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You have an opening at your firm. You’ve listed the position, received dozens of applications, and focused in on a few qualified candidates. Now, should you track them down on social media? Sixty percent of employers use social media to research potential hires, according to a survey by CareerBuilder. That makes some sense. After all, someone’s online personality can be quite different from the persona they present in an interview. Do they constantly complain about their bosses?...

Thinking about moving your law firm? For whatever reason, you may be itching to relocate. Maybe your current practice has just outgrown its physical space, or your commercial lease is ending soon and you’d rather not renew it. No matter how many associates are at your firm, or if you’re a sole practitioner, the bottom line is: Moving is a pain. It requires a very time-consuming process that involves coordination, meticulous planning, and a lot of tiring communication....

Money is always an issue for clients. For those who don’t have a lot, a defense fund may be a way to deal with the ever-present problem of costs. Case in point: Accused murderer George Zimmerman, who made headlines this week when The Miami Herald suggested he was “selling autographs” to pay for his defense. Zimmerman’s lawyer clarified that the autographs were actually just hand-written thank-you notes. If you have clients like George Zimmerman who need your services but can’t foot the bill, you may also want to consider some unorthodox ways to raise cash....

You did get your mother a gift for Mother’s Day, right? Well, you’ve got limited time: It’s Sunday, and if you wait too long, the florists will be out of flowers and you’ll have to buy a Whitman’s Sampler from CVS. To inspire you into appreciating your mother, let’s take a look at five awesome mothers who also happened to be lawyers (or is that lawyers who happened to be mothers?...

The phone interview is quickly becoming the go-to method for a first round of interviews. Phone interviews are cheaper for everyone, faster to conduct, and don’t waste as much of the time of the people who inevitably won’t get called back for an in-person interview. Like in-person interviews, though, phone interviews have their own procedure, style, and etiquette. If you’ve never conducted a phone interview before, or you’re not sure if you’ve been doing it right all along, here are some tips to guide you:...

It’s March again, which means everyone’s favorite illegal betting racket is about to start back up. March Madness, with its accompanying office pools, live-streamed games, and potential loss of office productivity, can pose particular problems for corporate counsel. First, betting is widespread, with more than 50 million people taking part in office pools, often in violation of state and federal law. Second, even those who are not betting on games may be watching them at work, leading to extra strain on a company’s computer system and lost productivity....

In case you didn’t see it, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ hometown team, the New Orleans Saints, won the NFC South title on Monday night with a 45-16 win over the Eleventh Circuit’s Atlanta Falcons. Quarterback Drew Brees added to the excitement of the win, setting a new, NFL, single-season passing record. And while Brees’ record-breaking pass is the most talked-about moment of the game, running back Pierre Thomas’ first-quarter antics have also created buzz....

Whether lawyers blog as a marketing tactic or for personal satisfaction, law blogging is pretty popular. But blogging can cause problems for an attorney who doesn’t carefully adhere to his state’s professional conduct guidelines on his blog. As Point of Law recently explained, Hunter’s blog was notable for the elements it included (client’s actual names) and the elements it lacked (attorney advertising and “results may vary” disclosures). In February, the Virginia Supreme Court addressed whether Hunter’s blog posts qualify as commercial speech, and whether an attorney may discuss public information related to a client without the client’s consent....

So what are the hottest products among attorneys right now? Sure you hear about the iPad, the ScanSnap and all kinds of other toys and gizmos. HotDocs is an award-winning software suite and the global leader in document automation and assembly technology for law firms. They recently announced the release of HotDocs 10, which was named one of the Top 15 products of 2010 by TechnoLawyer NewsWire. That’s a serious compliment, considering that TechnoLawyer NewsWire reports on 250 new technologies for lawyers each year....

Is Toyota’s trial plan is annoying plaintiffs? The automaker is currently fighting a class action lawsuit that alleges the recent safety recalls lowered the value of the plaintiffs’ Toyota cars. In response to the litigation, Toyota’s legal team is looking to depose about 250 economic loss plaintiffs through the year 2013. And, the plaintiffs are none-too-pleased with this request. Plaintiffs are saying that Toyota’s plan would make for a very inefficient trial....

Cruises look lovely on TV commercials, but news stories about cruises are downright scary. Apparently, there are rapes, outbreaks, and shipwrecks to worry about. (No, thanks. When we take time off, we want to relax, not survive.) On the other hand, many people enjoy cruises. So if wariness of a cruise line’s duty to warn is the only thing keeping you from the high seas, it might be time to book your stateroom and pack your suitcase: The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a cruise line owes its passengers a duty to warn of known dangers beyond the point of debarkation in places where passengers are invited or reasonably expected to visit....

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Traveling Roadshow is coming to a location near you. If you’re located in Richmond or West Virginia, that is. If you’ve looked at the Fourth Circuit’s oral arguments schedule for the 2012-2013 term, you may have noticed a trend: Almost all of the hearings are at the circuit’s Richmond, Va. home. The lone outlier? An October 4 hearing at the West Virginia University College of Law....

Online deal peddler Groupon settled a class action lawsuit this week and has agreed to pay $8.5 million into a settlement fund. The settlement covers 17 Groupon lawsuits that had previously been consolidated in a federal court in San Diego. Though plaintiffs accuse the company of pressuring consumers and imposing “onerous sales conditions,” they are mostly upset with Groupon’s short expiration dates. They say those dates violate state and federal gift card and gift certificate laws....

Tomorrow, January 11th, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. And part of awareness is understanding exactly what human trafficking is, and what you, as a lawyer, can do to help. Much attention has been paid to the issue lately, both in terms of campaigns for increased criminal sanctions, and awareness campaigns by advocacy groups. But if you want to help combat the sex slavery, forced labor, indentured servitude, and other injustices of human trafficking, you must look beyond the bounds of the courtroom....

A pot practice used to be for small firms and solo practitioners, not big city lawyers. But that is changing as legalized marijuana use continues to take over the country. Most states have approved it for medicinal purposes and nearly a dozen for recreational use. Now New York is ramping up to legalize weed. Is it time Wall Street lawyers got some of that? Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed a panel to draft legislation to legalize marijuana in New York....

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to re-examine an oft-criticized, decades-old intellectual property precedent, Brulotte v. Thys Co. In Brulotte, the Court held that patent royalty agreements could not extend past the life of the patent – no contractual extension of a patent right beyond its expiration, in other words. Who is challenging this ruling? It’s not quite Spider-Man, but it is an inventor who seems to be a big fan of his....

You’ve deleted Solitaire and Pinball from all the computers. Now you have to increase online security for your small law firm. But one size doesn’t fit all. Software written for large firms is too expensive and inefficient for a small law firm, which usually has five or fewer networked computers. And large systems might not combine protection from external attack with protection from inefficient and dangerous employee web usage. And confidential information – yours and your clients’ – will be attacked....

A prisoner in a sex offender program in Texas has no right to his hot rod magazines, despite the prison’s limiting policies on mail. Shawn Stauffer, an inmate in Texas’ Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP), had his 1983 claims smacked down by the Fifth Circuit on Friday seeking both a million dollars in monetary damages and injunctive relief. So why did the court uphold the state’s policies and deny Stauffer his car magazines?...

It’s sort of an open secret in Silicon Valley that the tech industry is a man’s world. Data bear this out: Only 11 percent of executive positions are filled by women, reports Business Insider, compared with 16 percent in the S&P 100. It gets worse when it comes to tech-specific jobs, where over 80 percent of Google’s international tech jobs are staffed by men (non-tech jobs, on the other hand, are staffed by 52 percent staffed by men)....

Social media has its risks for attorneys who don’t want their private life to affect their professional career. The things you write online can have a negative impact on attorney-client relationships. Of course unprofessional conduct on social media can be a turn-off to clients. But the real issue is when statements made by an attorney run the risk of violating the rules of professional responsibility. We don’t mean in terms of wardrobe or ‘conduct unbecoming an attorney....