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You’re probably all heart bled out, but further news of the biggest Internet security failure is worth noting. So now that the patches are up, and we can shop online and check our email without fear (fingers crossed), it’s time to have a little chat and do a – excuse the phrase – post mortem on Heartbleed. We know you went to law school because you hated math, but here’s a winning formula of what the not-so-distant future looks like, that even you can get: Password + (option 1 below) or (option 2 below) = Secure Two-Factor Authentication....

Stories about travelers following Apple Maps and getting lost are usually funny. However, when Apple Maps get you stranded in the middle of nowhere, with literally no food or water nearby, it may drive you to desperation. Drivers in Australia looking for the city of Mildura were repeatedly misled by Apple Maps, which erroneously directed them to drive into the middle of Murray Sunset National Park, reports Bloomberg. While the national park may be beautiful and a tourist destination in itself, unprepared travelers may be in for a life and death surprise....

Working on the narcotics task force, Stephanie Hicks wore a bulletproof vest to protect her from criminals. That all changed after she returned from maternity leave, however. She asked for an accommodation at work because she was breastfeeding, but then the attacks came from her department. She won a pregnancy discrimination case, and the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. In Hicks v. City of Tuscaloosa, the appeals court said employers can be liable for constructive discharge when a breastfeeding mother quits....

If government agents seize a cell phone incident to an arrest, can they search the contents of that phone two weeks later without a warrant? The First Circuit Court of Appeals declined to answer that question this week, realizing that it would be a waste of time in Justin Green’s drug ring appeal. Two weeks after Green’s arrest, DEA Special Agent Carl Rideout removed the back outside casing and battery from each of Green’s cell phones and retrieved the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number from each....

“Snap!” is an expression to use when you get shocked or surprised, according to the urban dictionary. But that’s not what they were thinking at Snap, Inc. when the camera company started in 2011. The founders were focused on building Snapchat and other tech products. Now they are urban-thinking “snap,” however, because federal authorities have subpoenaed information about the company’s initial public offering. According to a class-action lawsuit, Snap misled investors....

In a case that has entertained those who follow the entertainment industry, IMDb has won summary judgment against the state of California and the Screen Actors Guild. Generally, the case challenged a new law that would have prevented IMDb from publishing the ages of actors and actresses, upon a thespian’s request, in order to fight against age discrimination in the industry. The law was basically struck down last year when the district court issued a preliminary injunction preventing the law from being enforced....

In patent law, attorneys sometimes get to see the beginning of the next big thing. It might be a game-changer, like an innovation in the fast-moving tech or biotech fields. But sometimes it’s a lot closer to home, like when a law firm makes big changes in the field. That’s happening at Venable, which is acquiring intellectual property firm Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto. The emerging practice will be near the top in the patent field and one of the biggest law firms in the country....

On Monday, Massachusetts Treasurer Steven Grossman announced a $265 million deal with Alpha Appalachia Holdings Inc. The deal settles allegations that the coal miner misled investors, including the state’s pension fund, by misrepresenting its safety record ahead of a deadly 2010 Massey Energy mine explosion that killed 29 people. The settlement is good news for investors and state taxpayers alike. The Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which oversees public pension investments in Massachusetts, served as lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit brought by multiple investors against the company formerly known as Massey Energy Co....

I came to an epiphany shortly before graduating law school. I realized that, if I wanted to practice law, my choices would be between working for a bottom-of-the-barrel firm for $35k (in California? yeesh) or starting my own practice. In preparation for this leap, I read about a dozen books on how to run a small firm, from business to marketing to client management. One book gave a tip that I’m only now starting to understand: the around town walk....

Texas-based oil corporation Anadarko announced on Tuesday that it would double the amount of quarterly dividends for common stock, a move that coincides with the Fifth Circuit Court awarding Anadarko $9 million plus interest for oil sales in 2000-2002. Although it may be written off as a coincidence, Anadarko’s Exec. Vice Pres. and CFO, Bob Gwin attributes the dividend increase to the company’s capability to “deliver capital-efficient growth within cash flow” (read: money money money), reports The Wall Street Journal....

The number of scams targeting lawyers seems to be multiplying, with the State Bar of Texas recently warning its members to be on the lookout for fake bar association representatives. Members of both the Tarrant and Lubbock County bars have reportedly received calls from people who claim to be “from the bar association,” asking for credit card information after explaining that they must pay their dues immediately, or renew their bar cards....

You took ethics in law school, the MPRE and the bar exam. Attorneys who walk into court know (or at least should know) the ethical standards they are held too. Existing ethical rules are largely silent on the topic of expert witnesses. They address experts only in broad mandates that attorneys are not to tamper with the truthfulness of witnesses or pay fees to non-expert witnesses. Granted, some courts fill in this gap....

As with so many legal questions, the answer to whether to sue a judgment proof defendant is this: it depends. That’s because, in part, there are lawyers on both sides of the issue. So if you are an attorney, you can blame your profession for being part of the problem. In any case, the question is serious enough to answer before waiting for a judge or jury to decide if it was worth it to sue a judgment proof defendant....

You’re starting to get what this series is about, right? We talked about what tech supplies you’ll need. We also discussed whether you need an office and other places to work if you lack one. You’ve got the digs located, the computers set-up, and are ready to get started. You’re not completely ready for clients though, are you? That’s right - you forgot the malpractice insurance, didn’t you? Whether it is required by your state bar or not, malpractice insurance is a must....

McBurney v. Cuccinelli, 09-1615, concerned a challenge to the district court’s dismissal of all parties on jurisdictional grounds, in plaintiffs’ 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Attorney General of Virginia and others, claiming that the Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) violates the dormant commerce clause and the Privileges and Immunity Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the Attorney General and other defendants from the suit as, the Attorney General has not enforced, threatened to enforce, or advised other agencies to enforce the VFOIA against the plaintiffs....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. We live in the digital age, with the Internet growing exponentially and with our lives becoming more online every day. It is easy to believe that the development of technology has happened primarily in recent times, given this explosion of information technology. 2,400 BC: The abacus is invented in Babylonia. 300 BC: The binary number system is invented by Pingala....

You may have noticed that we’re a little bit obsessed with privacy around here. It’s not just the NSA revelations, or the private data mining, though both of those are compelling reasons to be concerned. It’s because we, like you, are lawyers. Why should lawyers care? The Fourth Amendment – it probably should still mean something, and the more the Feds dig in to your data, the less the Amendment means....

In a strange and salty case, the Fifth Circuit refused to essentially create a new remedy by right for maritime employers who are tricked into paying for employees’ fake injuries. The Boudreaux v. Transocean Deepwater court dealt with an offshore drilling company who wanted to extract all the benefits it had erroneously paid to a former employee, Boudreaux, due to his lying about a pre-existing condition that contributed to an at-work injury....

A couple years back, a lawyer couldn’t throw a handful of rocks at a computer screen without hitting some article on the subject of mindfulness. If you managed to avoid the deluge of articles from the mindfulness invasion, maybe because you were too busy litigating to read anything unrelated, basically, it’s a philosophy that promotes a healthy work-life balance. Mindfulness in the legal profession quickly became rather trendy, particularly as our profession tends to have a high rate of alcoholism, depression, and suicide....

The country is still talking about Rush Limbaugh and his statements about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. Besides calling her a prostitute, he encouraged her and her fellow students to post online sex videos. She warranted these words solely because she believes birth control should be a mandatory part of insurance coverage. Limbaugh’s statements garnered criticism from the right and left, from women and men. It was so bad, he apologized....