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The First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a third challenge to the Massachusetts abortion clinic buffer zone law this week, calling the plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims a “salmagundi of arguments, old and new.” The statute at the center of the dispute is Mass. Gen. Law ch. 266, § 120E 1/2, which states that “no person shall knowingly enter or remain on a public way or sidewalk adjacent to a reproductive health care facility” (RHCF) within a designated and clearly marked buffer zone....

If you want to succeed as an attorney, networking is key. Create some valuable connections with other attorneys, and you’ve got someone to bounce ideas off of, refer clients to, and be referred to in return. Network with the public and you can make important client contacts, or simply improve your reputation in the community. But networking doesn’t always come naturally. It takes work. With that in mind, here are FindLaw’s best networking tips, from our archives....

The Chicago law firm of Winston & Strawn must be eyeing the prize for most-loved BigLaw firm in the Windy City – perhaps even the country. Expanding its already generous parental leave program, the firm has decided to up its number of paid weeks to twenty. To sweeten the deal, the firm is also doing away with “primary” and “secondary” caregivers, thus incenting more men to actually use the numbers allotted to them....

Is it a victimless crime for a lawyer to overstate a legal bill but never send the bill to the client? Probably not, but the results were about the same for one Louisiana attorney. Kenneth Todd Wallace was suspended from law practice for 30 months because he falsified hours to his law firm. It’s a sad story for an attorney who had risen to the top, serving on the firm’s board of directors, as a hiring partner and leader on important committees....

Here at FindLaw, we write about the law quite bit. And one topic that just never seems to get old for us, and for our readers, is writing about legal writing. Whether it’s technical stuff like the capitalization of the word “plaintiff” or much more serious matters, like the capitalization of the word “internet,” when there’s a development in legal writing, it’s a safe bet that it’ll get covered right here in this blog....

This is how much experience you need to start a law practice – zero. Of course, taking the bar exam is an experience. But that’s not the kind you want to repeat. Assuming you made it past the bar, you can start your own law firm without any prior practice experience. However, here are a few practical skills you probably have already that will help you get going: Self-Discipline Solo practitioners are entrepreneurs, and nobody succeeds in self-employment unless they are disciplined....

Firms go to great lengths to find and hire the best talent, but once hired, many firms stand back and see who sinks and who swims. While some talent can thrive on its own, taking an active hand in managing your lawyers’ development ensures that the firm gets the most out of its employees. How can you build your firm’s professional development program in order to turn promising talent into an actual pay out?...

“Lawyer to the Colombian Drug Cartel,” Time magazine called him. With the article for an introduction, I called him for an appointment. It’s easy to get inside places when you have press credentials. I had a burning question: “How did you become that guy?” He told me a story that every lawyer should remember: Do your best not to make mistakes because some clients will not accept an apology. Promises, Promises “Jose Cocaina,” let’s call him, said he learned not to create unreasonable expectations for clients....

It seems that hackers are on the prowl for sensitive information that your law firm has. The AP reports that the FBI has sent out an advisory that warns law firms and PR companies that there is a complex emailing scheme going on that steals their data. The FBI has said that this scheme is just part of a larger growing trend. The compromises in cyber security typically comes from what is known as “spear phishing”....

If you ever wondered about your federal court PACER bill, there was a good reason. It turns out that the electronic access service had a software issue for decades. The flaw made it possible for hackers to access court documents and charge it to other user accounts. The courts reportedly have fixed the problem. So do you trust the system now? What PACER Problem? Free Law Project, which reported the problem in February, said the Administrative Office of the Courts has now addressed the issue....

In a decisive move, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, of the New York Court of Appeals announced a rule change that affects in-house attorneys, and their ability to do pro bono work, reports The New York Times. And we’re left wondering, will other states follow suit? The New Rule The New York rule allows attorneys who are not admitted to the NY Bar, but who work in corporate law departments in the state, to do pro bono work....

Most attorneys know that to prevail in any lawsuit, big or small, some evidence is required. Maybe someone should have told that to Paul Ceglia, the man who launched a lawsuit claiming that he owns 50% of Facebook. A wood pellet salesman by trade, Ceglia says he inked a deal with Mark Zuckerberg in 2003 for half of Facebook, contingent upon Ceglia hiring Zuckerberg to work for StreetFax, a now-defunct startup....

In a move that is sure to inflame the passions of Occupiers (a la, the 99 percent), SCOTUS refused, on Wednesday, to review a decision by the Second Circuit which threw out the convictions of hedge fund managers Anthony Chiasson and Todd Newman. The decision came as a major blow to both US Attorney Preet Bharara and the US Justice Department’s attempt to crackdown on insider trading in the midst of increasing disapproval from the public....

Things aren’t looking good for Wynn resorts and casinos these days. Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory firm, issued an unusually strong condemnation of Wynn and its management, saying that it had created a corporate governance record that is “among the worst” in the U.S. It urged shareholders to withhold votes for every nominee to the board. Elaine Wynn, one of the resort’s co-founders, has been campaigning to rejoin the board....

Once upon a time, white papers were simply government documents that spelled out government policies and invited comment on them. The Churchhill White Paper of 1922 is one of the earliest such examples. But white papers have changed plenty over the years. Today, they’re authoritative, persuasive, mini-reports primarily used to develop thought leadership or business leads. Should you be writing one? Since the 70s white papers have proliferated, becoming a major marketing and business tool....

Some have criticized President Barack Obama’s immigration plan as unconstitutional. Others argue that it doesn’t go far enough. But for most people, the bottom line is the bottom line. Instead of pondering politics, they are wondering if the immigration overhaul, and other efforts that have been tossed around Congress, will help or hurt their company. On the one hand, you’d think that a higher supply of labor could only be good for businesses....

Kanye West’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Coinye founders alleging that the virtual currency website infringed West’s trademarks. Coinye, or the virtual currency formerly known as Coinye West, was conceived by seven anonymous coders. For a man who loves to rant, West let his lawyer do the talking when he sent the letter requesting that the coders stop all activity relating to Coinye West or Coinye, reports The Wall Street Journal....

You’ve optimized your law firm’s website for search engines, and spent good money to get it professionally designed. Now it’s up to you to provide content that potential clients will be looking for. Good law-firm website content means posting more than just a homepage and links to attorney biographies. Unfortunately, many lawyers are just too busy to create content from scratch. Thankfully, the nature of legal work makes it a virtual treasure trove of already-produced content that can drive traffic to your firm’s website, according to the Shatterbox blog....

As webpages are becoming increasingly important evidence in litigation, so too are the standards for capturing and preserving that evidence. For years, we’ve seen Internet evidence used to contest disability claims, to prove a spouse’s cheating ways, to support claims of trademark infringement. Heck – even Google Earth is being marshaled in courts as evidence. Lawyers who want to make use of webpage or electronic evidence might be surprised that simply printing out that incriminating Facebook post, defamatory tweet, or infringing email might not be sufficient anymore....

Finishing a brief from the back of a car. Uploading a last minute filing just as the clock strikes midnight. Keeping in touch with your colleagues while mid-flight. None of these things would have been possible just a few decades ago. Thanks to a host of apps, programs, and gadgets, attorneys can stay connected (and productive) like never before. In the spirit of helping you stay plugged in, here are seven of FindLaw’s best posts on tech to keep you connected....