In a way, handling juror questions is like handling judges’ questions. The question may give you cause for concern, especially if the answer will hurt your client’s case. Or it may give you hope because the answer will lead to a favorable result. In any case, juror questions are important indicators in a trial and should be welcome. Questions show that jurors are engaged and want to know more about the case....
Thousands of lawyers leave the law every year. Corporate attorneys become yoga gurus. Prosecutors become public school teachers. Family lawyers become family counselors. And some attorneys change careers without giving up legal practice, moving from BigLaw to nonprofit work or from a government agency to their own solo practice. But how do you know when the time is right for a career change? Here are four tell-tale signs. Necessity is the mother of reinvention....
You run a tight ship. Your law office is organized, efficient, and effective. To make sure that employees feel that they’re treated fairly, you’ve instituted basic policies instead of arbitrary, ad-hoc procedures. You’re doing things right. Except, of course, when your policies are terrible. Oftentimes, well-intentioned but poorly thought-out office policies can leave your staff fuming. Here are five guaranteed to drive most law firm staff insane. 1. Unnecessary Internet Restrictions...
California recently passed Senate Bill 269, a law that extends protections to small business owners, shielding them in some cases from penalties and fines arising from ADA violations. The Basic Idea The main focus of the law (and the class of persons intended for protection) is small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The law grants small business that are in violation of public access rules – as found by an access specialist – 120 days to make the necessary changes without penalty....
Many health insurance plans require a patient to get pre-approval for services from an out-of-network service provider, except in cases of medical emergency, urgent care, or as otherwise provided under the terms of the plan. Monday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals opened the door for some pre-approval-lacking patients to get coverage when a plan contains ambiguous referral terms. Plaintiff-Appellant Nancy Koehler challenged a summary judgment ruling dismissing her suit to recover health insurance benefits under an Employee Retirement Income Security (ERISA) employee benefits plan after Aetna refused to reimburse her for care she received from an out-of-network specialist....
Has Google done you wrong? Well, then Hausfeld, an international plaintiff’s firm, wants to hear from you. The firm, known for its high-profile class actions, recently launched a platform to help individuals and businesses pursue potential lawsuits against Google. The Google Redress & Integrity Platform, or GRIP, is specifically aimed at those harmed by the tech company’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior in Europe. In April, the European Commission accused Google of abusing its search dominance in violation of European antitrust laws....
The rumors of the Volkswagen Beetle’s death are not exaggerated. Perhaps it’s more disturbing that Volkswagen itself is killing the beloved bug. Once the world’s best-selling car, next year the Beetle will be no more. In the eulogy to follow, there has to be some lesson for in-house counsel. After all, somebody has to help the company get through it. Ashes to Ashes When the Toyota Corolla took over the number one spot in 1974, the Beetle never really rebounded....
Today, the First Circuit decided a Title VII discrimination and retaliation suit brought by a teacher, a petition for review of a BIA’s final order and a criminal defendant’s action seeking return of his property seized, without notice, following his 1991 arrest and conviction for drugs. Agusty-Reyes v. Dep’t of Educ. of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, No. 09-1247, involved a math teacher’s Title VII discrimination and retaliation suit against defendant arising from an on-going sexual harassment by her former supervisor that eventually led to a physical attack....
Tribal court jurisdiction can be tricky, but the Fifth Circuit seemed to simplify it in a case where a Native American minor was allegedly molested at a Dollar General. Dolgencorp, which operates a Dollar General on a Choctaw Reservation in Mississippi, is being sued by a Choctaw minor who was employed in the store as part of a Youth Opportunity Program (YOP) training program. Unfortunately, while employed there, the minor alleges that the manager, a non-tribe member, molested him....
My brothers are identical twins, so this is a question that has come up often in my family: if one of them were to commit a crime, how could the police tell the difference between the two? Apparently, they can’t. Twin brothers Anh and Duc Tong were arrested for the murder of a San Jose State University student late last month. Yesterday, prosecutors dropped the charges against Duc, and properly filed murder charges against Anh....
In US v. Garcia, No. 08-50458, the Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant’s drug conspiracy sentence, holding that defendant’s plea agreement left the district court to use the guidelines, with the exception that the term of imprisonment could not fall below 240 months, and the district court executed the plea agreement as originally written. As the court wrote: “Through an agreement with the government, Marco A. Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of cocaine and 50 or more grams of crack, in violation of 21 U....
If it wasn’t enough that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has Apple and Google on its radar for their board of directors selections, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants in on the Apple-Google action too. The FCC is investigating Apple’s rejection of the Google Voice iPhone app which would enable users to send international text messages and make inexpensive calls. FCC’s initial step was to pose questions to Google, Apple, and AT&T via snail mail to get to the bottom of who said what and why the app was rejected....
In 2014, Walmart entered the legal services market. Or rather, Axess Law moved to Walmart, opening four offices in Walmarts throughout Canada. Hey, if the clients aren’t coming to you, go to them, right? Two years later, their practice is still going strong and is expecting rapid Walmart-based growth in 2016. Should you join them? Axess Law’s business model is simple, but genius – and kind of shocking. Forgo the trappings of the typical law firm – the wood-paneled law libraries, the fancy conference rooms, the lack of discount produce – and focus on an underserved legal market....
Less than a month after a district court ordered South Korea’s Kolon to stop manufacturing and selling Heracron (a Kevlar competitor), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the company can resume production while it appeals the judgment, Reuters reports. Last year, a jury found last year that the South Korean manufacturer stole 149 trade secrets relating to the Kevlar fiber, and awarded Kevlar-manufacturer DuPont more than $919 million in damages....
The Internet of Things – all those gizmos that connect to the Internet, like your refrigerator, your thermostat, and that device that tells you how many eggs you have in the fridge – is what our future looks like. It’s also, as we’ve chronicled before, a huge security risk. Thankfully, the FTC is, as ever, on the case! It took only a year and two months after a privacy and security conference held in November 2013 for it to issue a report this week entitled “Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World....
It’s the eternal struggle for solos. We’ve all been there. You render services, and you don’t enforce the strict terms of the agreement. The client can’t recharge her retainer because her transmission blew out, she had a family emergency – we get it. She’s out of money, or she has money and withholds payment. No good deed goes unpunished and being the “nice” lawyer can cost you time and faith in humanity....
If you’ve ever looked at stock photography of career women, used everywhere from websites to promotional materials, then you’ve probably noticed that women who work are often depicted doing the ridiculous. Whether it’s sprouting eight arms, wearing boxing gloves or smiling at their salad, the examples are numerous – and silly. If you look at photos targeted specifically toward women attorney the results are even dumber, i.e., “lawyer woman with gun....
If you have fallen in love with Siri or Alexis, you can still take a peek at Google’s digital assistant and be faithful to your first love. So what’s the fuss about Google’s latest release and why should any Siri or Alexis lover care? Well, the Assistant is smarter. It can even learn to talk like a lawyer. “Contextually Aware” According to Wired, the Assistant is more artificially intelligent because it learns how to respond to a user’s preferences....
When a video goes viral, it’s usually because the video depicts something so shocking, or funny, or amazing, that anyone who views it is compelled to share it. Sadly, too often, viral videos are born from the misconduct of public officials. Recently, the woman who was the subject of a viral video which depicted her being punched in the face by a NYC police officer has filed an excessive force lawsuit against the department and officers involved....
Last week, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission suspended two lawyers for two years for a variety of issues in their dealings with low-income clients who were settling debts. They’re all somewhat run-of-the-mill violations, except committed on a much larger scale. What could attorneys Thomas Macey and Jeffrey Aleman have possibly done to get suspended for two years? Read on, and maybe you can learn what not to do with your new debt settlement firm....
