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If you sabotage your own trial, don’t expect a successful appeal in the Eleventh. That’s the lesson a Georgia man who stole over $4 million in a yearlong credit card scam learned the hard way, recently. Here’s how the Eleventh Circuit describes Perkins’ behavior: So, he’s a charmer. Mr. Perkins rejected two court-appointed attorneys, attempted to hijack every hearing that he attended, and refused to participate in his own trial, threatening physical violence if the district judge tried to compel him to enter the courtroom....

When a government entity settles a lawsuit, it’s rather uncommon for it to not actually have the present ability to pay for the settlement. Interestingly though, that is exactly the predicament one New Jersey city has recently stumbled into. The city of West Wildwood is coping with the aftermath of a settlement it couldn’t really afford. On the other hand, the town probably couldn’t afford not to settle. Fortunately, the plaintiff in the matter, a former and current employee, was agreeable to a payment plan to help the matter resolve at the rather agreeable amount of about $1....

The current FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, has announced that the agency will host a public forum at its Washington D.C. headquarters on artificial intelligence and machine learning, at the end of the month. Prediction: It will be a steaming hot pile of obsoleteness. The announcement is also a call to those in the industry who may want to participate or even provide demonstrations on how machine learning and AI can make an impact on the communications of today....

When Google Glass announced in January that it was ending its Explorer program, it looked like our cyborg future might be in jeopardy. Thankfully, Microsoft has stepped into the void, obtaining a patent for emotion detecting glasses. With an enhanced set of eyes, we may be one step closer to putting ourselves to the fullest possible use, which is all any conscious entity can ever hope to do. Of course, Microsoft’s glasses probably won’t transcend the human-computer divide just yet, but they may have important implications for the legal profession....

Propinquity: it’s a fancy way of saying two things are close together. Social psychologists have found that it is a great predictor of whether two people will end up romantically intertwined, and it was a great excuse to date the girl down the hall back in college. It’s also the reason why Connecticut just crapped on fundamental rights by carving additional exceptions into protections against unlawful search and seizure – guy near guy who looks like other guy loses his rights....

A trademark dispute in Florida has resulted in a decidedly curious court order. To prevent confusion between Uber Promotions, a Gainesville area limo service, and Uber, the controversial ride sharing company, a federal judge in the Sunshine State says Uber the ride sharing company has to control just what comes up in Google, Yahoo, or Bing search engine results. That, however, is not as easy as it sounds. It’s not even possible....

The NFL has announced that it will train league staff on recognizing and preventing domestic violence and sexual assault. The news comes after, well, a whole lot of players were allegedly involved in domestic violence: Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, and Jonathan Dwyer all received suspensions while investigations are pending. More importantly, the news comes after sponsors pulled their deals when the league failed to act initially. No matter what the true motivation was, the program is a good move for the league, which in the past, has been criticized for ignoring the problem....

What is the most important specification in a smartphone? It’s not the operating system (Android, Apple, BlackBerry, or Windows). It’s not the screen size, storage, processor speed, or camera. It’s the battery life, because as we’ve all found out, our smartphones are pretty darn useless when they’re dead – and they’re always dying. Android L, the next version of the mobile operating system, will be a lot of things: a design update, a move from Dalvik to the faster ART runtime, some to be determined reference to a dessert....

Being a trial lawyer is truly a theatrical experience. It involves not only the technical elements of theater, like staging and voice, but also the truly “act-y” parts. What will you say, and when? How will you react to a question you already know the answer to? And most importantly, how do you impress a jury? Add to that your own witnesses, or even your own client. They may need to step up their acting game as well....

While most lawyers used the final week of 2011 to deplete their paid-time-off reserves, watch NFL games, and cheer for their favorite college teams in bowl games, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was busy issuing opinions. In an attempt to get you caught up with the latest and greatest in the Fifth Circuit, we’re going over a few of the highlights from the last week: Deepwater Horizon Lawsuit. Cameron International lost its appeal for a jury trial last week....

You’re getting ready for school – you’ve purchased your books and technology – now, the only thing left? Law apps. You guessed it, there’s an app for that (never tired of saying that). Here are some of our favorite legal apps to help get you through law school. Rather than lugging around a giant law dictionary, or running to the library every time you need to look something up, you can now download the Black’s Law Dictionary app for convenience....

My editor just presented me with a challenge: think of three tech things that lawyers won’t need in 2014. Three? I’ll give you five. In fact, I could do this all day. I’ll even skip the obvious choices, like PDAs. (Remember Palm Pilots?) Here are five devices that are either obsolete, or soon-to-be, in 2014: My stepfather still wants his rotary-dial phone back. Sorry folks, but the landline is (near) dead....

The date is set. The witnesses are being prepped. And the lawyers are under more pressure than ever to come up with a reasonable settlement. Have you been missing out on the real-life Silicon Valley drama (as opposed to the hilarious HBO dramedy)? Apple, Intel, Google, and Adobe allegedly agreed to not poach each others’ talent, creating the sort of anticompetitive agreement that depresses salaries. Though initial estimates of the companies’ exposure were in the billions range, the companies settled for … $324 million, a number that made us get our eyes checked, caused one plaintiff to file a formal rejection, and which U....

But, didn’t the SCOTUS just address Stolen Valor? When PFC Michael Delos Hamilton, United States Marine Corps (Ret.) lost fingers in a training accident at Camp Lejeune in 1962, he was given an honorable discharge, a disability rating of 30 by the VA, and received monthly benefits, according to the court. In 1997, 2006, 2007, and 2009, Hamilton petitioned for additional benefits based on PTSD from serving in Vietnam. He dropped the initial attempts, but on the final application, he submitted to a psychological evaluation where he claimed to have served in undocumented special forces activities, which led to his PTSD, a plate in his head, a piece of bullet in his back, and the loss of half of his stomach....

District court’s sentence of defendant to 235-month imprisonment on his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm is vacated and remanded as the district court erred when it looked to and relied on the Statement of Charges in determining that defendant’s Maryland second-degree assault conviction qualified as a violent felony conviction under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), as the Statement of Charges was not incorporated into the information....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. Once upon a time, collecting music was a clunky experience, to say the least. Vinyl albums (while you might like the sound they provide) are large and take up a lot of space. And though tapes and CDs are smaller, they can add up in terms of storage needs, and none of the above are easy to navigate in terms of finding genres, artists, or songs....

Hey there reader, You know all about our blogs. They’re fun, informative, and handy. We attempt to inform about practice tips for small firm practitioners, new attorneys, and in-house counsel. We also lust mightily over gadgets and pontificate on the latest from SCOTUS and the rest of the courts. But FindLaw is more than just blogs. We also have a pretty great (and free!) practice guides section. FindLaw’s Anne C. O’Donnell joined us after years of practicing personal injury....

Following a multi-billion verdict in a talc case, a key supplier for Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder filed for bankruptcy. Imerys Talc America said it could not afford to defend itself from nearly 15,000 lawsuits over its talc mineral product. Last year, a jury awarded $4.69 billion to 22 women who said talc baby powder caused ovarian cancer. In the talc litigation, it was a bellwether case for future cases. For the talc company, it was the beginning of the end....

Petitioner’s request for review of the BIA’s final removal order denying his asylum application and ordering him removed to Yemen is granted and the case remanded as petitioner has established that he was subjected to past persecution, and as such, he is entitled to the presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution, which would make him eligible for asylum. Read Baharon v. Holder , No. 08-1700 Appellate Information Argued: September 24, 2009...

You know how people have dogs that look like them? If not, go to a Wag Dog Festival and see people competing for “Best Owner/Dog Look-a-Like.” But here’s the point for lawyers. Clients hire attorneys who are like them. So before you sit down with your next potential client, take a look in the mirror. What Do Clients Look For? Studies say people hire lawyers based on certain criteria. One survey, with responses from 1,500 people, says clients choose attorneys based on:...