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The weight-loss pill maker Wyeth, LLC will survive an appeal to review jury’s favorable verdict for defendant. The First Circuit court found with regards to the plaintiff’s negligent design claim, he’d failed some other less dangerous weight loss pill design. The interesting thing about this case is that it makes it clear that Massachusetts will not hear cases of negligent design unless the plaintiff offers a reasonable alternative. For a weight-loss pill that allegedly causes hypertension?...

Following the Great Recession of 2008, many firms found it lucrative to expand their practices to encompass debt collection. They became “debt buyers,” third parties who purchased the debt from the original creditor – or even from another debt buyer – and then tried to collect or obtain a settlement. The business is lucrative – consumers owe about $872 billion in credit card debt alone, according to NerdWallet. And consumers signed a contract to pay the debt back, so something is coming....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Do you feel like your online life is moving ahead somewhat out of control at warp speed? Well, according to the third annual Speed Matters survey by the Communications Worker of America (CWA), we need to pick up the pace of the Internet here in the United States. Indeed, the CWA concludes that speed of the Internet in the US is continuing to fall behind other countries....

A new study of corporate general counsel reveals that in-house counsel are lacking the resources they need to tackle compliance issues, according to Grant Thornton. One Grant Thornton professional noted that, “Corporate counsel are facing a variety of new regulatory risks every day,” including fraud, data security, and ethics. He noted that, “perhaps because of these new risks – corporate counsel do not feel they have the resources to keep up, perhaps creating a vicious circle of regulatory and litigation risk....

Sick of transcribing paper intake forms into your computer after every consultation? Want a free, paperless, electronic option? Well Google Forms might be your new best friend. The idea is simple: Create online forms, such as an intake form, that you can send to potential clients, embed in an email, or include on your website. Responses are added as they are received to a Google Spreadsheet, where you can manipulate the data or copy and paste it into other programs, such as your practice management suite or Outlook....

Embryos in court? Apparently. Two enterprising balls of potential human life filed suit in Louisiana last week. Their target: Sofia Vergara, the star of ABC’s Modern Family and contributor of half their genetic material. The embryos were created by Vergara and her now-ex boyfriend Nick Loeb as part of an in vitro fertilization process. They were never implanted and the couple split in 2014. The two have been battling it out in court over the fate of the embryos ever since....

In this digital age, you have to embrace technology to compete. It doesn’t matter if you practice intellectual property or drunk driving law. If you don’t keep up with the newest trends and technology, you’re at risk for being left behind. One of the newest law firm marketing tactics being adopted by attorneys is law firm web chat. A stale, static website may no longer be enough. This is because you can search engine optimize (SEO) your website to the fullest, but if you can’t convert any of those eyeballs to clients, then all this SEO is for naught....

When you need to look up a state code, where do you turn? Westlaw? FindLaw? (Our California and New York state codes are excellent and newly updated, by the way!) The state’s website? For some states, like Georgia, where you turn for state laws depends on who has the exclusive rights to publish those laws, but a new court battle between legal publishers is putting those agreements in question. Two smaller legal publishers recently took each other to court over the right to publish Georgia’s state laws....

If there’s one department that’s the thorn in the side of company employees, it’s the IT department. Their answer is always “no” and they make you wait on requests for a long time. Of course, that’s equally true of the legal department, too. With Sarbanes-Oxley being what it is, coupled with the dystopian e-discovery future in which we live, the IT department and the legal department should be best buddies. Whose photo do you have in your heart-shaped locket?...

When you look at a still-shot of a video, does that mean you’ve “seen” the whole video? This seemingly silly question sits at the core of a legal issue that has only further divided the federal circuit courts, probing deep questions about the scope of Fourth Amendment Searches and digital privacy. Perhaps the more probing legal question should be this: Does seeing the screenshot give law enforcement the authority to search the entire device on which a particularly potentially criminal video was found?...

It’s Christmas. That’s one good reason to lower your fees. Even if it’s just a one-time discount in a greeting card, your clients will love you for it. Well, that would be a Christmas miracle, so maybe they would just want to keep you around until next year. In any case, there are at least two other reasons to lower your fees. Your Fees Are Too High If more than a few clients have complained about your rates, maybe they are right....

One way to grow your practice is to establish yourself as a legal expert within your community. If you become the person that local news stations and newspapers interview for the “legal perspective” on a hot topic, then their audience will likely begin to think of you as an expert as well. And when that audience needs legal advice? You’ll probably get a few phone calls. Granted, becoming a local media guru is easier said than done....

You already know that if you’re going to be lawyering on the road, you’re going to need a laptop – preferably one with amazing battery life, like the Macbook Air. And you probably also already have a smartphone and perhaps a tablet. None of those are cheap, nor are they the focus of this list. This list is all about accessorizing with little gadgets that will keep you as productive on the road as you are in the office....

You’ve finally got clients coming in the door! Clients are coming! After hanging your shingle, advertising, handling your aunt’s cat’s estate plan and living will, and redesigning your firm stationary for the 65th time, you finally have a few client intakes lined up. What steps should you take to protect the client’s interests, as well as your own? Here are five things you should be doing to ensure that you end up with conflict-free, sane, paying clients:...

Here’s a productivity tip for you: try dual monitors. Much of the time wasted when attorneys work on computers comes when they switch between windows. Not only does it waste time, it can lead to unnecessary distractions. Some try to compensate by putting two windows on one screen, or by various workarounds. But instead, attorneys would be wise to consider making a small investment and using an extra monitor. For that matter, it would be wise to make the investment for support staff as well....

In this business, your professional reputation is your biggest asset. This rings especially true for small firms and solo practitioners who rely heavily on word of mouth. The thing is that there’s always going to be that one client who calls your reputation into question–your services are somehow a scam. However, you can usually attribute this to a disappointing outcome (or a little crazy). But what if there really is a scam?...

Last week reports were coming out of tech news that Apple was being forced to stop selling iPhones in Beijing due to a pending patent violation claim by a Chinese smartphone company Shenzhen Baili. As it turns out, sales will continue, but we were struck by the role reversal. That’s right: a Chinese company was suing a Western company for copying IP. But it gets a little bit better than that....

Countries May Have No Legal Recourse in Enforcing Vaccine Contracts with International Pharmaceutical Companies The swine flu pandemic has already had a forceful impact across the globe, but with fall flu season just months away and pharmaceutical companies racing to fill vaccine orders, it may also prove to be a major game-changer in international contract law. Many countries have contracted to receive enough of the vaccine to satisfy their nation’s needs; however, the private contracts between the countries and international pharmaceutical companies are not subject to binding international law....

The Crazy Horse Saloon owners must have thought that they could out-lawyer Alexis Degidio, the exotic dancer who sued the strip club for wage violations. In Degidio v. Crazy Horse Saloon and Restaurant, she alleged the company wrongly treated exotic dancers as independent contractors to avoid paying minimum wage and overtime. She also claimed the defendant improperly took dancers’ tips. But after more than a year of discovery and motions, the Crazy Horse thought of another strategy – compel arbitration....

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a case involving the dismissal of a police officer’s claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983 after he was reinstated by the Police Department. Cory Hall was fired by the Newport News Police Department in 2006, when he was charged with improper procedure, untruthfulness during the course of an investigation, excessive use of force, and improper or unlawful arrest. After appealing his discharge, he was reinstated when three of the four disciplinary charges were dropped....