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FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. Initially, some companies were reluctant to embrace social media, perhaps being concerned about lack of control and other issues. However, as the world truly has migrated to social media sites (with Facebook boasting hundreds of millions of users), there now is little doubt that most companies now want to embrace social networking as a way to get the word out about their products and services....

Litigating in the press is one thing; litigating against the press is another. Neither is a good idea. That’s a tip from – among others – the press. Attorney Martin Singer apparently hasn’t learned it, even after the California courts gave him a really big tip. Singer, who represented comedian Bill Cosby, threatened to sue the press after model Janice Dickinson accused Cosby of drugging and raping her. But in Dickinson v....

Graffiti artist turned Contemporary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has become a pop culture phenomenon since his death from a heroin overdose in 1988, at the age of 27. In his short life, he caused a stir in the art scene, dated Madonna before she was the Queen of Pop, and was best buddies with Andy Warhol. The Adler Collection On March 3, 2014 was supposed to host an online auction of Basquiat’s works from Alexis Adler’s collection....

The time hasn’t yet arrived for digging into our Turkeys, but we thought it would be a good time to remind firms that there is a definite wrong way to conduct Holiday Office parties. Here’s a list of things to avoid based on past holiday office parties that went wrong. One employee recounts a particular party held by the New York advertising agency Rumhill-Hoyt during which the Santa suddenly threw off his suit, revealing a “dirty jock strap” and a body festooned with stickers....

Lots of attorneys talk the talk about “going paperless,” but if you want to walk the walk, you need a serious tool to get it done. For a growing number of attorneys, that tool is the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500, or its Mac brother, the S1500M. The ScanSnap is a stand-alone scanner that is fast, comes with amazing software and makes going paperless super efficient and easy. Having the right tool for the job makes such a major difference....

Judge Judy may play OK on TV, but not so much in real life. A San Diego judge has accepted sanctions and stepped down permanently from the bench not only for filming her courtroom in a reported bid for a reality TV show, but for the TV style humor, comments and rowdy audience participation tactics that sound more Jerry Springer, less Superior Court. The state Commission on Judicial Performance cited 39 instances of misconduct in censuring San Diego Superior Court Judge DeAnn M....

Nixon Peadody is an evolving law firm. Since its founding in 1999, it has merged with at least five law firms and grown into an international enterprise employing about 700 lawyers. Earlier this year, it brought another type of business into its fold – StartOut Growth Lab, an incubator for LGBTQ businesses. Thomas Gaynor, managing partner at the firm’s San Francisco office, says it is about changing culture. He said it is especially a challenge for LGBTQ startups in the tech world....

Recently we covered the legal issues involving summer interns working gratis. Now we can address a meatier concern: summer associates. Much ink and gossip is spilled and spent (not necessarily in that order, mind you) over how to handle summer associate culture. But what about summer associates in an in-house setting? More of the Same, and Yet … Not Summer associates will spend the first couple of weeks and months basking in the glow of their new-found position as an in-house attorney working under the wing of a boss who is charged with guiding in the mystical ways of the single-client attorney....

John McAfee, the founder of the anti-virus company that bears his name, is raging mad about reported hacks on his cryptowallet. He says the reports are false that his BitFi wallet has been hacked. He says people have tried, but failed. However, it’s not the first time his cryptocurrency wallet has allegedly been hacked. It’s also not the first time McAfee has come out of left field to make a statement....

New Orleans-based restaurant Camellia Grill might have survived Hurricane Katrina, but it went on to face another storm: litigation. A recent 5th Circuit ruling brings good news for the restaurant, allowing Camellia Grill to keep its name – and also its famous white columns. Camellia Grill is a landmark diner in New Orleans in the Carrollton section. It’s conveniently located near St. Charles Avenue and is accessible by the city’s famous streetcars....

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that the Maryland Transit Authority (MTA) must pay a voting rights group’s attorney’s fees. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and Project Vote filed suit against MTA in 2007 challenging the restrictions on ACORN’s right to register voters at MTA transportation centers, including subway and bus stops. At the time, MTA required any individual who wished to register voters or conduct free speech activities on MTA property - regardless of proximity to the entrance or turnstiles - to obtain a permit for each day and disclose the location of the activity....

When your small firm is on its way to the big time, you might find yourself in need of an extra pair of hands or eyes. One way to get the short-term help you need is to hire a contract attorney. But how should you pay a contract attorney? As an exempt employee or a non-exempt employee? An employment lawsuit filed this week in New York suggests that it could be complicated....

It’s no secret that the key to success is finding a way to keep existing clients while continuing to gain more. The trick is figuring out how to do it. Big firms are paying companies to track industry news tailored to their clients’ legal needs. Companies such as Manzama collect news on developments, laws and regulations, litigation, and social media and provide it as tips to law firms that hire them....

Remember jury trials, one of the hallmarks of the American justice system? You sure don’t seem to see many of them around anymore. In 1962, for example, there were nearly 11,000 civil and criminal trials in federal courts, according to the ABA’s “Litigation Online.” By 1985, that number had risen to 12,529. But by 2002, federal courts heard only a little more than 8,000 cases – a decline from the 60s, despite a massive increase in civil and criminal filings....

It’s not every day that a judge admits fuzzy reasoning, much less in writing. But the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal is not hiding from the truth. In reversing a trademark decision, the court said it often “blurs the lines” when analyzing certain claims. In Savannah College of Art and Design v. Sportswear, it is actually a little worse than that. The judges practically said the precedent makes no sense....

Traversing tricky ethical boundaries comes with the territory of an in-house counsel gig. Though in-house attorneys can often turn to their GCs to guide them in the right direction, it’s also important to have an independently firm grasp of ethics rules. Here are three common ethics issues in-house counsel face: To keep abreast of your ethical obligations, you may want to – with a glass of wine in hand – revisit your state bar’s rules, the ABA rules, court opinions, and timely ethics opinions produced by bar associations and committees....

In a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) action alleging that Defendant charged Plaintiffs title insurance rates higher than the rates Defendant had on file with the state insurance commissioner, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where RESPA does not control the prices charged for title insurance. Read Arthur v. Ticor Title Ins. Co., No. 08-1727. Appellate Information: Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore....

“Because we determine that Mr. Adkins is entitled to habeas relief based on his Batson claim, we do not decide his other claims.” The rule in Alabama at the time of the trial was that white defendants lacked standing to challenge peremptory strikes of black jurors. In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Powers v. Ohio, which held that “a criminal defendant may object to race-based exclusions of jurors effected through peremptory challenges whether or not the defendant and the excluded juror share the same races....

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 68 permits a party defending a claim to serve on an opposing party “an offer to allow judgment on specified terms, with the costs then accrued.” If the suit was brought under a statute that provides for an attorney fee award to the prevailing plaintiff, the relevant “costs” include attorney fees. If the defendant wants the offer of judgment to include costs and fees, the offer must specifically state so....

Did you know that Hewlett-Packard printer ink can cost you upwards of $75/ounce? Compare that to Chanel N°5 that costs $38/ounce and that’s some expensive ink. And, what exactly does this have to do with you and how you run your firm? Everything. A 14-year old student found a way to save the U.S. Government $136 million per year, reports CNN. How? Simply swapping the Times New Roman font to Garamond in Government publications....