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This may seem obvious, but if you are receiving academic credit for an unpaid internship, you probably will not succeed in bringing a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim. However, seeing as unpaid internships and externships are a hot topic right now, it’s worth perusing this unpublished Eleventh Circuit decision, Kaplan v. Code Blue Billing, Inc. The lower court tossed the case via summary judgment, citing FLSA. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed, citing the well-known six factor test for unpaid internships derived from Portland Terminal:...

Order Requiring Sex Offender Registration Affirmed In US v. Pilati, No. 09-11978, a prosecution for willfully depriving individuals of their right to be free from unreasonable searches by one acting under color of law, the court affirmed the district court’s order requiring defendant to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, holding that 1) defendant waived or abandoned the majority of his arguments on appeal; and 2) defendant failed to object to the portions of the presentence report showing that he was a sex offender....

If you were on a rocketship going to the moon, how long would it take to get there? Oh wait, you don’t have a rocketship and you don’t know how to command one anyway. So basically, you’re not going to make it. That’s kind of the problem with many law firms today. Relatively few have fully functional tech committees, and some attorneys wouldn’t know what to do if they had one....

If you want to be a happy lawyer, consider focusing on other’s needs. Really. According to a survey of 6,000 attorneys, lawyers in public interest work reported the highest levels of happiness. If you went to law school because you wanted to help people and now want to back up that claim with action, consider starting your own nonprofit firm. Here are some resources to help you out. Getting a Grant: Getting Your Paperwork in Order: Start Hiring: FindLaw has an affiliate relationship with Indeed, earning a small amount of money each time someone uses Indeed’s services via FindLaw....

Earlier this year, Google announced that its once-popular Reader, which acted as an aggregator for users’ favorite blog feeds, was going to be retired as of July 1. Some pulled at their hair in frustration and dressed in black. Others lit a candle and prayed for a last-minute stay of execution. With 28 days to go, there has been no stay. The life of Google Reader appears destined to end, and for those of you in a long-term relationship with the RSS feed reader, it’s time to move on....

Need tips to get you through an all-nighter? Ah, the all-nighter. Despite not being in college anymore, they are often unfortunately still necessary in the legal sector. The truth is, we have clients, our job gets difficult, and the tasks pile on to the point where we just can’t get everything done, even with the help of our staff, in time to go home for some shut-eye. So, what should you do?...

Windows 8 has been out for a few months now, but reviews seem to indicate that it’s not a good pick for lawyers who work on a laptop or desktop. It’s always a little jarring when a software upgrade comes out and users are forced to learn all the small differences in the newer version. But in this case, the difference is stark and the overall effect is that Windows 8 is confusing for many users....

Joshua Arisohn, an attorney suing Twitter for enabling terrorists, sees the problem differently than most social media users. Arguing to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, he said social media companies may not be legally liable for content on their websites, but they should be liable for giving social media accounts to terrorists. “Handing someone a tool that can be used to create content is not the same as disseminating content,” Arisohn said....

Since we last brought you the story of Judge Mark Fuller, the Alabama federal district court judge accused of domestic violence, a lot has changed: America has suddenly decided it’s a lot less tolerant of domestic violence than it was before NFL player Ray Rice’s video appeared on TMZ. Back in August, Fuller was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. The incident occurred at a Ritz Carlton in Atlanta; Fuller’s wife accused him of cheating on her with his law clerk....

Legal technology is developing rapidly, and changing faster. Even if you read the latest articles, follow relevant Twitter and Facebook accounts, and subscribe to RSS feed to keep your law firm up to speed on legal technology innovations, you may still benefit substantially from actually experiencing legal tech developments live. The annual ABA TECHSHOW aims to do just that by introducing attendees to practical technologies for transforming their legal practice. Hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA), the conference covers topics such as e-commerce, trial-specific software, cybercrime, tools to building a paperless office, electronic briefs, scanning options, e-discovery, video deposition technology, and more....

There’s rarely much debate over whether attorneys are justified in passing through case related expenses and other case related costs to their clients. Good retainer agreements hold clients liable for attorney fees, attorney expenses, and case costs. However, attorneys sometimes wonder where a piece of software, or a smartphone app, falls on the spectrum of case costs or expenses? Under the ABA model rule 1.5, which governs fees, there is no prohibition against charging clients the costs for software you obtain, or use, for their matters....

Pierce v. Thaler, No. 08-70042, involved a capital habeas matter. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order requiring petitioner to be resentenced, holding that an additional instruction on mitigating evidence was required because: 1) under clearly established federal law, the future dangerousness special issue provided a meaningful basis for the jury to consider and give effect to petitioner’s youth (he had just turned 18 at the time of the killing) and his good behavior in prison; and 2) petitioner’s evidence of being led astray by older boys and being locked up for a significant period of time had mitigating relevance beyond the special issues and therefore required an additional instruction....

Lawyers, equipped with mobile devices to draft legal documents and email them, are meeting with clients at coffee shops across the country. This phenomenon is nothing new, at this point. But we’re repeating the story because attorneys are still using public Wi-Fi networks, despite the potential legal and ethical liabilities. “Never Use Starbucks Wi-Fi” Kudos to the coffee shops that donated money to those immigration advocates in February. After Trump cracked down on people coming from Muslim countries, the baristas redirected their tips to civil rights lawyers....

The removal of a controversial mural by Maine Governor Paul LePage is heading to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, where the court will determine if the governor was within his rights to remove the mural. Was the mural entitled to First Amendment protection or was the removal of the mural protected government speech? The U.S. District Court has already ruled in favor of the latter. The plaintiffs in the case include a group of two union officials and three artists....

Coworking space simply sounds nice, whether or not its a viable option. It brings a more communal working environment, possibly more perks of free food, a startup-like vibe, etc. Now lawyers are thinking of getting in on this whole coworking thing. Well, we hate to be the bringers of bad news, but it looks like lawyers will have to sit this one out. Coworking space is a shared work environment. You share the space with individuals from other companies or firms....

It looks like the very expensive deal that was set to create the nation’s largest utility just about got killed thanks to some rather unexpected developments in which District of Columbia mayor Muriel Bowser withdrew her support, according to the Associated Press. The proposal is “not in the public interest,” said she. Bowser and other interested parties are facing a ticking clock. The general skeleton of a new deal must be fleshed out by March 11....

Remember the days of yore, when you took notes on legal pads and recorded voice memos with a handheld recorder? Ever lose your notes or leave them at the office? Ever print or copy-and-paste something interesting off of a website, only to be unable to find the site later? The obvious use here would be to use a different notebook for each client, storing notes, sketches, to-do lists, voice memos, and audio recordings of meetings....

A DOJ suit to block Louisiana’s private school voucher program will be heard in a New Orleans federal court in mid-September, possibly answering whether the state is thwarting desegregation by issuing these vouchers. The Times-Picayune reports that the voucher system, officially known as the Louisiana Scholarship Program, extended the option for low-income students in certain school systems to go to private school on the taxpayer’s dime. However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) suit claims that this system is essentially undermining federal desegregation orders by allowing white children to transfer to public schools....

The decision whether to hire outside counsel is fraught with anxiety. Which firm? How much to pay? How much to have the outside firm do? It’s like hiring a new employee (except you’re hiring dozens of them). Hiring an outside firm doesn’t need to be stress-inducing. Just keep calm, take a breath, and consider these five ideas when making the leap. The whole point of having an in-house legal department is so you don’t have to go outside the company for routine legal tasks....

Honk if you like small-claims appeals. Lawyers for Honda have reason to toot their own horns after a judge overturned a nearly $10,000 small-claims award against the automaker, in a much-publicized case about their hybrids’ fuel economy. Heather Peters, a California hybrid owner who’s also a former lawyer, sued Honda in small claims court for alleged false advertising about her hybrid’s fuel economy. She won a $9,867 judgment in February, the Associated Press reports....