008, Coca-Cola learned that two of its fans created a Facebook fan page and had millions of “likes....
In-N-Out Burger caught wind through the social media grapevine that a local San Francisco brewery had created a beer and beer can design that gave homage to the regional fast food chain. However, rather than accept the homage and be pleased that their brand was about to get some free, organic marketing from a beloved brewery, it fired off a cease and desist letter, complete with beer puns. Below you can see just how bad/good the burger lawyers did....
Small claims court may soon prove to be a thorn in the side of corporate counsel everywhere. First, a woman opted out of a class action and was awarded nearly $10,000 in a suit filed against Honda. Now, a California man has earned himself $850 in a lawsuit brought against wireless carrier AT&T. That man, Matt Spaccarelli, has accused AT&T of throttling – or slowing down – the data traffic speed of its top users....
The Ninth Circuit may be the most reversed, and the Seventh Circuit “benchslappy,” but if I had to come up with a catchphrase for the First Circuit it would be “logolepsy”. If you’ve been able to read an opinion by Judge Selya of the First Circuit without reaching/clicking for a dictionary, good for you. If you’re like the rest of us, then you probably have a Merriam-Webster.com window open whenever you’re reading a Judge Selya opinion – so, you could say he’s a logolept....
With 58 dead and nearly 500 wounded, it’s possible that just as many lawsuits could be filed in the Las Vegas massacre of Oct. 1. But so far only two lawsuits have been filed, and legal experts say their chances for recovery are not very good. After all, the killer is dead and gunmakers have never been held liable for such shootings. It’s not exactly a crap shoot, but it will take some luck and good lawyering....
Job seekers often complain about the job search process. The common complaint is that it’s drawn out, overly complex and layered, or unnecessary. Although the need to vent is understandable, employees should also appreciate what employers are trying to do: save themselves some headache. Today, the costs of hiring badly can get way up there. Think more than dollars and cents. Employers should heed the warning well and look before they hire....
In minority police officers’ disparate impact race claim under Title VII against a state agency that prepares and administers promotional examinations for local police officers under the state civil service system, their employers, various cities, and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), district court’s denial of Eleventh Amendment immunity for the state defendants, the state of Massachusetts and a chief human resources officers of the Human Resources Division (HRD) in his official capacity, is reversed where: 1) the state defendants do not qualify as employers as that term is used in Title VII; 2) HRD cannot be deemed plaintiffs’ de facto employer as it exercised no control, direct or indirect, over the factors relevant to the common law agency test; and 3) plaintiffs’ alternate theories why HRD should be considered their employer under Title VII are rejected....
