A murderer, a drug dealer, a drunk driver – a few of my least popular clients. They were not accused; they were already convicted. But clients like that are practically dead men walking into the courtroom because of a prejudice against innocence. Lawyers have to fight for unpopular clients more than ever. That’s because the legal world can be a hostile place – especially for immigrants in America today. “Build the Wall!...
Enjoy your Wikipedia while you can tonight. When the clock strikes midnight Wednesday morning, the entire world will be unable to access Wikipedia’s English-language pages – except for those relating to SOPA, PIPA and Internet censorship, of course. Though other sites are planning to participate in Wednesday’s online SOPA protest, the Wikipedia blackout will likely be the largest and most drastic of actions. Other websites, such as Google, Twitter and Facebook, oppose the legislation but have no plans to implement a complete blackout....
It was a clash of titans that left Xerox without a head and the company teetering in the balance. Jeff Jacobsen, the embattled chief executive officer, resigned under pressure from major shareholders who sued to block a proposed merger. A judge enjoined the merger with Fujifilm, saying Jacobson was “hopelessly conflicted” because he pushed the deal to save his job. Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor, won the battle for control of the struggling company....
You’re a master of Internet marketing. You’ve got your Google keywording down. Your law firm’s website is mobile friendly. You’re on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. You even have an app! But if you don’t have video, you might not have all your bases covered. Online video should be an essential part of your lawyer marketing strategy. It’s a great way to reach consumers, develop trust, and build your brand. It’s also not all that difficult to create....
They say if we don’t learn from the mistakes of the past, we are doomed to repeat them. So let’s look at some of the biggest law firm fails to see what we can learn. Why did they fail? The simple answer would be: they weren’t making enough money. But that’s like saying the car stopped because it ran out of gas. Let’s get into the specifics of why these firms failed, and what we can learn....
Believe it or not, something as simple as missing deadlines is among the Top 10 reasons for legal malpractice claims. Remembering when something is due seems like such a simple task, but it’s so simple that practitioners – especially solos and small firms, who may not have dedicated support staff to monitor calendars – often overlook it. If you don’t have a calendaring system, it’s time to get one. If you do have one, it’s time to do an audit to make sure everything is going smoothly....
Let’s face it: a trip to the post office is something that most professionals (attorneys especially) dread. Long lines, crowded offices, and horrendous wait times are all qualities that we tend to associate with the postal service. But, did you know that online postage is now more convenient than ever? While many of us tend to think that the post office is outdated and antiquated, there have been improvements to the post office’s website over the last few years....
Like most companies, Bank of America (BofA) wants to reduce the amount it pays in legal fees to outside counsel. But their plan to do that is far from orthodox. The deal they’ve offered outside counsel is a break in legal fees based on the business that BofA sends to those law firms. As part of the offer it sent to the firms, BofA asked them to confirm “that these fee arrangements are ethical,” according to the ABA Journal....
In US v. Bowles, No. 09-4219, the Fourth Circuit faced a challenge to a defendant’s conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to 188 months’ imprisonment. In rejecting defendant’s claim that the trial court erred by ordering him to be forcibly medicated to render him competent to stand trial, the court affirmed the conviction, holding that defendant has waived his right to challenge the forcible medication order as he cannot reopen his judgment of conviction upon his guilty plea on a nonjurisdictional issue....
In recent years, the legal industry has seen many changes in the landscape of its workforce and overall practice trends. With all the layoffs at many large firms, a lot of attorneys took to hanging out their shingles and starting smaller practices. Now, some are predicting that small law firms may be the way of the future for the legal profession. But why would clients, or rather, why should clients flock to smaller firms for legal services?...
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the Dixie County Ten Commandments case Thursday, but the litigants weren’t focused on whether or not a 6-ton Ten Commandments model in front of the county courthouse is unconstitutional. Instead, attorneys spent most of their time debating whether an anonymous plaintiff has standing to bring the claim, reports The Associated Press. Local businessman Joe Anderson, Jr. paid $20,000 for a Ten Commandments monument that was installed on top of the Dixie County courthouse steps....
To us gamers, Battlefield has long occupied the second-fiddle status to Activision’s Call of Duty franchise. Think Pepsi to Coke, market-wise. But Battlefield 4 had a chance to be different. With the release of two new gaming consoles, the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, this was a new war altogether, and BF4 was shaping up to be a contender, with 21 awards at the annual E3 tradeshow, including GameSpot’s Best of E3 award....
On April 29, 2014, the Supreme Court fixed fee shifting in patent cases. The Court lowered the bar for awarding fees and tweaked the appeals court’s review standard to force them to respect the trial court’s discretion. Discretion which must, in the first instance, actually be used. You see, back when the standards were impossibly high and non-deferential (April 28 or so), there was no fee-shifting – only 20 out of 3,000 cases filed in 2011 led to an award of fees....
Florida lawyers will have to take three hours of technology CLE courses in 2017 now that the state has become the first to mandate attorney tech training. The Florida Supreme Court approved the rule change last Thursday. The amendments to Florida’s Bar Rules also include an addition to the comment on competent representation, clarifying that attorneys may retain a “non-lawyer advisor of established technological competence in the field in question” and emphasizing safeguarding confidential information as part of competent representation....
Scenario #1: You took a DUI defense case for a fixed fee. She’s a first time offender, no record, barely over the limit, but the case is strong. It’s probably going to plead out, right? This case should not take a lot of time, except someone needs to spend hours answering every single one of her questions. You know this type of client – the freaked out emails/phone calls/texts come every hour....
It’s hard to deny that President Trump is having a big impact on the government. However, an unforeseen one is the jamming up of the court system due to the executive branch’s failure to follow the rules for changing the rules. The Administrative Procedure Act, passed in the 1940s, requires that federal agencies provide opportunity for public comment and a notice period, as well as reasonable justifications, prior to making changes to, adding or deleting regulations....
Have you ever considered a virtual office for your practice? Do you even know what a virtual office is, or how it can benefit an attorney? If you’re operating a small law practice at home or are currently paying expensive rent on unnecessary office space, a virtual office may be right for you. A virtual office can be the ideal solution for an attorney looking for the convenience and expense of a home office, while also looking for the professional appearance of a true office....
Yes, you have a duty to be civil with the court, your clients, opposing counsels, and even opposing parties. That means refraining from ad hominem attacks against judges, individuals, and even your opposing counsel, no matter how badly they’re annoying you. Seriously, you can get disciplined. However, there are several ways to sneak in polite trash talking into your pleadings. And while non-lawyers might see the language and think nothing of it, when it gets read by a lawyer, the natural tendency is to shout out: “Shots fired!...
If somebody steals your car, your insurance should cover it. Right? But what if you loan somebody your car, and they crash it commiting a robbery? Will your insurance pay then? That’s the gist of a deal gone wrong in an insurance case, Cooper Industries, Ltd. v. National Union Fire Insurance Company. The Fifth Circuit said the insurer didn’t have to pay for a company that lost money it loaned to fraudsters in a Ponzi scheme....
Windows 9/Threshold is here! Except, according to CNET, it’ll actually be called Windows 10. Weird naming conventions are the only surprises here, since we’ve been stalking leaks via German websites for some time now, but here’s the short version of Microsoft’s big announcement today: a new version of Windows, smart enough to sense whether you have a keyboard and mouse, is on the way. This is big news for everyone who hated the tablet-centric Windows 8 – which is nearly everyone, if market share is any indication....
