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Where are Cheech and Chong when we need them? “Hey man, am I driving OK?” Cheech asks in the 1978 classic, “Up In Smoke.” Chong, his partner in cannabis crime, looks around their smoke-filled car and then answers: “I think we’re parked, man.” Since California has ruled that marijuana deliveries may be made only by people in motor vehicles, it has snuffed out other means of transporting the drug. It’s no laughing matter to companies that make drones and other autonomous vehicles....

In a court filing, Google has in effect stated that its users should not have any expectation of privacy if they use its services, particularly Gmail. Putting pen to paper isn’t sounding so bad after all, huh? Google’s admission comes on the heels of the Edward Snowden controversy over National Security Agency leaks and the closing of two email encryption services to evade government scrutiny, reports PC Mag. Google is being sued in federal court for violations of the Federal Wiretap Act (as amended by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act) along with wiretap statutes in Florida, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and the California Invasion of Privacy Act....

Dianne Russell owned $501 for an unpaid hospital debt. The hospital sicced Absolute Debt Collection Services on her. They sent a threatening letter. She paid the hospital directly. ADC continued to bug her, even after she told them about her payment to the hospital. She, predictably, sued under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as well as state law. ADC argued that the FDCPA didn’t apply, as she never disputed the debt under § 1692g....

Yesterday, we discussed the disengagement letter, and other tips for ending representation. What about situations where you don’t want to take the case at all? Do you need to do anything to cover your butt, such as a non-engagement letter? Unfortunately, this is a gray area, and a matter upon which many lawyers will disagree. Some argue that because the letters take time, and aren’t billable, that they are a waste....

The federal government’s “reverse sting” operation on five defendants was not entrapment or a violation of due process, the Fifth Circuit held on Monday, in an unpublished decision. The defendants’ unlucky story began when the group met with a disgruntled cocaine trafficker, Richard Zayas. Zayas was looking for help in robbing a stash house and the crew was happy to provide it. The group made extensive plans on how to conduct the robbery....

In plaintiffs’ suit against defendant for breach of contract and related claims arising from an Asset Purchase Agreement, summary judgment in favor of defendant is affirmed for the most part and reversed in part where: 1) the district court correctly granted summary judgment to defendant with respect to most of the claims; but 2) reversal was warranted in one respect as, under Massachusetts law the Purchase Agreement contains an implied contractual term that required defendant to use reasonable efforts to develop and promote plaintiff’s technology....

When was the last time you heard a truly inspirational, intellectual talk? We’re talking about one of those lectures, talks, or speeches that makes you reevaluate your entire thought process on a certain subject. Maybe that talk shifts your views on a fundamental issue, like the death penalty. Or maybe it provides practical advice for leading your law firm or practice group into prosperity. When we were students, we’d be limited to school-selected speakers, leaving us asleep and drooling on the desk....

Colonizing Mars isn’t as easy as Matt Damon makes it look. Before you’re abandoned to the empty wasteland of the Red Planet and forced to learn to live off surplus rocket fuel and potatoes, you’ve got to get through the federal government. And getting government approval to go beyond the Earth’s orbit is no simple task, as one company learned recently. Moon Express recently became the first government-approved private mission to a celestial body, and they only wanted to go to the a few hundred thousand miles beyond the stratosphere....

If you’re in-house in a heavily regulated industry, you know that government rulemaking can have a major impact on your business’ day to day practices. But you don’t have to be handling toxic waste or private medical records to have a stake in government regulation. Even a medium sized company may want to influence white collar overtime rules or Affordable Care Act regulations, for example. In order to influence government rulemaking, you need to know how it works....

People scrambling to delete their Bitcoin Blockchain ledgers due to the child pornography scare may want to hold off – that is, if the Bitcoin.com folks can be trusted. As commentators have noted, Bitcoin’s response discusses links to child pornography, and curiously omits discussing the image that the researchers claim to have found buried in the Blockchain. It’s no secret that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be favored by criminals for the whole “crypto” anonymous feature....

Men may be from Mars and women from Venus, but if there is one thing that connects us, it’s that we’d all like to be paid more for our work. However, women lawyers are still lagging behind men at law firms. The National Association of Women Lawyers has just released a study that shows that female attorneys make less money and receive fewer promotions than males. According to the study, this is in part due to new structures that make it difficult for female attorneys to advance....

Truth be told, if someone asked me whether their law firm should have a Facebook page, my gut reaction would be “no.” Why? Practically speaking, it’s a lot of work for little payout, more so now that Facebook has entered the “Pay to Play” era. A Facebook page that pays dividends is going to require constant fresh content, moderation of user comments, and likely an advertising budget. But if your firm already has a Facebook page, or if you really want one, here are three simple tips to make it worth your time:...

Working in-house might save you from many of the hassles of traditional lawyering, but it doesn’t insulate you from the same ethical rules and requirements that apply to the rest of the bar. You are still expected to abide by the same mandates, even if the nature of your work is very different. Since those rules were crafted without you in mind, compliance can be tricky – and it’s sometimes simply overlooked....

The age old saying, if you can’t beat’em, join’em, may be especially true for lawyers facing the competition of other lawyers that are embracing the emerging digital revolution. An attorney can no longer avoid technology as many courts require the use of email, and clients increasingly demand a certain minimal level of technological competence. While the jury is still out on whether lawyers should let AI programs compose their emails to opposing counsel, there are countless simple office tasks that can, and probably should, be automated now to get ahead of the digital curve....

Finding a good in-house position isn’t easy. There are plenty of lawyers ready to jump ship from their firm in order to get a relatively comfy (or so the assumption goes) in-house gig. With so much competition, you don’t just have to have the right experience; you’ve got to have the right everything. That starts with the right resume. Here are some tips to help make yours shine: We know, it’s obvious; you’ve got to emphasize your relevant skills and experience....

It seems like a no-brainer that minors should not be able to authorize charges against their parents’ accounts. Maybe that’s why Apple and Google, which were joined in the action, settled early in related litigation. “This case demonstrates what should be a bedrock principle for all companies – you must get customers’ consent before you charge them,” said Thomas B. Pahl, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection....

If you’re a distinguished Rhode Island Bankruptcy lawyer, you may be interested in knowing that there is a judgeship vacancy, and that applications are now being accepted. In a press release, Chief Judge Sandra Lynch of the First Circuit Court of Appeals announced the creation of a Bankruptcy Merit Selection Panel. The Panel will screen and review the qualifications of applicants for the Bankruptcy Judge vacancy left by the Honorable Arthur N....

Maybe Scarlett Johansson has the right idea. In August, the New York Post reported that ScarJo had “ditched virtually all technology” after a hacker stole nude photos of the actress off of her phone last year. According to the Post, Johansson is paranoid that people are constantly spying on her. Getting rid of gadgets seems like an extreme step for those of us who aren’t worried about naked picture leaks, but Johansson’s technophobia could also save her from warrantless cellphone tracking....

So how’s your law practice management software working for you these days? Or whatever ill-fitting aggregation of word processing, general ledger, spreadsheet and time/billing software you’ve managed to collect over the years. Well Elite has rolled out ProLaw XII, its latest enhanced management solution for small- and medium-sized law firms. Released on May 2, ProLaw XII provides a single gathering-point for information about your firm’s cases, matters, time entry, billing and accounting capabilities....

New Orleans drivers lost their due process challenge to the city’s red light camera policy last week, reports The Times-Picayune. The plaintiffs sued to challenge New Orleans’ Automated Traffic Enforcement System Ordinance, which permits the city to use automated cameras to detect speeding violations and cars entering an intersection against a red light. A district court concluded that the ordinance affords constitutionally-adequate due process, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed....